Exturn Yacht Thrusters

[Tom Stewart]

Hi All,

I'm curious if anyone has any experience with Exturn Yacht Thrusters? I saw there ad on line an am compiling info and wondered if anyone has used them? I have a 47,000 lbs cutter with high freeboard and would very much like a thruster but have very little room up forward to accomidate a tunnel. Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks!!

[BojanglesIV]

Tom, have you heard anything yet on this? I saw their ad in Sail Magazine and would be interested in any real life experiences folks have had with this. Here's the link if anyone else is interested in finding out more. It looks like they've got some installs in Europe but are new to North America.

[Prairie Chicken]

I'm also looking for any comments from those who have installed this unit. It sure looks like a solution for us.

[brankin]

Having installed a sidepower on my Endeavour, I can't express how happy I am with it and bow thrusters in general. This looks like a better mousetrap and should get a share of the market as long as they are competitive with their price.

Thanks for sharing, I have some friends with cats that are looking for a thruster.

[s/v Sunsets]

We are about to put a deposit down for the Exturn YachtThruster. Is there anyone out there that has one that can put our minds at ease-- or not?

Thanks.

[scoobert]

i have never seen the point of thrusters on small yachts (<100') properly piloted, you do not need them. i would rather spend the 4000-12,000 on good training on how to dock properly.

[motion30]

Originally Posted by scoobert

i have never seen the point of thrusters on small yachts (<100') properly piloted, you do not need them. i would rather spend the 4000-12,000 on good training on how to dock properly.

Here we go. ..

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by motion30

Here we go. ..

lol we have a twin screw powerboat at our marina, everytime he leaves, all i hear is wwwrrrrrrrr wwwrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr, he just has no idea how to drive the boat. i get a chuckle out of the ranger 25 having fore and aft thrusters.... cute boats.

[Prairie Chicken]

We put an Exturn 230 on our 38' Beneteau this spring & are extremely pleased with it. At this size & with a light boat we considered going to the smaller version but are glad we didn't. A tunnel thruster was not an option for us due to our hull design so after 20 years without a thruster we were delighted to find a solution.

One drawback we encountered this spring was when tied to a mooring ball one has to keep your lines tight or on a calm night a line may get around the back of the thruster & cleat itself in. After a swim to free the line (not a problem here), we discovered you could accomplish the same thing by walking the line aft.

Scoobert, you've obviously never encountered Med moorings. Here thrusters are almost a necessity. I guarantee the price of the thruster is less expensive than doing significant damage to that multi-million $ yacht you are mooring beside.

SV Sunsets, we like the unit & would recommend it.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

Scoobert, you've obviously never encountered Med moorings. Here thrusters are almost a necessity. I guarantee the price of the thruster is less expensive than doing significant damage to that multi-million $ yacht you are mooring beside.

SV Sunsets, we like the unit & would recommend it.

personally, no. but seeing as how my aft looks like this...

the PO did med moor with no thruster.

[bizzy]

ive had a boat with one and it was a pain catching weed and ropes ,but it did work well . both my boats now have sidepower thrusters and are great , i installed them myself ,did you know the motors can be at any angle you want ? may help with your installation

.Scoobert ,any time you are down this way ,come and try to put my boat in its berth without a thruster ,ill buy you a crate of bourbon if you can do it 7 out of 10 during a week

[scoobert]

Sailboat Docking Techniques at the Maryland School of Sailing & Seamanship by ABK Video - YouTube

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by bizzy

ive had a boat with one and it was a pain catching weed and ropes ,but it did work well . both my boats now have sidepower thrusters and are great , i installed them myself ,did you know the motors can be at any angle you want ? may help with your installation

.Scoobert ,any time you are down this way ,come and try to put my boat in its berth without a thruster ,ill buy you a crate of bourbon if you can do it 7 out of 10 during a week

i think our LWL is about the same. you do have a full keel thou, so i would have to learn the boat, as i did when i went from a powerboat to sailboat.
docking is so very easy, i never understood why people have such a hard time with it. my first week at this marina the twin screw powerboat in front of me crashed into my anchor getting into his dock.... guess i will never understand that inability... its like backing up with a trailer, i can back up 3 articulations without issue....

[s/v Sunsets]

Thank you for the comments regarding the Exturn. They are very helpful.

As for the other comments, thanks for reminding me that I do not NEED a bow thruster, but that I WANT one, though I think I'm still getting one.

[scoobert]

Originally Posted by s/v Sunsets

Thank you for the comments regarding the Exturn. They are very helpful.

As for the other comments, thanks for reminding me that I do not NEED a bow thruster, but that I WANT one, though I think I'm still getting one.

I dont blame you. If i had disposable income like that i am sure i would too! Bow and stern!