Changing motor

JRT

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Feb 14, 2017
2,037
Catalina 310 211 Lake Guntersville, AL
Hey I give you props for something that doesn't look like a hack job, curious your feedback with some time on her in various weather.
 

jviss

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Feb 5, 2004
6,745
Tartan 3800 20 Westport, MA
You realize that all of the motive force will be transferred to the hul through the rudder post.
 
Jan 6, 2019
24
Nash 26 Ile Perrot Yacht Club
You realize that all of the motive force will be transferred to the hul through the rudder post.
Well I believe that is obvious, the transom will be additionally reinforced and insulated for sound on the inside. The rudder and gudgeon, I think, should be strong enough for the job.
 
Nov 6, 2006
9,885
Hunter 34 Mandeville Louisiana
Beautiful work, Pete.. The only thing I see is that the leading edge of the rudder is sharp.. It probably should mimic the radius of the original (maybe something like 1/2 or 7/16 radius).. The problem you may see is it will stall much quicker than if it had a bit of radius on the leading edge.. Would be more likely to happen under sail when side loads are high or you ask it for a big change in direction quickly .. You will not lose total control, but it would get pretty sloppy for a bit..
 
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Oct 22, 2014
20,995
CAL 35 Cruiser #21 moored EVERETT WA
Real nice job Pete. Your daughter did a great job with the camera. She did not drop it in the water once.

Nice to have the shop to do such projects.
 
May 17, 2004
5,032
Beneteau Oceanis 37 Havre de Grace
The only thing I see is that the leading edge of the rudder is sharp.. It probably should mimic the radius of the original (maybe something like 1/2 or 7/16 radius).. The problem you may see is it will stall much quicker than if it had a bit of radius on the leading edge.
:plus: There's a reason airplane wings don't have sharp edges on the leading edge of their wings. A sharp edge will try to change the direction of the fluid too quickly, causing a stall.

I'm still not sold on the physics of hanging that weight and drag off the back of the rudder. I'd like to see how it performs to Windward with a mainsail up causing some weather helm, rather than just a gentle broad reach. But it looks like a nice build and it's very cool that your daughter got to share in the testing. :thumbup:
 
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Giro

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Jul 23, 2019
79
MacGregor MacGregor 25 Monterey
I guess my only question would be : What is the advantage of having the 95+, or so, pounds dragging through the water full time? Wouldn’t it be better to raise it up and out of the water?
 
Jan 6, 2019
24
Nash 26 Ile Perrot Yacht Club
I guess my only question would be : What is the advantage of having the 95+, or so, pounds dragging through the water full time? Wouldn’t it be better to raise it up and out of the water?
To be honest I didn’t want to invest too much time before I knew it would work. That being said the drag factor is minimal and similar to the original saildrive.
 
Feb 8, 2014
1,300
Columbia 36 Muskegon
I've never seen that done with an outboard and I can't really imagine it working. First problem is that you'll have a huge weight on the side of the rudder, and when the boat heels it's going to want to swing strongly. The other problem is that all the torque of the engine will be trying to turn the rudder when you want to go straight, which seems like it would be a big fight to counter.
I believe Seaward did that on one or two of their smaller models. Small boat with a small motor, probably 5hp max. Never sailed one but they probably worked ok when motoring. When sailing and heeled over though, the weight of the ob would pull the rudder to leeward. Looked like a bad idea to me.