Sail Drives..Like em?

[smj]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

This does happen with outboards.

You are absolutely correct. But no need for the expensive haul out!

[a64pilot]

So if saildrives are cheaper, why aren't they the only thing on a Hunter?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

So if saildrives are cheaper, why aren't they the only thing on a Hunter?

A few of them do have sail drives. The E33 and the New Marlow-Hunter 37 and 40

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Well, I've never said that I had a "real" cruising boat (with no spare engine and drive unit) but then I have been pretty busy cruising and haven't had time to chase down the proper ride!

And in fact, our friends with a Seawind 1200 who sat a saildrive down on a pinnacle rock and shoved it up into the hull, breeching the rubber seal and flooding one hull did managed to get from (IIRC) Whangaroa all the way to Whangerei with only a few extra pumps going full time... running on their spare engine.

Of course, if they had had a "half-boat" they could have slipped there in Whangaroa to fix it, thus avoiding that rather stressful voyage.

Boats are floating collections of compromises, and we all have to choose which ones matter the most to us.

Cheers,

Jim

Hmm, a half-boat would have been on the bottom. Much more needed than just a slipway. Might have a been little higher on the stress meter.

No argument, all things are a compromise. Some feel the benefits of a saildrive outweigh the negatives, others don't. Some look for the bogeyman.

[robert sailor]

Well I started this thread, I have been completely away from sailing for over 12 years and a friend who knows I have had lots of experience told me he was looking at a newer French built boat with a sail drive and wanted my opinion. My first reaction was that I didn't like them as I had always seen them as a budget choice that was OK for fresh water lakes. Another sailing friend with Pretorien 35 had his saildrive bottom end(Volvo) corrode to a point that it needed replacement and it was unbelievably expensive. However the marina we are wintering here in Turkey has a large number of boats on the hard and I noticed for the first time that almost all the newer boats had sail drives and I figured that maybe things had changed which is why I posted. It has turned out to be good because I've learned quite a bit.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

This does happen with outboards.

Very easily fixed though.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Very easily fixed though.

So after all this it's the outboards that are the best!

I'm finally doing a little maintenance on my 2011 5 Hp 4 Stroke Extra Long Shaft Mercury Outboard that I use to push around my 6600lb full keel "starter boat " a 1974 Bristol 27. I've been using and abusing this little motor for the passed couple years without a break.

I wanted a little more detail on the impeller replacement and lookie here what I found online. The entire shop manual for the darn thing.

It even makes a page turning noise as you go through it!


Boatinfo - Mercury Service Manual for 4-5-6 hp

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by colemj

Yes, you should throw it away and install a shaft drive immediately before touching water. The saildrive will fizz away, tear a giant hole in your boat, and cause so much drag as to make you move backwards. Especially if the boat is in or around Australia - where all saildrive boats spend their entire lives on the hard being repaired.

Mark

Well the reason I was asking about what should be done to a Saildrive before final immersion should I buy a boat with that type setup is because I keep seeing things like this: (I'm actually looking at a Wauquiez Gladiateur 33, but you get the drift. This from the Mahina Website

Pretorien 35 * FRANCE Strong, fast & attractive, built by Wauquiez. Great value. Modest tankage, some have saildrives, a negative

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by thomm225

So after all this it's the outboards that are the best!

Absolutely!

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by thomm225

So after all this it's the outboards that are the best!

Outboards are the best at cavitation and popping out of the water just when you need them the most.

Great for boats under 35 feet then they get pretty sucky on anything bigger.
It’s like putting a gas engine in a 40' foot tractor trailer trucks, just a bad idea on a big scale.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Outboards are the best at cavitation and popping out of the water just when you need them the most.

Great for boats under 35 feet then they get pretty sucky on anything bigger.
It’s like putting a gas engine in a 40' foot tractor trailer trucks, just a bad idea on a big scale.

And you of course can name all the cats you have extensive experience on that use outboards?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by smj

And you of course can name all the cats you have extensive experience on that use outboards?

Seawind 1000
Maine cat 30

[smj]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

Seawind 1000
Maine cat 30

So no experience on a larger cat? Yes outboards aren't the cats ass on all cats but on certain cats they are great, including larger ones.

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by smj

So no experience on a larger cat? Yes outboards aren't the cats ass on all cats but on certain cats they are great, including larger ones.

On what planet would this be a good idea? These Yamaha 9.9 will get stuffed in a 6 foot wave.

If your going from A to B in heavy weather you will be standing still or blown back to A.

In heavy weather the pucker factor goes exponential with outboards.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

On what planet would this be a good idea? These Yamaha 9.9 will get stuffed in 6 foot wave.

If your going from A to B in heavy weather you will be standing still or blown back to A.

In heavy weather the pucker factor goes exponential with outboards.

As I said, outboards arent the answer for ALL cats but there are quite a few large cats doing quite well with them. You obviously have no experiance with these.

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