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Some of you might be facing the question of what to replace your old Leroy Somer windlass
with, so I have been researching this topic to gather information for those who have
exhausted the available spares and require a new and serviceable windlass.
Short History About Leroy Somer Windlasses
Beneteau and Lagoon have had the Leroy Somer windlasses fitted on some of their models
up until back in the late 90’s, these windlasses had a short career in Group Beneteau, not
due to lack of quality, but on the contrary, these units still seem to be mostly functional and
it is said by owners that they are happy with the product but unfortunately spare parts are
scarce or even none existent. As said by Leroy Somer windlass owners, the windlass is
powerful and reliable, a few owners shared their account of rebuilding the motor or just
replacing the brushes, which are expected to be done at least once in a lifetime of a
windlass. Other than that, no big issues have risen over the web as these units seem to
have been well manufactured with quality housing and components. The bottom line is that
Leroy Somer is a well established electric motor and generator manufacturer that ventured
into the windlass market for a short period and now these are slowly moving out of our
market.
Several years down the road, Beneteau and Lagoon have replaced the supplier Leroy Somer
with an equivalent windlass unit by Simpson-lawrance. These also have been used for a
limited number of hulls before the manufacturers changed suppliers to Quick. Fortunately,
Lewmar have had a series designed to answer the call and the H2/3 series are of the same
design and would fit, with minor adjustments, the layout of their predecessors.
Current solutions
I have gathered a few examples here from several boat owners and presented in a chart
and you can see the superceded windlasses in the chart below:
Leroy somer G16011 - Simpson Lawrance Horizon Express - Lewmar H3
Leroy somer G17983 (#S601 / and S2200) - Simpson Lawrance Horizon 1500 - Lewmar H2
As you know it is not the easiest of missions to replace a crucial piece of equipment on board, let alone nowadays, that is outdated and having no proper product support or literature to help with the decision making, I hope this will ease any of your dilemmas. The following windlass is made by Italwinch and features relatively similar dimensions and specifications, made of aluminum casing, it has the gypsy on one side and a capstan on the other with the gear and motor attached below. The series name is Devon and comes in 12VDC or 24 VDC and 1000W and 1500W, with a wide range of compatible gypsy for various 6-10mm and imperial chain calibrations. You can find more information and related documentation on the Italwinch Devon product page.
Unfortunately, not much more information is available on the web, from here onwards its foot
work. If you do have a windlass made by Leroy Somer and the available information does not
assist you, you can always put in an expert request with the appropriate measurements and a
suitable replacement will be found.