Italwinch is the Mz Electronic brand dedicated to the design, production and marketing of anchor winches and capstans. It’s a young brand (but with a long history behind it) that today has become the core business of a company, Mz Electronic, that began as a developer and producer of electronic apparatus the third parties and through a series of targeted acquisitions specialised in the nautical field, with both electronic and mechanical know-how. A particular history that has succeeded in combining the working and knowledge of materials with electronics in a single company.
Italwinch by Orvea winches (vertical, horizontal and capstans) are today all in AISI 316 stainless steel. A choice that combines the quality of steel with its aesthetic appeal. The product range includes solutions for small boats, like the IKI horizontal winch with gearing and motor incorporated in the winch to be mounted on deck, through to custom products made for mega yachts.
In addition to winches, the catalogue also includes thrusters and a series of accessories including chainstoppers, chain counters, radio controls, handheld controls and the “energy” range with battery chargers, inverters and charge distributors.
Orchid and NV-16 winches
One of the latest Italwinch products is the new Italwinch NV-16, launched at the 2019 Mets in Amsterdam.
It is a particularly strong winch, a high range product with high quality standards usually found in winches on much larger boats. The new NV-16 can use 12 to 16 mm stud link chain and is ideal for boats of up to 42 m. It has an electromagnetic brake as standard and dog clutches. There are no conical clutches because they may slip under high working loads.
The Orchid winch is a model between the Smart Plus line, for yachts of more than 10 m, and the Star plus line for boats up to 26 m. Orchid is a vertical axis winch available in high- and low-profile versions. It is designed to be particularly versatile, has various motors (12V, 24V, 230V, 400V or hydraulic) and can use 8, 10 and 12 mm chain; it is supplied with the chain counters sensor already integrated.
For the first time Italwinch introduced the line-chain system on winches of this size as it is much in demand in countries such as the United States and China. Orchid supports this system only for 12 mm chain and is compatible with three-strand 18 and 19 mm line. In addition, Orchid also has a heavy duty 2300 W motor for sustained heavy applications. It is suitable for boats of up to 22 m.
Custom projects
In addition to catalogue production, Italwinch makes customised systems above all for super- and megayachts; this activity has been consolidated with the acquisition of Officina Navale Nanni (ONN) in Viareggio.
The internal Mz Electronic design office in collaboration with the various yards designs the safest and most efficient anchoring system and its positioning on board. Italwinch works with the leading yards including Perini (it made the winches on board the Maltese Falcon, for example) Benetti, Rossinavi, Codecasa, Viareggio Superyacht, Azimut, Sanlorenzo, Amer, Gulf Craft etc.
Still in the superyacht sector, Italwinch presented (in Genoa last year) a range of bow and stern thrusters generating thrust from 220 to 2100 Kgf for yachts of up to 85 m. Italwinch thrusters have motors in aluminium, bodies in steel and four-blade Nibral propellers. Hydraulic or electric motors are available.
