Hello forum,

I have just purchased Parker 21-96.(Sprog )

My only sail so far has been to deliver her to her mooring in the Thorney Channel,from Emsworth.

Nice boat,well balanced..... just two things need to be sorted.

Firstly,she is not equipped with jib winches. For single handed sailing they would be a good thing to fit for ease of sail handling. I assume they should be size 8. Is this correct please ?

Secondly..... when close hauled the genny blanks off the view. Is retro fitting a clearview pane in an old sail a wise thing to do or would it create problems with the furling gear.?

thanks,

Brock

My 21 (No 30) has the sheet winches on the side coaming where your more recent version has turning blocks. The idea with yours is to cross the sheets over and use the windward halyard winch for the sheet so you can use the winch from the weather side-deck. I reckon that if you need the winch handle you've got too much sail out! My winches are Meissner size 8 but they don't fit the plinth very well and leave a nip which can jam the sheet. I've fitted a guide on the starboard winch where the sheet comes in from outboard.

I'd imagine a competent sailmaker could put a window in your genoa. Sail about a bit more and mark where it really should be to be in your line of sight. My Solo sail came with a window but it's in quite the wrong place! I cant see the furling would be a problem.

Thanks Geoff,I will try using the existing winches as suggested..... it will save some money !! We have Arun Sails here in Bosham so I will talk to them about a window panel.

One thing I will do is purchase a Barton device called The Wincher. This adapts an existing winch into a self tailer according to the website. I struggled a bit raising the keel the first time I sailed the boat and I think that will make life easier.

Thanks for the advice.

I tried a "Wincher" on my keel winch but didn't get on with it. You had to put 4 turns on before it "nipped" the top one and that gave too much friction for the turns to work their way up to make room at the bottom. A better solution is to replace the pulleys with ball-bearing blocks as I described a couple of threads down on this forum ("Keel rope").