Anchor Your Boat Effortlessly With the Best Anchor Winch

Anchor Winch Buying Guide

Choosing the Right Anchor Winch

To choose the right anchor winch for your boat, you must look into the following factors:

Remote control

Remote controlled winches are very convenient as they allow you to sit back and relax while the anchor winch does its work of pulling the anchor up or down. Some winches come with a remote, but for the ones that don’t you’ll need to buy one separately. For added convenience, you can choose a wireless remote.

Warranty

Since anchor winches are an expensive boat accessory, you don’t want to buy a winch that breaks easily. One way to guarantee that you are buying a durable winch is to check whether it comes with a warranty. Since the motor that retrieves the anchor in and out of the water is exposed to friction regularly, this can damage the motor over time. 

Capacity 

To make sure the anchor winch doesn’t give up on you when you need it the most, you must pay importance to its capacity. Before purchasing, check if the anchor winch is sturdy enough to pull the chain, as well as if the rope and anchor are required to hold your boat without breaking. The working load of the winch should be able to lift the entire length of chain and rope when all is completely suspended off the ocean floor.

Anchor chain length

Before purchasing the anchor winch, determine the approximate weight and length of the anchor. Most anchor winches come with recommended rope, chain and boat lengths to allow you to choose the rest of the components accordingly. Depending on your need, you’d either change your anchor setup to suit the winch or buy a new one to suit your current anchor setup.

Likewise, you also need to pay attention to the links in the chains. Regular and long link chains aren’t suitable for anchor windlasses. The right grade and size of chain is needed to ensure it’s compatibility with the gypsy. In case of mismatch, you might need to deal with chainwheel problems such as the chain getting jammed.

Other Benefits of Anchor Winches 

An anchor winch is a necessity for boats carrying anchors that are too heavy to retrieve by hand. Skippers of small-sized boats usually have the choice to either lift the anchor themselves or let an anchor winch do the work for them. Some of the benefits that anchor winches provide are:

Safety

When in the waters, you might experience situations where you need to pull the anchor and leave in a hurry. Weather conditions can change rapidly or an approaching vessel are two of the many reasons you might need to retrieve the anchor and leave quickly. With winch anchors, there are also less chances of falling overboard and injuring yourself.

Physical exertion

Anchors tend to be very heavy with some weighing 30,000 pounds and above. This makes them very difficult to pull manually. An anchor winch relieves you of the hassle of having to pull the weight manually, and operating one is as simple as pushing a button to set and retrieve. 

Moving locations

If you need to lay and pull your anchor manually, you probably wouldn’t be able to move fishing spots very often. An anchor winch allows you to move the boat with less time and exertion.

Types of Anchor Winches

The most commonly available types of anchor winches include but are not limited to:

Windlass anchor winches

The rope and chain with these types of winches rotate over a winch that is in a horizontal position. While a winch wraps around the chainwheel, this anchor winch retrieves the anchor rod and stores it in an anchor storage locker.

Capstan anchor winches

Also known as a vertical windlass, this type of winch stands in an upright position and works to rotate the anchor line horizontally around it. Capstan anchor winches feature a 180 degree wrap of the anchor rode around the chainwheel.

Drum anchor winches

This type of anchor winch stores all the chain and rope on a drum, which makes it suitable for vessels that don’t come with a storage locker to gather the chain and rope in it. This type of winch works by pressing a button on the dashboard.

With these types of winches, only a limited length of rope and chain can be contained with the drum. For added length, you can utilize a rope that is thinner and has a higher breaking strain.  This will let you store more rope on the drum.