Reply To: saildrive

This thread has been an interesting one! I have just ordered a Torqeedo cruise 2. It gives an equivalent 6hp at the prop (diesel engine HP is measured at the crankcase and looses power through the gearbox, shaft seal and prop couplings, so it is comparable with a 6HP inboard). My plan is to mount it on the stern, that way in marina's it can be turned and give the effect of a stern thruster. As at least 80% of our engine usage is for about 15 minutes – entering or leaving the marina or picking up a buoy – the two 100Ah batteries will run it happily. In fact they'll do 5 hours at half throttle, but only 1 hour at full throttle. I'll keep the centrally mounted Yamaha 9.9HP for longer engine runs and for when I need more than 6HP's of grunt. If the Torqeedo works well, I may replace the Yamaha, but I'll need a year of testing first.

I'll keep you all posted on performance. I'm sure that electric propulsion is a good way forward and may become the engine of choice, but not until battery technology is way way better.

Question is, will the torqeedo mounted at the back and turned sideways (it is steerable from the cockpit) have a good turning force or will it just push the boat sideways? I hope I'm right and it does the job!

[link=hyperlink url]www.torqeedo.com[/link]