Easysea winch handle

[sailfast_202]

my social feed has been filling up with “Easysea Flipper” handles. they fold up on themselves, effectively allowing the handle to stay in the winch the entire race.  three pivot points to alter the length of the handle. they’re a little pricey and want to be certain it’ll be worth the investment. 

anyone have any experience with these?

 

[McGyver]

Independently of whether they are as easy to release as a winch without a handle, they have a problem.  On a boat, say, 27 to 30 feet you have a couple of winches on each side of the cockpit plus a couple on the pit.  Using this system means having to buy six very expensive handles instead of two cheap ones. (Actually, THREE cheap ones so you can lose one.)

 

[silent bob]

It may be expensive, but it's shitty too!

 

[See Level]

$150 and no beer opener...I'm out

 

[d'ranger]

So when it's really honking and it's time to blow those 4 wraps off with that thing in there?

Gee, we were so close.....

 

[LB 15]

It looks like another solution searching for a problem.

 

[toddster]

I um... was feeling phat one day and bought a pair for the primaries.  I do like them. Especially in those moments when the boat is on its ear and I no longer have to fumble for a handle with one hand.  At that price of course, I don't leave them out in the cockpit.  One more thing to set up before leaving the dock.  

A few years ago, they were casually rocking a pair of them on Sailing Uma... Oh crap!  I was "influenced."  :huh:   Anyhow, it might be telling to pull up a current video and see if they're still using them.  

 

[Steve_sos]

I um... was feeling phat one day and bought a pair for the primaries.  I do like them. Especially in those moments when the boat is on its ear and I no longer have to fumble for a handle with one hand.  At that price of course, I don't leave them out in the cockpit.  One more thing to set up before leaving the dock.  

A few years ago, they were casually rocking a pair of them on Sailing Uma... Oh crap!  I was "influenced."  :huh:   Anyhow, it might be telling to pull up a current video and see if they're still using them.  

They are still using them....

 

[neuronz]

So instead of inserting the handle you then have to unfold the handle? I do not really see the advantage. I would rather opt for a winch handle that can be mounted with one hand. Most if not all of the big marine equipment brands now offer a version of this.

 

[Foreverslow]

What load can they take?

When the Titan composites came out, my genny trimmer ( big SOB) could bend those fuckers when cranking big loads to the point you moved away "just in case".

Sounds like this:

 

[TUBBY]

Used the Titan handles on a boat they sponsored,  things did work but were far from comforting to use when they would bend/twist, enough that the handle was at about 20 degrees to the vertical,  and that was just the single handles,  the doubles!

 

[Grrr...]

my social feed has been filling up with “Easysea Flipper” handles. they fold up on themselves, effectively allowing the handle to stay in the winch the entire race.  three pivot points to alter the length of the handle. they’re a little pricey and want to be certain it’ll be worth the investment. 

anyone have any experience with these?

New member.  One post.  Pushing a product that's "filling up his social feed".

Yeah.  NO red lights there.

Decent products don't need shitty marketing practices, generally speaking.

 

[Santanasailor]

Grrr..  I miss my families S2 7.9 too.  

Regarding winch handles.  The number of winch handles needed is N+1.  N being the number you really need to sail your boat and the +1 is for the one that always falls overboard.  

 

[kinardly]

I’m not going to bother measuring my winches but it seems to me, in order for the handle to remain clear of the top of the winch when folded, that the moment arm is going to be too short to generate the necessary torque when deployed and cranking. 

 

[C. Spackler]

Used the Titan handles on a boat they sponsored,  things did work but were far from comforting to use when they would bend/twist, enough that the handle was at about 20 degrees to the vertical,  and that was just the single handles,  the doubles!

I've seen folk twist Titans like that. If you're putting that much load on a winch handle, you're doing it wrong. Sorry. 

These folding handles might be great for cruisers, probably not for racers. 

 

[toddster]

At the risk of sounding like a shill... but I seem to be the only sucker user responding so far. 

So instead of inserting the handle you then have to unfold the handle? I do not really see the advantage. I would rather opt for a winch handle that can be mounted with one hand. Most if not all of the big marine equipment brands now offer a version of this.

The idea is that they're always in place and always secured to the winch.  You don't have to mount and dismount them on every tack.  Maybe not such a big deal if you tack twice a day, but a PITA when you're single handed and tack every two minutes.  

I’m not going to bother measuring my winches but it seems to me, in order for the handle to remain clear of the top of the winch when folded, that the moment arm is going to be too short to generate the necessary torque when deployed and cranking. 

These things can actually have a longer arm than my standard handles, though I rarely need it - the vertical part of the handle can flip out for another four inches or so, making the action more like a ratchet wrench than a crank.  

It does take a little getting used to the little vertical lift motion you have to make before every fold or unfold action, but it gets pretty smooth after a while.

The OP could be a little marketing troll, but maybe not.  I certainly haven't seen them advertise conventionally at all (which does cast doubt on the OP statement). You can't just go to the web page and buy one. You sign up on the wait list for the next batch.  Of course, that could be a clever marketing ploy - we don't know how deep the "wait list" actually is.  IIRC, it took about six months to get one.

 

[TUBBY]

I've seen folk twist Titans like that. If you're putting that much load on a winch handle, you're doing it wrong. Sorry. 

These folding handles might be great for cruisers, probably not for racers. 

And here was me thinking I just had to wind it round & round!

Older maxi class yachts had some pretty big loads.

 

[SloopJonB]

And some pretty big winches. I don't think I'd want to put a folding handle into one of those.

 

[Bump-n-Grind]

those thing will suffer some breakage.

best handle I've ever owned are these



I have a rule on my boat that anyone who drops one of these overboard buys me a new one. 

have had the same handles now since 2009. The only place these things are allowed to live is in someones hand, in the winch or in the pocket. Crew gets scolded severely if I see them lay one down on deck. that rarely happens a 2nd time. 

I've never been too fussy about yanking them out of the winch all the time. in fact, I prefer they live in the winch until I call for crew to prepare to tack.. I found it more effective to have them in the winch for trim adjustments than always fussing around with them in and out of pockets.