You could SO cheat in a race with one of those!!!Electric drive located in the rudder:
You could SO cheat in a race with one of those!!!Electric drive located in the rudder:
The obligation in that case would be on the motorsailor to make an early and clear move to avoid the other. In any case I don't think the electric motor would make that much worse than a standard inboard. From the perspective of a boat a couple hundred yards away you can't really tell if someone is sailing or motorsailor, unless they're just luffing their sails.I also feel like an electric motor would make it extremely difficult to enforce the Rules of the Road. Respectively, a vessel under power must yield to a vessel under sail. If the vessel under electric power has its main up, then a vessel under sail that has less control in a tight situation wouldn't be able to tell.
I think I have a good final design now. I will post my progress. The rudder is controlled with a cable and wheel and the motor won't tilt up, it is fixed in the water ( much like my current saildrive).Pete, your boat, your choice, but I personally think you are going to hate the feel of the tiller if you do this.
2 other points, I think you will hasten failure of your pintles or gudgeons ending in rudder failure (including likely sudden loss of rudder and engine). Also, when an outboard tilts, doesn't the engine move a good bit forward? It appears your design would not allow tilting....
Do let us know if you do it.
Dave in Tampa Bay
That's an awful lot of stress for a transom hung rudder. All of the weight and force from an outboard will be focused on just a few square inches where the gudgeon attaches to the transom and the attachment of those gudgeons to the rudder itself. If it's a foam cored rudder that's going to be a lot of time to reinforce it. I think it'd be ok for a backup trolling motor but not a 9.9 four stroke weighing in at over 100lbs.Here is my idea - I know you'll have to think "out of the box" but it is worth considering.
The first is my current configuration with the sail drive; the second is how I envision the new rudder. The shaft going to the top of the transom is for an emergency tiller, otherwise the steering is with a cable.
(I think you'll have to rotate them 90* left)
My neighbor at the marina is in the process of doing this to his O'Day 28 now. He machined a massive mount and bought a shaft adapter to couple an air cooled harbor freight 4hp engine to the old lower end unit. The engine ran about $120. His plan is to use it as a backup.Another thing to consider would be to build an adapter plate and mount a 4 stroke vert shaft engine in the same location. It would be air cooled so would need a ventilation plan and the issue of the hot exhaust would have to be worked, maybe using the foot mounted water pump to cool it? Still would be gasoline, but wouldn’t smoke and would burn much less fuel. Harbor Freight has one for about $750.
It is a lot of weight 87 lbs for the OB and there will be force applied to the transom. It looks like the SS Bar runs the full height of the transom and if the transom has a large backing plate inside, I suspect it will be ok. Only the owner will be able to decide if it is working or tearing the back of the boat apart.lot of stress for a transom hung rudder
I will launch this Saturday water level permitting. I will keep you all updated.I just realized how old the original post is.
@Pete145 - Have you launched yet? If so, how does it sail?
I did that on a previous boat. Connecting rod from motor to rudder, and another connection point on the transom. So I could lock the motor to the transom when sailing or to the rudder when I needed the maneuverability under power. The rod was made for fishing boats to connect the small trolling motor to the main motor or outdrive. I think I got it at WM but that was 30 something years ago. Wouldn't be hard to make your own though.I think Davidasailor is correct. Mounting an outboard on the rudder does not seem practical, but using a connecting rod between the rudder and the outboard would give you the maneuverability you are looking for.