Do we need to rethink our relationship with electric winches – Nikki Henderson

Electric winches have outrun our training. Nikki Henderson explores the 'Mollie' tragedy and how we must bridge the safety gap at sea

It’s rare that emails landed in my inbox with a subject like ‘MAIB reports on fatal sailing accident’. But a recent Monday was one of them.

In August this year a 74-year-old Kiwi skipper died after getting ‘entangled in a powered winch’ on his 57ft steel monohull Mollie. He was a few miles offshore from the Needles, en-route to Poole, having sailed to Europe from New Zealand.

The MAIB report detailed what happened: a 24V electric winch with an intermittently defective control switch started turning unexpectedly as the skipper was removing a rope. His right hand got caught and he was pulled violently against the winch drum. With no emergency switch close by to cut the power to the winches, the crew could not free him in time, and he died. It’s a harrowing read. But, read through it we must, without judgement or ego. Because we learn by reflecting on tragedy.

Electric winches are divisive. On one side, they make sailing dramatically more accessible, especially for those who aren’t so physically able. But they also carry serious risks. Electric winches can create an unhealthy disconnect between sailors and their boats and nature.

They mask the loads involved, they tempt people into relying on power rather than technique, and they make mistakes happen faster, with more force and with greater consequence. In Mollie’s case, these consequences were fatal.

So, how do we weigh the danger against the upside? Some might say keep it manual. But that’s unrealistic. Once you’ve used a power tool, it’s hard to even fathom going back to the arduous, by-hand method. You’re going to be hard pushed to persuade a tree surgeon to swap their chainsaw for a handsaw.

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That comparison is useful, though. Everyone instinctively knows a chainsaw is dangerous. But electric and manual winches look almost identical. They operate in similar ways. Most have no automatic kill switch, no emergency stop beyond a fuse (which definitely won’t blow before someone is dragged into the drum). It’s too easy to underestimate the risk.

In September I was teaching a 19-year-old who’d only ever sailed with manual winches how to operate a boat equipped with electrics. She had bad habits to unlearn, and to her frustration I asked her to repeat manoeuvres until she did them safely. By the end of the day she was ready to throw the entire winch at me. She’d been using winches for years – why wasn’t that enough?

Two things struck me. First, how little distinction she made between a manual winch and an electric one. To her they were essentially the same piece of kit. And muscle memory is only useful if it’s correct. We’d save a lot of grief if our training systems taught safe winch and rope handling to a consistent standard from the very first course – with consideration for the fact that every sailor will almost certainly apply those handling skills to an electric winch one day in the future.

So, what can we learn?

First, electric winches need more obvious identification. Perhaps glow tape or red tags or warning labels would be a good start to signal danger. Manufacturers could adopt more stringent safety standards – what about emergency stop switches located right beside every winch, so an operator can kill power with a knee, hip or spare hand. Second, buttons and switches need regular servicing (and clear manufacturers’ recommendations).

Third, winch-handling education needs stronger emphasis. Even the absolute basics – like avoiding loose clothing, tying back long hair, or understanding that the winch itself is dangerous, not just the line attached to it –are often missed fundamentals.
Perhaps the most sobering detail in the report is the skipper was caught not while operating the winch, but while removing a non-working line from it. That could be any of us – training or no training.

Hopefully, this awful event will encourage reflections on the broader safety culture around electric winches. Because, as of today, it hasn’t kept pace with how widely they’re now used. Electric winch technology has outrun the training, regulation and awareness that should accompany it.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t use them – far from it. I see first-hand how electric winches open doors for new boat owners, and that’s a good thing. But, let’s step up and make the changes we need.

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