Watt and Sea?

[onesea]

Has anyone ever tried one?

Before they where 5k+ but now the little 300w one comes in a little cheaper 3.5k?

http://www.bruceschwab.com/uploads/watt-sea-retail-pricelist-ope-20142.pdf

at 5 knots would it power a hard worked ST2000 basic nav stuffs lights GPS wind Depth etc

It will also be near the rudder so will have some losses due to that.... Not having space for solar or liking the noise for wind and an Auto Pilot that once the wind pipes up hammers the batteries this seems like a good option?

 

[SHUG]

Interesting, but how does it compare to that dual mode thingy that Iv'e seen on some yachts. Whatsit called???

 

[JumbleDuck]

Interesting, but how does it compare to that dual mode thingy that Iv'e seen on some yachts. Whatsit called???

Aquair?

 

[Baggy]

or the DuoGen

seemed popular years ago.
dont see them now

 

[Rigger Mortice]

Aquair?

I've not seen that one before. I was thinking Shug meant the Duogen
http://www.duogen.co.uk/index.html


oops beaten to it!

 

[onesea]

Interesting, but how does it compare to that dual mode thingy that Iv'e seen on some yachts. Whatsit called???

From what I can workout it claims to produce more power for less drag. For me as a coastal sailor with no charging on my home berth it would be ideal for keeping batteries fresh whilst sailing, if its as good as they say... But the advantage in my mind is hook it on and put it down as you leave then haul it up like a dinghy rudder on your return.

The racing varieties seem to have a good reputation but then they are going a we tad faster then my 5 to maybe 8 on a good day, with very rare excursions above....

Unlimited use of autopilot and possibly phone/ tablet charging under way seems like a nice goal to me...

If my present rudder repairs do not dent the budget to much I will be discussing with SWMBO...

Google brings up no bad comments but no new comments either.

 

[MrB]

Not sure if they were watt and Sea hydro's but the one thing that sticks in my mind is that Alex Thomson had two of them (in the last VG) and they kept breaking down all the time, Mike Gascoyne's also broke down on his first transat.

 

[pvb]

Interesting concept, but I wonder whether the Germans might do it even better one day. Is this something Torqeedo might introduce in the future?

 

[Sybarite]

Interesting concept, but I wonder whether the Germans might do it even better one day. Is this something Torqeedo might introduce in the future?

I saw a different type reviewed over here. It is retractable under the boat and is very efficient. You can also use it in the other sense to propel the boat over short distances. About €30k....

 

[pvb]

About €30k....

Ah...

 

[agurney]

It will also be near the rudder so will have some losses due to that.... Not having space for solar or liking the noise for wind and an Auto Pilot that once the wind pipes up hammers the batteries this seems like a good option?

A wind generator will work to top up your batteries while you're away from the boat; you can always tie it down if you don't like the noise, but recent versions are pretty quiet. I can't hear my Aero4gen when sailing.

 

[onesea]

A wind generator will work to top up your batteries while you're away from the boat; you can always tie it down if you don't like the noise, but recent versions are pretty quiet. I can't hear my Aero4gen when sailing.

I really do not like the noise I like less the idea of inflicting the noise on others when I am not onboard... Plus the repair bills if the running back stays get near it would soon mount up...

 

[agurney]

I really do not like the noise I like less the idea of inflicting the noise on others when I am not onboard... Plus the repair bills if the running back stays get near it would soon mount up...

What genny does your neighbour have? I wouldn't wish an Airex on anyone due to the noise ... my aero's pretty quiet onboard even in a blow.

Mounting on a pole on the pushpit shouldn't interfere with stays.

 

[laika]

There's been a few threads on hydrogenerators over the past year. The new breed vastly outperform (on paper at least: I'm just window shopping) anything that's come before, including the duogen. The cristec model (also french) was about £4k last I looked but seems to have rather more attractive power output for the average cruising yacht:
http://www.advanceyacht.co.uk/pdfbrochures/cristec/Cristec_Hydrogenerator_Brochure_AYS.pdf

 

[Sandy]

Has anyone ever tried one?

Nope, but they are on the kit list for the next boat as part of the power system; also having wind and solar energy.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

I think one of the minitransat boats used one successfully last year. The imoca guys used them but with a few problems with the mounts. Of course they were shifting a bit. Although I'm not in the market at the moment I would be seriously considering one rather than a windvane steering system if kitting out for long distance. Of course putting all your eggs in an electrical basket may not be the best option but they've had some serious real world testing now and appear to be pretty good. Add solar and a wind genny and you could be looking at some very usable power.