Woodsong wrote:
How on earth would a windlass know how long a boat is? Would not displacement and length/size/weight of chain/anchor be more a better measurement for sizing a windlass?
Yes, but......** Many, maybe most, boaters don't make the effort or take the time or bother to learn how to apply these factors to their buying decisions.* The simpler the decision process, the greater the volume of sales will be.* Everyone knows how long their boat is.* I would wager a lot of boaters don't know how much their boat weighs.
So you relate everything to boat length.* The typical boater can deal with a chart that says for this length of boat, buy---
This weight of anchor.
This size of anchor chain.
THis size of shackle.
This size of swivel (if they succumb to the hype that swivels are Good and*the more expensive the better
).
This size of windlass.
Start throwing things like boat weight, windage, wind strengths, current strengths, bottom characteristics, battery capacities, cable run lengths, alternator capacities, and so on into the mix and the average boater isn't going to have a clue, and worse, probably won't buy your product because you've made it too hard to figure out the right answer.
So keep it simple and make a sale.