SailDrives

[thomm225]

Why are they such a problem?

I found a pretty nice boat (Wauquiez Gladiateur) but it has a saildrive, and I've heard a few negative comments on them.

This boat had a new engine and saildrive installed in 2008.

1983 Wauquiez Gladiateur 33 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

[Stugots]

I have the same question. Also, I've noticed they're in a lot of newer production boats... Are they just cheaper for the manufacturer or something?

[Freerider]

I have a sail drive and although i don't love the fact there's a huge ass hole below the water line, i've yet to have any real problems with it.

Morris Yachts installs them new in their Ocean Series 45RS yacht, their obviously pretty confident in sail drives.

[Stumble]

Originally saildrives got a lot of bad press because the first ones were terribly designed and had a lot of failures. Modern ones are a lot better, but still have a reputation (fair or not) of having maintenance problems.

Frankly I like them, but like many thing involving boats their are trade offs either way.

[Captain Bill]

Saildrives are a good idea, in some cases poorly executed. You'll fins a lot of threads on the problems with Yanmar SD40/SD50 saildrives. Not so much with the SD20s. Volvos not so much.