A manual marine winch includes a winch housing; a rotating drum assembly supported on the housing; a winch line selectively spooled and un-spooled on the drum; a manually actuated control for spooling and un-spooling the winch line including a handle for selectively tensioning the drum and moveable between a position engaged with the drum for winch line tensioning and stowed position wherein the handle is not engaged with the drum; a tension holding mechanism comprising at least one ratchet gear coupled to the drum, at least one pawl selectively engaged with at least one ratchet gear to hold tension on the winch line, and a knockout configured to selectively disengage each of the pawls to allow for release of tension on the winch; and a biasing mechanism selectively engaged by the handle and configured to bias the handle toward the stowed position when the handle is engaged with the drum.