OK guys I've recently bought a sailboat and I have a quick question in regards to my anchor winch.
To start with it has a foot button that when pressed the winch pulls the anchor up fine my question is how do I release/ reverse so that the anchor releases and drops
I don't know which Nilsson winch you have, but I expect somewhere it should have a clutch, which can be released to let the chain freewheel out - assuming you're using chain it's not a rope capstan. It may have a socket for a winch handle to tighten and loosen the clutch. Please, no fingers or hands or anything else anywhere near the chain when the anchor is dropped. Ditto when you're winching it in again. some of them had a socket for a manual winch handle, not to be confused with the clutch mechanism.
Any of these look like yours? www.jamesnilsson.com/shop/Winch+Servicing/Spares/Early+Nilsson+Winches%3Fcat=00345.html or is it more recent?
I have an old Nilsson / Maxwell windlass. It has two holes and a big screw on top. Does it look like this one?
www.trawlerforum.com/threads/nilsson-maxwell-windlass.35989/
Move aside the ratchet at the base. I think you have to turn the top disc as well. That controls how fast the anchor drops. Definitely be careful of fingers when you let it rip, and pray the end is fixed to the boat. 
Of course, put the ratchet back and tighten the disc before raising.
Select to expand quoteSilent Hunter said..
I have an old Nilsson / Maxwell windlass. It has two holes and a big screw on top. Does it look like this one?
www.trawlerforum.com/threads/nilsson-maxwell-windlass.35989/
Move aside the ratchet at the base. I think you have to turn the top disc as well. That controls how fast the anchor drops. Definitely be careful of fingers when you let it rip, and pray the end is fixed to the boat.
Of course, put the ratchet back and tighten the disc before raising.
Yes, a friend who's just acquired a yacht at the moorings in Williamstown asked me the same question about his power winch. I don't have a power-winch (though it's high on my upgrades list) but I just showed him how I drop anchor with my manual winch: put a winch handle in the hole on top and use it to loosen the top disc (i.e. like slightly unscrewing the lid of a jam jar) and the clutch will let the chain run out
