jet thrusters

[davehr29]

I have a 37 foot yacht wich since changing to a variprop, which has transformed the boat much faster under sail and motoring but it has lost all the prop walk we used to rely on to help turn the boat and get into our berth.
Rather than fit a bow thruster we are considering fitting a water jet bow thruster.
http://www.willdo.nl
Has anyone had any experience of using one ?????
Dave P

 

[badman]

First time I have heard of one more info please.

 

[Wunja]

They are produced by Vetus van Ouden.

A pump is driven from the engine and sends high pressure water to jets located below the waterline for and aft on each side.

There was a short article in PBO last month (or could have been YM /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif )

Vince

 

[tangofour]

very short article in PBO. Very complicated setup!

Pump thrusters are not really novel, big ships use them. I thought it would be easier to mount a centrifugal pump, say 2 kw, up in the bow with the option to suck from outside when thrusting or from the bilges in an emergency.