Grinder (sailing)
Grinder refers to a device on a sailing ship for driving a winch (winch).
Surname
Grinder is a common Anglicism that describes a type of drive for winches on sailing yachts.
In the sixties, still called were partly Hebelwinschen usual, which were driven by a lever on the Winschsockel. As a counterpart to this, winches were developed that were driven by a crank inserted into the top of the drum. The advantages were obvious - you could now crank in a circle and no longer had to move a lever back and forth. However, cranking these winches was similar to grinding with a coffee grinder - the term was invented.
At the beginning of the 70s, a remote drive was also developed, especially for the large sheet winches, which then took over the name Coffee grinder . The meaning changed, no longer the winch, but the cranks separated from it were called coffee grinders .
In English, however, this expression is unusual, the English expression for "grinder" is pedestal (base, structure, pedestal). However, the people who operate the coffee grinder are referred to as grinders in both English and German .
construction
A crank is attached to each side of a column in the cockpit or on the deck on a horizontal axis, similar to an upside-down bicycle drive. The rotary movement below deck is directed to a distribution gear via bevel gears , a chain or a toothed belt . From there the power is directed to one or more winches at the same time. In most cases, both the direction of rotation and the transmission ratio can be adapted to the respective task.
Difference and advantages compared to a winch control with an attached crank
- When cranking a grinder, the operator does not need to crank horizontally on a winch below him. He can use his entire upper body and thus generate significantly more strength.
- Two people can crank a grinder at the same time, while this is usually impossible with a winch due to lack of space. The available power can thus be doubled again.
- One or two people can crank a grinder (i.e. concentrate only on the drive), while a third operates the actual winch. The "crank" and winch operator are therefore spatially separated and thus do not stand in each other's way. The winch can be where it is needed, while the crank can be where it is safe.
disadvantage
- Due to the multiple diversion of direction via different (at least two) angular gears, the efficiency drops, which is more than compensated for by the additional use of the power of the second arm alone.
- Grinders are comparatively expensive because of the small number of pieces produced and the time-consuming adjustments to the local conditions.
- Two people are desirable for optimal operation. In addition, a person is needed to check the result (trimmer), as the grinder operator often cannot see the sail or winch at all or can otherwise influence the sheet or line.
use
Grinders are mainly used on large regatta boats, on smaller boats the loads to be applied are so small that their use is not worthwhile. Grinders are therefore not installed under approx. 13–15 m boat length. Even cruise ships that place less value on optimal usability usually do not use grinders, as they take up a lot of space on deck.
Further meaning
As Grinder also the operator of Grinders is called. This is also the case in English. The term 'coffee grinder' is only used in English for particularly large winch drums, regardless of how they are driven.