Capstan

The Capstan is a Ship component and Ship Customization Item in Sea of Thieves. It is a horizontally-mounted wheel used to raise and lower a Ship's Anchor. Its variants are purchased at a Shipwright and equipped via a Ship Customization Chest.

Mechanics
The Capstan is used to either drop or raise a Ship's Anchor, allowing the vessel to move. The anchor can be dropped instantly, but raising the anchor requires more time and manpower. The anchor will not activate until the crank is complete. It is possible to catch the Capstan while it's going down, allowing the player to hold it right before it engages for a quickly timed stop. The Capstan can be held in place by a player while it is being raised as well. Holding on to an activated Capstan is called "prepping the anchor" to fine-tune when a Capstan is fully raised or lowered. A dropped anchor stops a ship from moving, however it is still possible to move an anchored ship with harpoon pulls or from Gunpowder Barrel explosions. The ship will not immediately halt once the anchor is lowered, if the Wheel is significantly angled, the ship can turn around with it's remaining momentum.

Larger ships have heavier anchors that require more manpower to raise. Each peg of the capstan can be grabbed by a player: A Sloop's capstan has two pegs, a Brigantine's capstan has three pegs and a Galleon's capstan has four pegs.

The Capstan can be damaged with a Cannonball, making it lose one peg. A Chainshot or Gunpowder Barrel explosion destroys all of its pegs. The pegs can be repaired with Planks.

Trivia

 * There is no visible Anchor shown below an anchored ship.

Variants
The following are all the available Cosmetic Figurehead Variants in Sea of Thieves:

Cabrestante