Westerly Centaur electric backup outboard

[ashtead]

Knowing the entrance to Portsmouth fairly well and having sailed on a centaur in the mid/late 70s from new a few thoughts
1 I doubt any electric outboard will power you in against tide - the keelboats which are kept here at Haslar have petrol outboards but not certain they will punch against tide easily even with petrol
2 if you engine fails you won’t be that popular entering harbour under sail (harbour volunteers might assist its you I suppose) with the tide -I assume you have a vhf to call up harbour master to warn of your situation so they might have a few suggestions anyway
3 if you break down you might be able to get an alongside tow from a rib by calling seastart and joining in advance prudent
4 on our last boat a rough passage dislodged sediment and I suspect many issues are caused by dirty fuel -we called the marina and they used a rib to tow us in alongside but the tide wasn’t adverse and we berth at Gosport. Whether you could get help from Wicor marine if you are there or Gosport boatyard might depend on timing.
5 you do have a number of other options given your shallow draft -anchor off Lee on Solent and try to fix issue, go to chi to find a buoy,pick a buoy up off Seaview, etc etc
6 nowadays outboards are not the seagulls of yore - buy a secondhand 2 stroke anyway eg a 3.3 merc/mariner for 200 and a Light weight dinghy say as it might be useful to go ashore once mother ship attached to a convenient buoy.
7 get a marine mechanic to give your beta once over -he might give you some comfort in your engine -I’m sure John Quirk or suchlike be known to you.

 

[Stemar]

(harbour volunteers might assist its you I suppose)

I believe funding for them was stopped fairly recently.

Many years ago, we had a Snapdragon 24 with a very tired MD1 engine that was probably giving about the same output as a healthy electric outboard - we could do about 2 knots. Getting back to Portsmouth a bit early, I was going to wait until the tide turned, but Madame was tired, and just wanted to get home, so I decided to give it a go. 3/4 hour from No 4 buoy to Ballast! I was taking regular transits to see if we were still making progress.

"I do not want a smelly petrol outboard and fuel tank on board so I am thinking electric."

I very much doubt any sensible electric OB would take you through the harbour entrance and up to Fareham, certainly not against any tide.

I don't want a smelly anything on board, either, but an outboard doesn't have to smell. A properly closed fuel tank shouldn't leak, and a 3.5HP OB suitably padlocked to a rising transom bracket would push that Centaur quite happily in reasonably smooth water. Add a dinghy, and you've got, not only an emergency engine for the boat, but a means of exploring places you can't take your Centaur and an emergency life raft into the bargain.

 

[dunedin]

Seastart is ~£140 per year.

https://www.seastart.co.uk/

I'd be doing that.

Oh it does show how the other half lives - RAC for boats

Rather different in other places (but yes a better solution for the OP)

 

[Tamar]

Could you just chuck the anchor out in the rare event of engine failure and wait for a tow when coming it? Out at sea you can sail to a suitable anchor and sort the engine out

 

[ashtead]

Clearly one bolt hole for a centaur which springs to mind is Newtown creek -plenty of anchoring there in shallow mud or should you be lucky with wind direction sail down medina and find a spare pontoon to loiter on while you fix the diesel.

 

[Mark-1]

Could you just chuck the anchor out in the rare event of engine failure and wait for a tow when coming it? Out at sea you can sail to a suitable anchor and sort the engine out

None of those is remotely as convenient as a spare engine. We're all (mostly) weekend sailors, some of us have drying moorings and have to be home at specific times. So yeah, there are plenty of alternatives, but if convenient a completely spare engine is nice to have.

If that's not possible, if convenient, a spare electric engine with 40 minutes run time and enough umph to get onto the nearest mooring or to get you round that next bend onto the home stretch to sail to your destination makes a load of sense.

In the OP's case it may not be convenient but the idea is totally sound.

 

[Tranona]

None of those is remotely as convenient as a spare engine. We're all (mostly) weekend sailors, some of us have drying moorings and have to be home at specific times. So yeah, there are plenty of alternatives, but if convenient a completely spare engine is nice to have.

If that's not possible, if convenient, a spare electric engine with 40 minutes run time and enough umph to get onto the nearest mooring or to get you round that next bend onto the home stretch to sail to your destination makes a load of sense.

In the OP's case it may not be convenient but the idea is totally sound.

Only really applicable with small boats as anything over 1KW is horrendously expensive and impractical to use on a yacht. This is nothing new. Basically the same applies to petrol outboards - those suitable for use on dinghies are of limited or no use on yachts and those used on yachts limited or of no use on dinghies. The dinghy alongside is arguably the most effective but even then only in benign conditions. The issues are power, shaft size, mounting and control.

So your "spare" electric engine is going to cost you literally £thousands, need to always have a fully charged battery, have its own special mount (unless your boat is already powered by an outboard) and then not do a good job.

Remember the OP has a boat weighing 3 tons or so and a 20hp inboard.

 

[Mark-1]

Only really applicable with small boats as anything over 1KW is horrendously expensive and impractical to use on a yacht. This is nothing new. Basically the same applies to petrol outboards - those suitable for use on dinghies are of limited or no use on yachts and those used on yachts limited or of no use on dinghies. The dinghy alongside is arguably the most effective but even then only in benign conditions. The issues are power, shaft size, mounting and control.

So your "spare" electric engine is going to cost you literally £thousands, need to always have a fully charged battery, have its own special mount (unless your boat is already powered by an outboard) and then not do a good job.

Remember the OP has a boat weighing 3 tons or so and a 20hp inboard.

Hence "if convenient".

Most people will find Seastart more practical, if they sail in the limited area where they provide a service.

EDIT: Guess what the edit was!

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Hence "if convenient".

Most people will find Seastart more practical.

Only if they sail in the limited area where they provide a service!

 

[kevsbox]

Thanks for the inputs, all very useful

 

[fredrussell]

As a leftfield suggestion, how about an 12v electric motor mounted parallel to prop shaft and connected to shaft by cogs and chain. If you’re enjin dies you connect electric motor to house bank and bobs yer uncle that’s not appropriate please stop.

 

[dunedin]

As a leftfield suggestion, how about an 12v electric motor mounted parallel to prop shaft and connected to shaft by cogs and chain. If you’re enjin dies you connect electric motor to house bank and bobs yer uncle that’s not appropriate please stop.

Referred to these days in posh circles as a "parallel-hybrid" drive. Very on trend.

 

[dunedin]

None of those is remotely as convenient as a spare engine. We're all (mostly) weekend sailors, some of us have drying moorings and have to be home at specific times. So yeah, there are plenty of alternatives, but if convenient a completely spare engine is nice to have.

If that's not possible, if convenient, a spare electric engine with 40 minutes run time and enough umph to get onto the nearest mooring or to get you round that next bend onto the home stretch to sail to your destination makes a load of sense.

In the OP's case it may not be convenient but the idea is totally sound.

Except for
- cost - perhaps cost 1/3 or more of the cost of the boat
- range
- ability to keep battery charged for when needed - without leaving over charged and reducing life

 

[PabloPicasso]

Hi all

On our centaur we have a very reliable Beta 20 which I service every year, but as we all know you never can tell if it will fail. At present we do not have a backup outboard and I do not want a smelly petrol outboard and fuel tank on board so I am thinking electric.
The outboard would only be used should the Beta fail so in such cases it would be sail as close to a safe haven as possible and then motor to the nearest marina.

Our home marina is eay up in Fareham Creek so not sure an electric could take us through the harbour entrance and then all the way home.

My question is has anyone done this on a Centaur sized yacht and if so what size motor did you purchase?

Most sailing boats with Beta inboard deisels use sails as a backup source of propolsion, or is it the other way around?

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Most sailing boats with Beta inboard deisels use sails as a backup source of propolsion, or is it the other way around?

Centaurs in the Solent use the moon for primary propulsion.

 

[oldmanofthehills]

1Hp is 750Watts thus about 60A, and thats expecting a lot from a standard 12V lead acid battery as its not designed for such loading for very long. Our battery is a transit type 92 so theoretically could give 60A for an hour and a half - but in practice it wouldnt.

1HP is also pretty feeble if any adverse current. 2HP better but thats 120A and I expect the lead acid battery would fry if one tried to take that for more than a few minutes, never mind the hefty cabling needed. What the OP would need for battery propulsion is a dedicated Lithium system - I think they sell such as an outboard. Of course the range of most is fairly small and they are very expensive.

A 2HP petrol outboard stored on the stern rail is simpler - of course it would need a lifting outboard bracket as otherwise almost inaccessible. I see no reason why some spare petrol in a can should be any worse than the spare diesel, WD40, lubricating oils and various oddities that normally lurk in the bilges

 

[PabloPicasso]

1Hp is 750Watts thus about 60A, and thats expecting a lot from a standard 12V lead acid battery as its not designed for such loading for very long. Our battery is a transit type 92 so theoretically could give 60A for an hour and a half - but in practice it wouldnt.

1HP is also pretty feeble if any adverse current. 2HP better but thats 120A and I expect the lead acid battery would fry if one tried to take that for more than a few minutes, never mind the hefty cabling needed. What the OP would need for battery propulsion is a dedicated Lithium system - I think they sell such as an outboard. Of course the range of most is fairly small and they are very expensive.

A 2HP petrol outboard stored on the stern rail is simpler - of course it would need a lifting outboard bracket as otherwise almost inaccessible. I see no reason why some spare petrol in a can should be any worse than the spare diesel, WD40, lubricating oils and various oddities that normally lurk in the bilges

Except that petrol stored in a can goes off in a few months. If the o/b is just a back up it seems likely that by the time its needed the stored petrol will be forgotten about, left deep in a locker, and will have lost its oomph leading to startung issues right when you need the motor most.

Replacing stored petrol will be another scheduled maintenance chore to overlook.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Except that petrol stored in a can goes off in a few months. If the o/b is just a back up it seems likely that by the time its needed the stored petrol will be forgotten about, left deep in a locker, and will have lost its oomph leading to startung issues right when you need the motor most.

Replacing stored petrol will be another scheduled maintenance chore to overlook.

How about a can of that special stuff, forget the name. It’s ethanol that makes petrol go off.

 

[Mark-1]

Except for
- cost - perhaps cost 1/3 or more of the cost of the boat
- range
- ability to keep battery charged for when needed - without leaving over charged and reducing life

Well yes.

An electric outboard doesn't do what I need an engine to do but an electric chainsaw is exactly what I need. Then I saw the cost and the petrol version didn't seem so bad after all.

 

[Mark-1]

Replacing stored petrol will be another scheduled maintenance chore to overlook.

It certainly is but it's not *that* onerous. I keep my E5 petrol un-mixed and if it isn't used in a reasonable time it goes in my car and is replaced.

Actually scratch that, it's a PITA.