External bow thrusters

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picardy

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I have seen the Exturn bow thrusters at boat shows and am impressed with their simple installation and value for money. www.marinno.com/e/index.html

Does anyone have any experience of them or know what the downsides are. Mine would be fitted to a 34ft Elan sailing yacht.

Thanks
 
I did consider the Exturn but my reservation was, having a lifting keel boat it could ground out when settling on the bottom. My other reservation was the price - £3k! If it was half that then I might be tempted.
 
I don't know why people would call them ugly - you only see them when the boat is out of the water. They are quite neat in practice. The cost has to be compared to the cost of installing a "proper" thruster. Having said all that I have one but have been disappointed with the performance but there are more powerful ones than what I got. Someone once said to me (referring to a normal bowthruster) when you really need them, ie, when it's very windy, they are not up to the task but useful for nudging you in the right direction
 
I have always wondered why it would be so difficult to design and build a swing down thruster. Imagine a gap in the bow rail and a thruster on a post that swings from inside a deck hatch up over the bow and down into the water. Yes you might need a new location for anchor. The external thruster on the mobo would be knocked off the first time you nudged a reef or beach.
I certainly don't like the tunnel idea. olewill
 
I've heard that in the last years of Dutch sailing barges, they had a long shaft which hooked over edge of deck - prop at one end and a 2stroke motor at the other. Second hand trotted about the deck and hooked it on wherever a sideways push needed. You could probably take out a whole bus queue with it as well.
 
William_H said:
I have always wondered why it would be so difficult to design and build a swing down thruster. Imagine a gap in the bow rail and a thruster on a post that swings from inside a deck hatch up over the bow and down into the water. Yes you might need a new location for anchor. The external thruster on the mobo would be knocked off the first time you nudged a reef or beach.
I certainly don't like the tunnel idea. olewill
Click to expand...

What you want then is an electric outboard - probably be cheaper as well... eg

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/2905...ixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&adtype=pla&crdt=0
 
Spuddy said:
I've heard that in the last years of Dutch sailing barges, they had a long shaft which hooked over edge of deck - prop at one end and a 2stroke motor at the other. Second hand trotted about the deck and hooked it on wherever a sideways push needed. You could probably take out a whole bus queue with it as well.
Click to expand...

Something could easily be made up out of the bottom end of an old outboard motor with a long tube to transmit the torque and a cordless electric drill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex6F47SjLlM

BTW I think there has been a thread about this before.
 
Hmmm, an outboard bracket sticking out from the bow... Yes, that would work and another source of great amusement as the helm yells commands that can't be heard above the outboard! Actually you could rig the spinnaker sheets as steering lines (like a soapbox cart) and counter the forward pull with the main engine. Turns the hemsman into a pupeteer: steering the outboard with lines, working the tiller and bobbing up and down to the engine lever - wonderful. Clip the killcord to a spare halyard?

This could be great fun single-handed outside a pub midweek, maybe preferrable to practice a little before arriving for a pre-prandial on a Saturday lunchtime at the Sailing Club. Where's your sense of adventure?

Rob.
 
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