It's often crossed our minds that perhaps electric winches might be a good idea for Alexia but we dismiss the idea almost immediately - draining the battery bank, all that maintenance, the spare parts to keep aboard, not to mention that if they go wrong it's back to basics pumping iron with the manual winch handle.

So, our third crew member, known affectionately as 'Winchy' has been the answer to our dreams and he's coming up to five years old in September this year. He has worked absolutely perfectly for all this time and has been worth his weight in gold.

A very strong robust 28v right angle unit with rechargeable batteries. The unit fits snugly into the top of any of the onboard winches.

The speed with which it can reel in the jib, or raise the mainsail quite amazing and is even used to raise William to the top of the mast in the Bosun's chair - one battery can do this twice before it needs recharging.

Winchy has certainly made our lives easier.