img4962The Quattro winch from Harken is a breakthrough design. It's a simple winch that has four line speeds. Originally developed for the Melges 30, which needed fast winches to trim the asymmetrical spinnaker and powerful winches to trim the genoa upwind. It's since been adapted to the Corel 45 and Farr 40 classes. There will be lot of Quattro winches in the 2001 Admiral's Cup.

The trick here was to build a winch with two different drum diameters. Two speeds, two diameters equals four speeds. For fast trimming, you use the larger diameter lower drum. For power, use the smaller diameter upper drum. All the Quattro winches have aluminum drums and have a race of ball bearings that supports the vertical drum loads.

For more information on Harken winches see www.harken.com. And be sure to check out the Harken CompuSpec system for determining the best equipment layout for your boat and its use. See www.harkencompuspec.com.