Practical Sailor hasn’t tested any of these products yet, but weve evaluated plenty of Harken gear, a variety of gadgets from Blue Sea Systems, and various apparel from West Marine in the past.
Winches are one of those product lines that see very little change over the years, particularly in the lower-end price range. The ease of installation on the new Harken self-tailing winch looks appealing, and the price isn’t too painful. Our last test was in June 2006, when the Andersen winches rated highest.
Based in Bellingham, Wash., Blue Sea Systems manufactures a line of high quality battery selector and disconnect switches. Their website is a pretty useful resource for anyone tackling onboard battery system projects. Back in April of 2002, we reviewed their innovative remote circuit breaker, and the companys 9001e was our favorite in our battery selector switch test in 2005. Designed to eliminate wiring clutter, improve safety, and reduce lengthy wire runs, the will appeal to some sailboats owners who are rethinking their boat battery systems.
The Typhoon jacket looks to have some nice (even if theyre not new) features, but as mentioned in our recent mens foul weather gear test, were not big fans of dark colors on deck, even if youre talking about warm weather gear. Red or yellow are more visible in a man-overboard incident.
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