Winch base repair and reef line attachment

[cmking]

Hi,

I have recently acquired a 1978 Alden 44, Puffin. I was out sailing the other day. It was quite windy so I went to put in a reef and in the process ripped a winch off the mast.

Puffin has 4 winches mounted on the mast. Two self tailers on the side and two regular winches on the front and back. The aft winch is mounted below the boom and is in a ideal position for tensioning the reef lines.

I was having problems getting the sail as flat as I thought it should be. In an effort to figure out what was going on, I lead the reef line around the aft winch and then up to one of the self tailers on the side. This way I could crank it a bit, look at what was going on and then crank some more.

Unfortunately, this process must have put some unreasonable loads on the aft winch. As I cranked, the lower bolts pulled right out of the mast and the winch bent upwards towards the boom. I was bummed.

I realize now the reason I couldn't get the sail flat was the way the reef lines are attached to the aft end of the boom. The lines are lead from a cheek block up to the reef cringle and then down to a bowline on the boom. As the line is tensioned, the knot is pulled up to the cringle. Once the knot reaches the sail, that is as tight as it is going to get, which is not tight enough.

So I have two questions, how to repair the mast to reattach the winch and how should the reef lines be properly attached to the mast.

I took the winch of the mast. The existing bolt holes are all stripped out. I was hoping I could rotate the winch and drill and tap new holes but it looks like the previous owners had either mounted different winches on this pad or had to remount this one more than once. There are a lot of holes in this pad. So there is really not a good spot to put the new holes.

One idea I had is to get a aluminum plate about the size and shape of the base of the winch and mount that to the mast. There are no holes in the center of the pad, so the plate could be bolted there. Then winch then could be bolted to the plate. Does this sound reasonable? Is there a better way?

On attaching the reef lines, there are some U shaped brackets mounted on the boom below the reef cringles opposite the cheek blocks. (Sorry I don't know a better name for these things) So I could imagine just leading the lines through these and using a stopper knots. I worry though, that these things can't handle the loads of the reef lines. They don't look that strong to me.

If you have any advice for me, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks
Chris King