Sailing with outboard

[dunedin]

Interesting .
Only 7 years to go before new petrol and diesel cars are banned. I wonder what applies to the marine sector.

No equivalent regulation imminent yet. Suspect Princess and the like would need to close down, as not going to get 80 foot planing apartment blocks using battery power.

 

[coveman]

If it's anything like my old boat the well was directly under the tiller with about 2 or 3" clearance between top of engine and tiller..

Yes, that would be my problem - i think its just a question of leaving the outboard in place . Its quite heavy at 27kgs to be lifting it up and down too regularly - I'm quite happy to put up with a slight drop in speed - I was really just concerned that maybe leaving it in neutral or leaving it in gear would harm the engine, but I think my concerns are largely unfounded.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

No equivalent regulation imminent yet. Suspect Princess and the like would need to close down, as not going to get 80 foot planing apartment blocks using battery power.

Yes. It's going to be tough on the power boat market when it comes in but is probably a long way off.

 

[Marceline]

we're in a similar situation to the OP with a 24' Jaguar with a well and a 6hp petrol outboard, but also with an epropulsion 1kw for our tender

I'd love to have the option of using either for our boat (depending on tidal strenght etc as in Menai Straits) and have been thinking of fitting a liftable bracket to the transom for the epropulsion (as I don't think we'd be able to reach the petrol outboards throttle as the Jaguar's transom slopes away - like it this photo I'd noticed on an old boatshed listing. But also the epropulsion can be worked with one of it's remote controller options)

I'm just trying to figure out who/where I could ask to get something like this fitted before we head out onto the water when the season starts again (we're still very new to things)

we thought we could use the epropulsion when tides are quite gentle and the petrol for when things are stronger

 

[Tranona]

I think the idea has some merit. Petrol outboards in wells are already noisy. A forward anchor type locker could house the generator and could have sound insulation although cooling may be a problem . Some deckhead space in the V berth would also be lost.

A few years ago, I came across a barge with the system designed for the French Canals. It did have a large battery bank though. The owner seemed happy with it.

Just wonder if you have a death wish! Those petrol generators are designed to operate out in the open and have no way of dealing with the poisonous exhaust fumes. You cannot use a generator to power an electric motor direct. First you have to fit a charger to charge a battery bank then fond a motor to fit on an outboard leg. How are you going to fit all this in a 20-25ft boat which is what normally use an outboard.

No doubt you have seen a portable petrol on the deck of a barge being used to charge batteries that might be used to power the boats, but it is a crude and inefficient way of getting energy. The great barrier to electric powering of boats is the poor energy density capability of batteries and the difficulty of replacing the energy used for propulsion. Diesel/electric using a generator is one solution but in the 30 odd years it has been on the market has failed to make any progress because it is complicated, inefficient, bulky and expensive.

 

[Tranona]

we're in a similar situation to the OP with a 24' Jaguar with a well and a 6hp petrol outboard, but also with an epropulsion 1kw for our tender

I'd love to have the option of using either for our boat (depending on tidal strenght etc as in Menai Straits) and have been thinking of fitting a liftable bracket to the transom for the epropulsion (as I don't think we'd be able to reach the petrol outboards throttle as the Jaguar's transom slopes away - like it this photo I'd noticed on an old boatshed listing. But also the epropulsion can be worked with one of it's remote controller options)

I'm just trying to figure out who/where I could ask to get something like this fitted before we head out onto the water when the season starts again (we're still very new to things)

we thought we could use the epropulsion when tides are quite gentle and the petrol for when things are stronger

View attachment 148826

Those brackets are widely available and easy to fit if you can access the inside of the transom. you may have to reinforce the transom.

However you cannot expect an engine whether petrol or electric designed to move a dinghy to also be able to power a 24' sailboat. Two entirely different requirements with different solutions. Your electric may give you 2 knots in flat calm water but just not enough power to deal with any adverse wind or tide.

 

[Marceline]

thanks Tranona and will have a look for some. We can access the interior of the transom (there's a small hatch down below that we can hopefully manage to use)

We did try a quick experiment last year with the epropulsion in the well while moored and into a mid/strength tide and it did push the boat ok but it was a faff swapping out the heavy outboard and the epropulsion, so we thought this extra bracket idea could be worth a try as it'd give us options (so, say we're travelling down the Menai Straights towards Caernarfon from Port Dinorwic and going with the tide and theres a slight/no wind we could use the epropulsion and drop it down and still have a quiet/peacful time on the water and some steerage, but if we're needing to head back/against the tide we could fire up the petrol outboard etc that is still in the well)

 

[coveman]

thanks Tranona and will have a look for some. We can access the interior of the transom (there's a small hatch down below that we can hopefully manage to use)

We did try a quick experiment last year with the epropulsion in the well while moored and into a mid/strength tide and it did push the boat ok but it was a faff swapping out the heavy outboard and the epropulsion, so we thought this extra bracket idea could be worth a try as it'd give us options (so, say we're travelling down the Menai Straights towards Caernarfon from Port Dinorwic and going with the tide and theres a slight/no wind we could use the epropulsion and drop it down and still have a quiet/peacful time on the water and some steerage, but if we're needing to head back/against the tide we could fire up the petrol outboard etc that is still in the well)

I would agree with you - not only can you use the epropulsion when suitable it is always a good safety backup to your petrol engine. I imagine something like your Ikw engine would be ideal to move you off a mooring or from a marina before using your sails. An additional bracket was something I was also looking into. I think electric engines have come a long way now - for example the epropulsion nav 3 and 6 are equivalent to 6hp and 9hp petrol engines according to the literature - ok , range is more limited but surprisingly good depending on battery choice.
The main problem as I see it is the cost!

 

[Marceline]

thanks Coveman - glad it sounds not too bad an idea. We'd also love to get one of the Navy range one day - sadly finances means we're at least a few years away