Given that the drawback of a single engine configuration is lack of back-up should the one and only engine fail, I chose to fit a hybrid engine when I decided my ancient bobtail Yanmar was past it. I now have a 30hp Beta diesel, with a 5Kva
generator driven off a toothed belt, which (should the diesel fail or I wish a silent exit/entry in or out of a mooring) becomes a 10Kva
motor when
power is fed from the
batteries. Of all the options, it satisified KISS, was the lightest and simplest to fit. The only marginally complicated task was to make a 50mm pad for the transom, so as to move the Sillette leg far enough back to allow space for a hydraulic
gearbox needed to disengage the
motor from the engine. Check out Hybrid
Marine on the Isle of Wight.