Why the Welly Centaur will be better and safer than a donkey Centaur

Erbas said:
If the proposal was to buy a half decent Centaur with a cream crackered engine, stick a 15hp outboard (for preference but a 10 would do at a pinch) on a bracket on the stern and use it for a season before selling it on again it would make some sense

But the flaws in Dylans oft repeated in thread after thread plan are legion and are being ignored especially by the laudable Mr. Winters who does so delight in being a little perverse and slightly unconventional

The well isn't a totally barking mad idea, it will work passably (er) well (sorry) and Dylan will live with it's inherent flaws partly because it suits his approach and partly because there's no way he's ever, EVER, going to admit that the critics were in any way shape or form even partially right!

But it isn't going to suddenly redeem all the mouldy old boats festering away in the boondocks of boatyards because they are not there only and solely because they have knackered inboard diesels. They have knackered sails (£1.5k to £2k), knackered rigging, running and standing (got to be getting on for a grand), knackered electrics, pumps, instruments and everything old, tired and past its use by date.

It's all very well but by the time you've put such a boat back into half way decent condition, you've easily spent what it would have cost you to buy a tidy example in the first place! OK if doing up boats is your thing, that's fine as long as you're happy to "lose" money on it, or if you're doing it up as a long term keeper (which is what I'd planned with Brigantia <sigh>)

I personally think the well is a daft idea. For the love of God, either fix or replace the inboard or stick an outboard on a bracket!
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you will be able to watch the films and judge for yourself

in the fullness of time

D
 
dylanwinter said:
me mate Giles sent me this



Double Stern Bunk in a Centaur!



In the recent AWON (American Westerly Owners

Newsletter) Bob Kriet and Linda Benson described

the modifications to their Centaur “Beau” in which

they cruise. These are probably the most dramatic

Centaur mods that have ever been extensively reported

in a WOA Newsletter!






“Beau is a highly modified, much customised 26’ Centaur. In 1995 I cut out 2/3rds of the

cockpit well, took out the old, but running MD2B Volvo, redecked over the cockpit and

installed a 9.9hp Yamaha high thrust outboard on a bracket on a stiffened transom. By

doing so, I note the following advantages over inboard powered boats:-

1. a weight saving of 300 - 400 lbs.

2. no propeller drag under sail since the motor tilts up

3. no hot, smelly, noisy engine inside the boat

4. the space under the new cockpit is a full size double bed with lots of extra storage

5. the boats tiller can steer the engine as needed via lines and two blocks for greater

manoeuvrability under power. I can back or pull into any place a skiff can

6. no worries about catching crab pots on the prop.

With the 26 (US) gallon fuel tank I installed I can motor 52+ hours @5 ¼ knots or about

270 miles on a fill up. (I also carry a 2 ½ gallon reserve jug) The Yamaha makes 14 amps

of electricity for battery charging. We have 2 deep cycle batteries in our dry, cool. white

painted bilge and have never run out of juice. I have never experienced any serious

cavitation problems (more than a few moments) and after being in and out of many of

the inlets in New Jersey, some in NY, and many in Florida, a round trip that’s on the ICW

(intra-continental waterway) and two voyages to the Bahamas and back from Florida ( 4

Gulf stream crossings).

In all those 100’s of miles, we have not had any trouble with the Yamaha, which leads me

to another advantage of an outboard engine. Ease of repair. The motor can be taken off

the bracket and carried to a repair shop; it weighs just 100lbs.



not a well of course

D
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And you still want a well.
 
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AngusMcDoon said:
Putting a well into a Centaur would make much more watchable video though than just sticking a boring bracket on the back. Whether it works or not, we all want to see it. :)
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Especially when the wizzer first goes into action and the thickness of the layup in a 70's westerly hull is exposed. If there is not a moment of regret or even a change of mind he is a far harder man than me.
 
Dylan,
I've missed something in these recent threDS.

Have you bought the Centaur to have as well a the Minstrel or are you selling the Minstrel etc ?

Two car households are normal these days but two boat households well...................
 
jakeroyd said:
Dylan,
I've missed something in these recent threDS.

Have you bought the Centaur to have as well a the Minstrel or are you selling the Minstrel etc ?

Two car households are normal these days but two boat households well...................
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just to bring you up to speed

my family wish to join me for the Orkney and Shetland

university kids both have their last long summer

we tried two weekends with four aboard Katie L

untenable

she is perfect for one - ideal for two but a nightmare for more than that

so the plan is to dump Katie L ashore up the Tay, put a coer over her, buy a centaur, butcher it, sail it, sell it/dump it

then bring Katie L through the canal 2015

I have just missed a centaur with a jiggered engine that went for £800

so I am hopeful of finding the right boat at the right price

D

so if anyone knows of an old Centaur

dylan.winter@virgin.net
 
Thank you for the update Dylan.
Used to have an A layout Centaur with the old MD1 donk in.
We found it could still run with virtually no oil pressure and a broken crank (the classic cup and cone fracture kept it driving) Only found out one day when we felt excessive rock in the flywheel.

The Westerly Centaur , Ford Escort of the sea.
 
jakeroyd said:
Thank you for the update Dylan.
Used to have an A layout Centaur with the old MD1 donk in.
We found it could still run with virtually no oil pressure and a broken crank (the classic cup and cone fracture kept it driving) Only found out one day when we felt excessive rock in the flywheel.

The Westerly Centaur , Ford Escort of the sea.
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hang on.... MD1...as in eight hp or was that ten
 
Dylan

Have you even contacted Ken Endean about his Sabre conversion? Would it not be worth it? I did even offer on one of the other numerous threads to scan in the articles he's written in Rattling Sabres about his experiences of doing it...twice...and send it to you, but no reply. By the way, he doesn't use any charging off his outboard, I think for reasons of reliability but I might be wrong, so he's 100% solar.

Outboard...fine (but 10hp is not enough). Outboard well...just don't do it. And as for engine controls being far away, my hideously dangerous hot, deep draught, lobster pot swallowing diesel is started on the panel which is down below, and I manage ok!
 
Iain C said:
Dylan

Have you even contacted Ken Endean about his Sabre conversion? Would it not be worth it? I did even offer on one of the other numerous threads to scan in the articles he's written in Rattling Sabres about his experiences of doing it...twice...and send it to you, but no reply. By the way, he doesn't use any charging off his outboard, I think for reasons of reliability but I might be wrong, so he's 100% solar.

Outboard...fine (but 10hp is not enough). Outboard well...just don't do it. And as for engine controls being far away, my hideously dangerous hot, deep draught, lobster pot swallowing diesel is started on the panel which is down below, and I manage ok!
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sorry, I thought I sent a PM but it seems that I failed to hit the correct button after writing to you.

That would be great...I would love to see them

dylan.winter@virgin.net

23,botyl Road,
Botolph Claydon
Winslow
Bucks MK18 2LP
 
NealB said:
Iain C said:
Outboard...fine (but 10hp is not enough). QUOTE]

I use a 9.9hp, extra long shaft, high thrust Yamaha 4 stroke, on our high freeboard Comanche 32 catamaran.

It's a fantastic engine.

It's been totally reliable, starts first time, is quiet and not outrageously thirsty.
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That is what I have too, but unfortunately they are not available any more. Honda or Tohatsu now from Japan, or Selva if you are brave.
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NealB said:
Iain C said:
Outboard...fine (but 10hp is not enough). QUOTE]

I use a 9.9hp, extra long shaft, high thrust Yamaha 4 stroke, on our high freeboard Comanche 32 catamaran.

It's a fantastic engine.

It's been totally reliable, starts first time, is quiet and not outrageously thirsty.
Click to expand...

I do think that some people's only experience of outboards is old two strokes

which are thirsty, smelly and hated running at low revs unless regularly de-gunked

The Commanche weighs in at 2500kg

as opposed to the 3,000kg on the Centaur

the project continues to hang together

especially if "good Centaurs" with jiggered engines can be had for £800

Dylan
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Dylan...I'll have a look tonight for you and email it over. It's a good article.

Pete...in the usual place but I take your point. I'm fairly sure Ken's Sabre doesn't have remotes, but even so it would be a far easier project to rig up a remote throttle for a transom hung motor than to chop a hole in the boat! Ken has a "notch" in his transom the same as a RIB or dory so he can still access the engine when it's "down" from the helm.
 
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