When we selected a windlass we looked very hard at the Lighthouse. It is a beautiful and quality piece of equipment but we ruled it out primarily for the following three reasons.
1. Difficult installation compared to others like the Lofrans Tigress.
2. I didn't like the vertical motor installation as water can get into the motor. I personally knew one Lighthouse that got water in it in Mexico. That's an anecdotal example and certainly does not represent their quality.
3. Price - Vastly overpriced for what you get. You can get a brand new anodized Lofrans for $2100
We recently replaced our ten year old Tigress for an anodized one. After ten years of heavy use it was in perfect condition except that it was the white enameled version and needed a paint job. I had always wanted the anodized version and finding a great price we bought it. We got $1,000. for the old one. I don't know how hard the Lighthouse is to work but the Lofrans is real easy, although we never had to make any repairs. We consider our windlass to be one most important pieces of equipment on the boat and gets heavy use. We used it yesterday to go up the mast. Just my opinion but I believe the Tigress is by far the best choice.
Here are some photos of the new windlass.
