Joysway are now shipping an updated sailwinch known as the ‘DF Sailwinch’. This will now be the standard winch installed in both the DF65 & DF95. It is a digital winch with a coreless motor, full metal gearing, dual ball bearings and rated for use at 6.6v to suit the popular LiFe rechargeable batteries.
The design team have ensured that the new winch, when used with the appropriate drum, matches the sheeting speed of the older winches, so no performance gain is available. When purchased as a spare part it is supplied with both a Red 16mm diameter drum for the DF65 and an orange 25mm drum for the DF95, these fit the unique, 20 tooth output shaft in the winch. No class rule change is necessary following the introduction of the new winch, but a clarification on their use will be issued shortly on the DF World website www.dfracing.world
Why was the new Sailwinch Necessary?
There has long been an issue with the old winches regarding accuracy at the ends of the sheet travel. ‘End Creep’ was the first issue, this is when the winch either sheets in to an inconsistent end point or when sheeted in it would then ease out a small amount, neither of these situations helped with fine control at the fully sheeted in position. Efforts to cure this on the old winches only resulted in ‘Dead Ends’ where the sheet would wind in to a reasonably consistent end point but when trying to sheet out a small amount, nothing would happen and then the sheetline would jump out a few millimetres, once again, not satisfactory control at the close-hauled position.
It became evident that an upgrade in winch specification was necessary to overcome these issues. The design team were careful that this is just a quality upgrade and not a performance enhancing change.
Advantages:
– Accurate sail control
– Same winch used on both classes, so only one spare needed if you race the DF65 & DF95
– Rated for 6.6v to suit the rechargeable LiFe batteries in common usage around the world
– Higher specification and components should lead to a more reliable winch
– No performance upgrade compared to older winches
Disadvantages:
– Quality only comes at a price, so the new DF Sailwinch is more expensive (check with your local supplier for accurate prices), but same winch can now be used on both DF classes
The old sailwinches will still be available as spare parts for those that are happy to continue using them and don’t want to spend the extra for the new sailwinch.
Dragon Sailing USA have published an ecellent video on YouTube showing a comparison of new versus old winches at www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1yFkkMe0T4
NEW – Boat Stand Laydown Upgrade Kit
As well as the new Sailwinch, Joysway have introduced an upgrade kit which can be easily fitted to the existing boat stands to make it possible to lay the boat down on the stand for greater stability and safety in outdoor situations. This kit is now standard equipment supplied with all new version 7 & version 2 boats (see below) as well as being available as a spare part from your local DF distributor.
Version 7 DragonForce65 & Version 2 DragonFlite95
New boats leaving the factory will now be fitted with the new DF Sailwinch and will also include the Stand Laydown Upgrade Kit as standard. To differentiate these from older stock they have been named DF65 v7 & DF95 v2. Apart from these changes, and updates to the box graphics and Building instructions, they are identical to the current boats.
The retail price of the DF boats has been stable for a long time now. So, in line with most other products worldwide, there will be a price rise coming with the new DF65 v7 & DF95 v2 boats. This will be in the region of 20% for the 65 and 15% for the 95 (check with your local supplier for accurate prices). These price rises were necessary for the following reasons:
– Increase in all materials and electronic components in China
– Massive increases in container shipping costs (up to six times what they were a year ago!)
– Upgraded Sailwinch and Boat Stand Upgrade Kit supplied as standard equipment
The increases have been kept as low as possible, but we hope that you’ll agree that the DF boats still represent amazing value for what they deliver.
Issued by the DF Design & Development Team
November 2021
DF Racing World Information Site 