Save-A-Boat - The Forum for Plastic Classic Rebuilds!

The winch stands on Mahana are laminated 1-by mahogany and showed their age as we were beating to 25 knot gusts on a Sunday last month. For some reason, the s/s screws holding on the bases are sunk into the seams between the laminated wood and don't appear to have ever been very strong. I replaced one of the bases with a piece of solid mahogany last summer and it did a good job of supporting the stand under strain. I now face a larger winter project redoing all the remaining components of the winch stands.

Do other folks have experience with rebuilding winch stands using solid mahogany?

Alternatively, how well do bronze stands perform?

I love my bronze stands. Highly recommended.

Screws into the edge of a laminated component is looking for trouble. If they (the screws) are especially long they can work, but still not the best scenario. Mahoganies hold fasteners well, they are a good choice. I would suggest solid, or go with the bronze stands.

I've decided to try and rebuild my mahogany winch stands. I noticed on ebay today that Triton 227 has stands with a deck supported underlying column of mahogany, whereas mine (hull#188) has a hanging knee attached only to the coaming boards. I've seen the former configuration on other older sailboats and was wondering if this was a design-shift on the part of Tritons in the early 1960s?

More likely a case of previous owner's butchery.

#78 also has the solid wood "columns".

Yes, thanks, I think I agree. I've been looking at other Triton photos and, if they don't have metal stands, they all appear to have laminated columns of mahogany.