Lewmar Sprint 400 windlass

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C-Trial

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Hearing the experiences of anyone wiusing a Sprint 400 or Sprint 600 vertical windlass would be appreciated. Considering installing the Sprint 400 next week. Please stop me if the 400 is, in reality, undersized for a 22 Cruiser. My hook will be a 16.5# bruce and 20' of chain. I'm guessing 200' of 1/2" rode will fit in the locker. More is always better, if it will fit! I have doubts.

Thanks for any feedback.
C-Trial
 
I have the 400 which works fine, although the 600 will work even better. I do put some power on when pulling just so I don't work things to hard which justs zaps the battery sooner. I use 25' of chain and carry 200' of rope. I did add another board to the top of the bin to hold the rope in instead of spilling out. After the first few times the wet rope settles in pretty well.

The one thing I had to do was add an extra roller between windlass and self launching/pivoting bow roller. This was done when I let some slack get into the line which let the rope jump out of the groove. Not good and I had to go up thru the hatch and put it back. Since adding the other roller things work great. Should be some pictures in the tech site along with my discussion.

Bugs are gone and the windlass is great. Like the fact that it has 180 degrees of purchase.

Tim
 
I have the Sprint 400 but have only deployed it once so far. Have the Bruce 17+- lb and 20 feet of chain to 300 feet of 1/2 rode. All fits in the anchor locker. I am going to swap out my existing anchor roller which is fixed, for a pivoting roller however, as the fixed does not allow the anchor to drop. It just hangs there waiting for me to come through the forward hatch and give it a loving little push. As much as it loves me doing that I don't want to have to. The 400 is actually designed for up to about a 28 ft boat as I remember Les telling me. In as much as the C-dory has little draft and drag going to the 600 is probably overkill. As Les says " bigger isn't necessarily better" I think that's what he said.
 
C-Trial-

There are two differences between the Sprint 400 and Sprint 600 windlass models from Simpson Lawrence of which I'm aware.

One is the motor, which is the 400 versus the 600 watt difference that accounts for the name differential. This translates into more pulling power and speed for the larger unit, as well as amperage draw.

The second is the gypsy. The 400 has a plastic gypsy and the 600 is metal, chromed brass, I believe. Here the difference is in how long it works before replacement is needed. The metal one is probably good for the life of the motor and the overall unit's life expectancy. The plastic one is shorter. I know of one person who had to replace the gypsy on the 400, but he was using all chain for the rode.

If you plan on keeping your C-Dory indefinitely, as most of us do, you might check into the cost of a replacement gypsy and add it to the cost of the 400 and see how that compares to the up front cost of the 600. I looked this up once and can't be sure of the exact figure, but I think it was about $260 (!). Then you get the bigger motor up front with the 600. HMMMMMMMM?????

Tyboo has noted before that 300 ft of 1/2" will fit in the locker of the C-D 22. Research it out in our library to be sure. You'll find discussion of the enlargement baffle (rear wall) of the locker there, as well as how to install a suitable, good looking drain.

This topic more than others is worthy of careful consideration, because every component of the system-

anchor,chain, rope, bow roller, windlass, locker, etc.,

must work in unison for the system to function. The whole thing works no better than the weakest link in a fully helm-operated system.

Hope this helps! Joe.[/i][/b]
 
Thanks for the replies, everyone.

I'm inclined to go with the Sprint 600 only because of the metal Gypsy and my decision to use 20' of chain on the rode. The cost of upgrading the Sprint 400 to a metal Gypsy is more costly than just buying a 600 to begin with. I don't really like the idea of the extra amp draw, but many on this site use the Horizon 600 which has essentially the same draw as the Sprint 600.

Try as I might, I just can't find Lewmar's website. Strange.

While Tyboo might get 300' into his locker (I think he uses the horizontal Horizon 600) the vertical Sprint puts the motor below deck and will rob some rode capacity. Does anyone know if Tyboo Mike had to modify his rode locker to fit 300'? I'd like to fit more than 200' into my locker.

Is anyone out there really using this much rode very often (or is it more a peace of mind thing)?

The honcho at the local C-Dory dealer (Sportcraft) says he never uses more than 150' (with about 20' of chain) even when anchoring below Bonneville while sturgeon fishing.

When I owned my 38' trawler I seldom used more than 150' (in 45' of Columbia R. spring runoff) to anchor securely (Danforth with 50' of 3/8 BBB).

Thanks for the help.

John on C-Trial
 
Does anyone know if Tyboo Mike had to modify his rode locker to fit 300'?
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Nope. It all fit just fine after it settled down. Once in a great while the pile of chain would slide off into the berth.

don't really like the idea of the extra amp draw
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I am far from an electrian, but I do know that amps are related to work. The windlass motor will draw as much current as needed to do the work asked of it, up to the limit of the breaker. The 600 will have a larger breaker (50 amp) than the 400 (probably 35 amp) because the windings and wiring are made to handle it. It will also pull harder if needed and the additional current is available. But the difference in amperage draw between the two pulling the same load should be minimal. The 600 may draw a couple percent more current running free (unloaded), but nothing that your battery will ever care about.

I did use about 250' of rode once, anchoring right off the Columbia ship cannel in 60' of fast running water. Most time, though, 100' of rode would be enough.

Here's the Lewmar link: http://www.lewmar.com/html/main.asp?page=home
 
Hey All:
I'm in need of replacing the gypsy on our Sprint 400 so I had West Marine price them out for me and what a shock! Lewmar does make a metal replacement for the plastic gypsy...cost ...$185! To stick with the plastic one ...$48. We'll probably stick with the plastic one t'ill the unit needs replacing.
 
:D Thanks to all who added to this thread. I have ordered a CD25 and will have spec'd the Horizon 600 to my local rigger. I plan to do the 15' chain with 300' line to make the rode. All this should come to pass abt mid Aug.. Just a kid looking forward to Xmas..


Another project..
I have got to find how or where to get a SS plate to mount a remote search lite on the bow SS rail. I want to add radar, but have height restrictions at the dry storage locations, so <8' overall ht. is desired. Part of big plan is to make all this 'stuff' fit; inside and outside.

Your thoughts? :?: .............. art
 
Art Bartlett":2apbu9kx said:
:
I have got to find how or where to get a SS plate to mount a remote search lite on the bow SS rail.

Your thoughts? :?: .............. art
Click to expand...

Hi Art,
Congrats on your new 25'. I don't know who you ordered your new cruiser through, but perhaps that "dealer" has someone who does "stainless steel" for him, that can fashion up a ss plate to go on your bow rail. That is what Bill (Da Nag) and I (Sea Shift) had done for our vessels. I've already removed the picks from my album of that mount, however I see that Da Nag still has his posted. (Go to Photo Albums, click on Da Nag, then click on page 1 of his album, then click on "Da Nag 22", then look for picture #47). We had our ss plates mounted back just a bit so that if we ever decided to attach a "burgee" mast on the end of the bow rail, we could.
 
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