Tips for handling small yacht with outboard?

[ProDave]

My top tip for manoeuvring in close quarters with an OB, is the ability to rotate the OB so your turning circle is not reliant on speed of travel or wash over the rudder, you can rotate the OB and pretty much turn the boat in it's own length at slow speed.

 

[PhillM]

You will be fine
Just steer with one hand on the tiller or tiller extension and the other on the motor arm , facing aft , (not as daft as it reads, try it please!)
and you will park that Corribee backwards , sideways, crosswind, tail wind, turn in its own length , anything really!
ps I had one too
When I fitted wind vane self steering on the centreline, I moved the outboard lifting bracket to the port quarter , the motors steeringarm now just touched the inboard face of the pushpit leg… so, the pushpit leg now kept the motor pointing straight ahead when running, quite handy. To turn I just lifted the motor steering arm a few degrees to clear the pushpit leg. (Quicker to do than to write about)
The inboard performance was dire. A long leg 5hp pushed it along effortlessly and was much much quieter and vibration free too. Pop a 100l flex water tank where the inboard would go, and a 100a/h battery +holder, job done !

Thread drift... I am trying to see where the blast is? I can see a few lumps of lead, probably 20kg mas in each of the GRP bilge legs but this is nothing like the quoted balast ratio. any pointers would be useful.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

So, I have yet to cast off my little Corribee and have a play with her under power. My last boat and indeed, every other boat that has had a motor, were inboard. So, an outboard is new territory to me.

I would like to hear hints and tips about how to manoeuvre in close quarters. For example, should I lock the outboard and use the tiller or lash the tiller and use the engine to steer?

Just a thought if you can't do a 360 with the outboard. Depending on outboard type, there may be a saildrive propeller option for it. I can only make 45 degrees with mine but the prop provides a lot more grunt, particularly in reverse.

 

[Bandit]

My tip is don’t ask a 18 stone mate to help you do mooring trials who stands on your bow.
With 18 stone sinking your bow and lifting the prop will be in little if any water, making thrust ahead or astern minimal.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Just a thought if you can't do a 360 with the outboard. Depending on outboard type, there may be a saildrive propeller option for it. I can only make 45 degrees with mine but the prop provides a lot more grunt, particularly in reverse.

This is what we bought 10" x 5" High Thrust Aliuminium/Titanium PolaStorm propeller Honda 8-20hp outboards Performance under power, both ahead and astern is transformed. As the motor pivots, albeit only 60 degrees or si, turning performance is similarly improved. There are several good online calculators to help you work out how fast your boat will go with your HP, then what prop will do you best to achieve it.

 

[Blueboatman]

Thread drift... I am trying to see where the blast is? I can see a few lumps of lead, probably 20kg mas in each of the GRP bilge legs but this is nothing like the quoted balast ratio. any pointers would be useful.

The aft end of each bilge keel is a hollow space going down to its base, with a few 200mm ingots of trimming lead casually lying down there ?
If you tap the top of the bilge keel a bit further forward it will sound hollow : it’s just a couple of layers of glass but underneath are packed the bulk of the lead ballast ingots , with a bit of sand poured in to stop them rattling (!)
It’s not the most sophisticated method
Iirc when I removed all the ballast and reset it: A I was able to fit the trimming bits in the enclosed area too.

And B, add a bit of grp around the base so the enclosed area was sealed from any water going down the aft , open part of each keel.

And C, the ballast no longer made a thump/rattle sound each time you tacked.?
The sand required ‘topping up’ ( technical nautical term eh?) as the top ingots were loose and slid sideways a few mm.

The total actual ballast weight matched the stated design requirement .
Hope that helps

 

[matg]

I have a Tohatsu 6 that sits to the left of the rudder on my IF boat. I have a line that goes around the outboard tiller and locks in a clam cleat. This stops the motor turning when going forward. It's easy to remove if I need outboard steering at slow speeds, mainly in reverse. My long keeler always drifts off to the left in reverse. I still have to put the outboard in fwd and turn it full lock to kick the stern right. Reverse thrust is not good enough. I'd recommend a tiller clutch so you can lock the tiller when ob steering. I've had this setup for 10 years with no issues.

 

[PhillM]

The aft end of each bilge keel is a hollow space going down to its base, with a few 200mm ingots of trimming lead casually lying down there ?
If you tap the top of the bilge keel a bit further forward it will sound hollow : it’s just a couple of layers of glass but underneath are packed the bulk of the lead ballast ingots , with a bit of sand poured in to stop them rattling (!)
It’s not the most sophisticated method
Iirc when I removed all the ballast and reset it: A I was able to fit the trimming bits in the enclosed area too.

And B, add a bit of grp around the base so the enclosed area was sealed from any water going down the aft , open part of each keel.

And C, the ballast no longer made a thump/rattle sound each time you tacked.?
The sand required ‘topping up’ ( technical nautical term eh?) as the top ingots were loose and slid sideways a few mm.

The total actual ballast weight matched the stated design requirement .
Hope that helps

Thank you, most helpful. I looked (knocked) today and it is exactly as you describe. I am relieved as I was starting to worry that some previous owner had removed the ballast ... which could have proved expensive to replace. Noted also that any thump/rattle when going about is normal.

 

[Blueboatman]

Thank you, most helpful. I looked (knocked) today and it is exactly as you describe. I am relieved as I was starting to worry that some previous owner had removed the ballast ... which could have proved expensive to replace. Noted also that any thump/rattle when going about is normal.

You are most welcome
Newbridge had a variable reputation but I found the corribee to be essentially well molded and put together
I hope you get lots of pleasure from fitting out and sailing yours .
Ps iirc the stemhead fitting could be either a cast alloy or a bronze unit , the latter is far stronger
And you might wave a magnet across the rudder blade , one or two were found to have mild steel rods not bronze inside, probably long since sorted ?
That’s it ?

 

[Uricanejack]

I used to do almost all my close quarters, going astern, when I had a small 24ft C&C boat with a 9.9 Honda short shaft.
on a bracket.
it’s much easier to see where you are going, when you have to lean over the Stern to reach the throttle and gear shift.
turn the tiller and outboard together.
be careful not to let go of the tiller.

with a short shaft, and being a reasonable sized guy. when single handed. If I went forward to lower the anchor, the prop would come out the water, so into neutral before you go forward.
My wife was effective ballast. When I had crew.

 

[john_morris_uk]

Where is the prop in relation to the rudder? If it is not in front then you will have little rudder control until you start getting water moving over it. On our Pegasus 700 the outboard sits in front the rudder so we do not suffer from that and generally leave it locked centrally but being able to turn it and use it as a thruster is great for close manoeuvres.

That’s like our daughters Pandora. Except I’ve made an infill to go round the outboard so it now gets treated as a sail drive.

I suppose she can take the infill out if the manoeuvres get really challenging.

 

[LONG_KEELER]

That’s like our daughters Pandora. Except I’ve made an infill to go round the outboard so it now gets treated as a sail drive.
View attachment 136154View attachment 136155
I suppose she can take the infill out if the manoeuvres get really challenging.

Nicely done.
Can you still remove the outboard whilst afloat ?

 

[John the kiwi]

Late to the party, but have been on holiday in the UK.
I started to feel like a sheep in the UK, not because i was homesick, but because we were getting fleeced everyday with over priced food and tourist attractions.
Anyways..
On my 26 ft Trailer yacht I have a link to my transom hung OB. By having the link, the OB can be hung very close to the rudder. The OB turns with the rudder so the rudder doesn't get propeller bites.
Having the OB on the transom and not on extension frame and as close as possible to centreline means that the prop seldom comes out of the water unless motor sailing and heeling a lot!
The geometry of the linkage is not trial and error: The pivot points of the rudder, outboard, link connection to tiller and link connection to OB should form a parallelogram. Get it right and rudder and OB will turn to the same angle each way.
My refinement was to fabricate a thumb lever for the throttle and mount that on the tiller. A standard bicycle rear-brake bowden cable is used to link to the carburettor butterfly.
I can tiller steer the boat with rudder blade up or down, and adjust speed without having to turn around and bend down.

I lift off the link and the motor tilts right out of the water when not in use.
I like that if I did have any motor issues, I can reach it without having to lean right out of the boat.
Its a 4 stroke so economical as hell, and quieter than a 2 stroke.
I can post pics if you are interested.
Cheers
John

 

[Chiara’s slave]

My linkage turns the motor more than the rudder because it can, and it enables sharper turns with a burst of throttle. Therefore it’s not a parallelogram. How much it could turn towards the rudder blade without risking a disaster was done by making the link telescopic initially, and welding it when the length was established.

 

[Corribee Boy]

Phil, if you can look down into the keels it's doubly important to seal the top of them - not just against bilgewater going downwards (as mentioned upthread) but because keel damage, such as that caused by drying out on a sharp stone, will cause the entire boat to fill and sink!

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Phil, if you can look down into the keels it's doubly important to seal the top of them - not just against bilgewater going downwards (as mentioned upthread) but because keel damage, such as that caused by drying out on a sharp stone, will cause the entire boat to fill and sink!

Christ! That’s a tip worth following!

 

[Corribee Boy]

It's a thing that's actually happened, which I came across on another forum. It puzzled me at the time as my keels are sealed and so I couldn't see how it had happened.

 

[SaltIre]

My top tip for manoeuvring in close quarters with an OB, is the ability to rotate the OB so your turning circle is not reliant on speed of travel or wash over the rudder, you can rotate the OB and pretty much turn the boat in it's own length at slow speed.

Yup; but if your outboard is on a bracket make sure the clamps are very tight, and don't use too much power. If they aren't or you do the outboard can very easily "twist off the bracket"!

 

[PhillM]

Phil, if you can look down into the keels it's doubly important to seal the top of them - not just against bilgewater going downwards (as mentioned upthread) but because keel damage, such as that caused by drying out on a sharp stone, will cause the entire boat to fill and sink!

Goodness. Another job to add to the list. Pretty high up it too as it sounds like a wholly sensible modification. Thank you.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Goodness. Another job to add to the list. Pretty high up it too as it sounds like a wholly sensible modification. Thank you.

It sounds well worth a couple of gallons of resin.