Winch line entry angle?

[AnaLog]

Hey Sailors!

Have some questions about winch line entry angle. According to Harken it should be between five to eight degrees.

http://www.harken.com/article.aspx?id=15885
Scroll down a ways near the bottom of the page.

So that appears to be interpreted as Harken's "optimum" line entry angle.
What would be an acceptable range? (All my winches are/will be Lewmar, although I think winch brand doesn't matter - does it?)

My (engineer) thinking:
* Line entry angle range could be from horizontal to the drum to the angle of the base.
* Five to eight degrees is probably the minimum to guarantee no overrides.
* And a little less than the angle of the base (five to eight degrees??) would prevent the potential for the line to wrap around the base instead of the drum.

So, for one of my winches with a base angle of about 25 degrees, a good line entry angle would be between five and 20 degrees. Another winch has a base angle of about 33 degrees, so its line entry angles could be between five and 28 degrees. A guess out of the blue without knowing anything, I would choose half-way between horizontal and the angle of the drum base as the optimum angle.

My good old (cruising) boat came with eleven winches, I'm in the process of getting that down to nine, with the potential to be eight. Besides the winches I am repositioning and/or renewing, I'm not happy with any of the winch positions/angles, and since I'll be renewing all the winches' fasteners and there isn't a winch on the boat I don't want to change it's angle and/or position - your experience and opinions will be greatly appreciated!

Ana