O-34 Winch relocation: Lewmar 43 (secondary) to replace cabin top Lewmar 30. Good idea or not?

[CTOlsen]

I am in the process of removing my originally installed secondary winches, Lewmar 43's in order to add some comfort real estate on the deck. Additionally, I'm moving the cabin top winches, Lewmar 30's, aft about 10" (removing the original horn cleat) to improve use of them for sheeting purposes.
I am leaning heavily towards putting the 43's on the cabin top in place of the 30's. Both sets are in good shape, the 43's have seen very little use since they were originally in place for use as running backstay winches, but running backs were never installed by myself nor the original owner.
So I'd appreciate some feedback, particularly if you've faced a similar situation. A transom shot is provided, unfortunately the boat is currently under cover so I can't get a good cockpit shot.
Thanks,
Craig

 

[Loren Beach]

I like my upgrade to the housetop winches, from the stock 30ST to new 40ST Lewmars. Hopefully the annual WM 2-for-1 sale will be coming up again in February or March.

O34 - New Housetop Winches & Clutches

The June-July project was to 1) replace the factory Lewmar ST30 winch on each side, 2) replace the out-of-production clutch stoppers on each side, and 3) move both winches aft toward the rear edge and move the clutch array back to make them a lot...

ericsonyachts.org

I have seen similar boats with spinnaker sheets led up the housetop, also.

 

[Saverio]

Good morning, excuse me, your stern, equal to the First 34.7 Beneteau, but is it an Ericson?? Hello.

 

[CTOlsen]

Similar, yes.

 

[Loren Beach]

Good morning, excuse me, your stern, equal to the First 34.7 Beneteau, but is it an Ericson?? Hello.

I have seen pictures of two different Olson 34's with the cockpit sole modified andextended back to create an "open stern". One of the was done by a guy that owned a boatyard; it's pretty expensive due to the amount of labor and engineering involved. I briefly mentioned it to the guy doing our re-fit last year, and the estimate gave my wallet a seizure.

I should also point out that the production run of 39 Olson-34's was indeed built by Ericson, after they bought the tooling and patterns from Pacific Boats in early or mid 1988. So, yes, my boat is an "Ericson" !

 

[Saverio]

your olson 34 is a beautiful boat, unfortunately it has never been seen in Italy!!!