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Old 11-12-2008, 17:30   #1
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Electric propulsion conversions

Hi all,

New to the site and new to sailing, but I've got the bug bad. In fact I need to leave in a few for a "Coastal Nav" class.

OK, to the point. I've been looking for a boat. A project is ok, a lot of money isn't. I've found quite a few that have bad or no engines. It seems I've read a post about a guy that used electric DC motor from a golf cart to power... I think a Columbia 33?

Does any body know of this type of conversion? If so how does one go about calculating the right prop, HP (KW), in an electric for a given size displacement hull?

Some of these deals are great and repowering with electric seems to be a good way to go. If coupled with the right gen-set you could take care of house loads as well as "fueling".

Any thoughts are much appreciated.
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Old 11-12-2008, 17:54   #2
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Hi southbound,

I've recently pulled my moody atomic 4 and put in an electric motor. The motor I went with was made by electric yacht. I have yet to change my prop over because I wanted to first see the boats performance with the old one. I can get a max speed of about 4.5knots, where as I could get around 6.5 - 7 knots under power with the atomic 4. I think I am going to have to go with a bigger prop because of the lower rpms of the motor. I believe the data you require to properly size your prop is the optimal rpms of the motor, the optimal power of the motor and the displacement of your boat. I am still learning as I go, so I hope I am going to learn a few things from this thread as well. Anyhow, i find the motor so far to operate really well. The increase in control in tight areas is great so is the reliability and not having gas onboard gives me a lot of peace of mind. So many pros with only the range issue as being the con, but I feel this can be worked around. anyhow, hope it works well for you. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
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Old 11-12-2008, 22:56   #3
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Originally Posted by Hankthelank View Post
Hi southbound,

I've recently pulled my moody atomic 4 and put in an electric motor. The motor I went with was made by electric yacht. I have yet to change my prop over because I wanted to first see the boats performance with the old one. I can get a max speed of about 4.5knots, where as I could get around 6.5 - 7 knots under power with the atomic 4. I think I am going to have to go with a bigger prop because of the lower rpms of the motor. I believe the data you require to properly size your prop is the optimal rpms of the motor, the optimal power of the motor and the displacement of your boat. I am still learning as I go, so I hope I am going to learn a few things from this thread as well. Anyhow, i find the motor so far to operate really well. The increase in control in tight areas is great so is the reliability and not having gas onboard gives me a lot of peace of mind. So many pros with only the range issue as being the con, but I feel this can be worked around. anyhow, hope it works well for you. If you have any questions please feel free to ask.
Hank,

do you have any info on Electric Yacht? Did you get a voltage/battery bank size/ speed controller reccomendations from them?

I'd be real interested in the process you went through.

thanks.
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Old 12-12-2008, 03:01   #4
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Greetings, and WELCOME aboard, Southbound.

An interesting coincidence:
We purchased our last boat, a C&C29 named “Southbound”, from owners who finally decided that they weren’t (cruising south). We did (cruise south), enjoying “Southbound” for a decade, mostly in Florida and the Bahamas.
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Old 12-12-2008, 06:47   #5
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That's exactly the dream!! From here in Portland, Or, currently, we're due for some snow. I have a sailing class...I must be crazy.

Thanks for the welcome!
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Old 12-12-2008, 07:30   #6
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Originally Posted by Southbound View Post
Hank,

do you have any info on Electric Yacht? Did you get a voltage/battery bank size/ speed controller reccomendations from them?

I'd be real interested in the process you went through.

thanks.
Electric yacht is a new company in their 1st year of existance. they are based in Minnesota. Their website is Electric Yacht - Electric Yachts Mission

The motor and the controller are built into one unit, which makes it very easy for installation. Its really just plug and play. i have 8 trojan t105's in series but you can also run motor on 36v. They supply a throttle and a battery monitor. Install your batteries and secure them, drop the motor into place and allign the shaft, hook up power, battery monitor and throttle and you are ready to go. The most time consuming part was putting in the batteries, everything else only took a few hours.
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