John I bow to your broad experience and opinion but would say that for me at least, I would not use he boat above 7 tenths as it were. I'm a fair weather cruiser, as happy in a marina as I am making passage and if there's a benefit on shafts above force 6 say then I'm probably not going to see that very often. When I have been put in high winds the engine set up and centre weight of the boat is the best I've experienced. My 500 on ips 435 will vector sideways in 25kt wind, (with heavier gusting) and that's all I need.
Not sure that there is much in the way of fuel savings. MBY's tests of flybridge boats with IPS power tend to suggest that they don't exhibit significantly better fuel consumption over shaft drive flybridge boats. I've always thought that the big advantage of IPS is that it puts the engines further aft releasing more space for accommodation forward. Otherwise I'm with you, I've never liked the idea of dangling all those expensive gears in the water and whilst I've got no proof of it, those forward facing props have always looked vulnerable to getting fouled
Ok, each to their own on that, but considering that while anchored in some nice Med bay you normally have:
In a nutshell, because they are a solution to a problem that doesn't exist - implying other problems along the way (on a boat, only what you don't have doesn't break!).
), one assumes fuel savings are achieved but the big benefit is passenger comfort. No heavy shafts to balance. You can also hold the ship in position without dropping anchor in a pristine coral reef / sea horse habitat. 
Interestingly most cruise ships now use forward facing pods rather than shafts.
Henry
Well, I'd rather compare it to the front steering wheel vs. 4 steering wheel discussion - the latter being, as I previously called the IPS, glaringly a solution to a non-existing problem.
Re. maintenance costs, you don't need to look around for any scare stories - they are much higher than with shafts, period.
Urgh, I wasn't aware of that.
Or perhaps we will start hearing more from them in a 2016 when the first few hulls reach their five year birthday and start to fall apart 
Perhaps it's because they are too busy enjoying their boats to be hunched up over a keyboard
I think there might be some truth in your words. Clearly I hope we don't see boats falling apart but whilst the mechanicals are in warranty / goodwill period swapping out a leg or having it worked on won't be a particular issue other than a bit of time out of the water. In fact I'd even go so far as to say it fuels the love. You can't believe how good VP have been in supplying shiny new parts.
Once that honeymoon period is over and repairs have to be paid in full by the owner that will be the true test. Also once any longer term fixed servicing costs have been covered by owners. If there is genuinely are €20,000 plus services to carry out I imagine we will see a few angry fingers typing away.
Shafts have been around since the dawn of time so there is little to fear hiding round the corner.
Henry
It's funny how you insist that any view against IPS is based on hearsay and not facts.
It's funny how you insist that any view against IPS is based on hearsay and not facts.
Of course any non-IPS boat owner can't speak by first hand experience, what's wrong with that?
Same as yourself, really: you say that you are sold on IPS, apparently based on the only fact that many boats were built with them, but you have a shafts boat.
As if it weren't true that most boats are still built with shafts, and some builders even reverted to shafts for f/b boats after having experienced the awful listing while steering induced by IPS...
Oh, and yeah, the comparison in your last line above is indeed a bit OTT. Just a tiiiny liiittle bit, you know....
I'd expect that sort of argument from a Volvo Penta marketing executive, rather than from a boater.
....ermm... hang on a minute, how's your Swedish?
