The Offshore Voyaging Reference Site

eWincher 2 or SE?

Phyllis and I have long been fans of the eWincher electric winch handle and owned the original, which we let go with the McCurdy and Rhodes 56, and the Mk2, which we use on our J/109. We have also published the most in-depth review available anywhere.

Last year eWincher brought out a less expensive SE model, so the question becomes is the Mk2 worth the added money?


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Devon Rutz-Coveney

Love the Ewincher! A while ago, when we realised we were not going to be able to sustain ourselves onboard, long passages with brute strength alone as we age, we have slowly and steadily been ‘future-proofing’ sailing systems. Our first foray into this was to take the winch all of our halyards and reefing lies lead to and ‘electrify’ it. The Andersen Winch has a bolt on base that is an electric motor/gearbox… Great. It can still function as a regular winch with the handle attached too. BUT it only works on that winch. When we found out about the E Wincher we at first thought there is ‘no-way’ it could be powerful enough, long lasting enough for use tightening up sheets in heavy winds. We were wrong! The handle is awesome. 2 push button adjustable gear levels. It just goes and goes. The only bad experience we have had was one of the batteries supplied turned out to be defective (after the warranty had expired). The guys in France gave us a good deal on replacements. The great part of the electric handle vs the Andersen electric winch: the handle can be used on ALL your winches. Like a regular winch handle, it locks into the winch once attached: no risk of it falling out. I would highly recommend this ‘gadget’. Don’t sell/throw out your old standby: the regular winch handle. We still use these from time to time, but they are more ‘back-up’ now.