Hi there,
Having owned HT “Camargue†(MkIII) for nearly 12 years with a single fixed 9.9HP high thrust long shaft outboard, I can honestly say that there weren’t many occasions when I really struggled with close quarters manoeuvring (the last was when the current owner came for his test sail and it was blowing 35 knots on the marina – isn’t that always the way!!).
Admittedly it took most of the 1st season to get comfortable with the configuration and feel of the boat under varying conditions, but thereafter it was fine.
As Soltrykknew has indicated, the real key is to get some momentum so that water is flowing past the rudders thus allowing them to take effect. This does unfortunately mean your need to work the engine hard in both forward and astern, using neutral as appropriate….but it does mean your approach is relatively fast in comparison with other sailing craft.
One thing that I would strongly recommend is that you really need an engine such as the Yamaha 9.9HP high thrust outboard because this is specifically designed for heavy displacement boats such as the HT. Just to give you an idea of the thrust available, if I was to engage reverse using a lot of rev’s I could almost stop “Camargue†instantly (there was actually one occasion when my wife was thrown over the foredeck and was left holding on to the pulpit for grim death).
Now for the bad news…….
Having sold “Camargue†we purchased “Distant Drummerâ€, a HT27 with a single fixed 9.9HP high thrust engine and I’m afraid to say the experience was completely different. It took us over a season to really understand why and in the end we opted to install a single diesel and twin hydraulics rather than try to address the issue.
In my view the primary reason for the massive differences between the models relates to the depth of the propeller in the water. I’m not sure if you are aware, but one of the differences between the models is the additional 4 inches that exist between the bottom of the bridgedeck and the water. In “Camargue†the bottom of the outboard mounting bracket used to just touch the water…..so the propeller was well submerged on all occasions (well below the manufactures recommendations I hasten to add).
In “Distant Drummer†this certainly wasn’t the case and often resulted in the engine cavitating in anything but the smoothest of seas. To try and correct this the previous owner had installed an ultra long shaft outboard…but because of the engine lifting configuration on the 27, the prop still wasn’t anywhere near deep enough. Given our longer term plans for “Distant Drummer†we didn’t really consider how to address this problem (it would probably involve some form of glassfibre moulding bonded to the nacelle allowing the engine to be lowered further)…so instead we invested in a single diesel and hydraulics.
I’m sorry I can’t help further, but I would like to provide you with the reassurance that once you’re engine configuration is right, and with experience, you to will be pretty happy with your close quarters ability in all but the worst conditions.
