I read different opinions about whether to sail with the transmission in reverse, or in neutral. In neutral, the sound of the shaft spinning is quite noticeable. Is this bad for the transmission or of no bother? If sailing in neutral, does the spinning propeller help or hinder SOG? Your opinions will be appreciated. John Richard s/v Jack's Place
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Reverse or neutral
When I first got my Hunter 33 from the dealer this spring, I was told by the service person to leave it on neutral as the Yanmar gearbox will lock if left in reverse making it very difficult to shift out of reverse. However, someone else at the dealership thought it should be left in reverse. I have done most of my sailing this summer with the gearshift in neutral. The prop spins quite a bit and it cavitates when the boat sails above 6 knots. This caused a certain amount of vibration but I was told by the dealer service that this is not an issue. I had a chance to talk to the Hunter factory service last week on this topic. They said that the tansmission should be left in reverse if I wanted more sailing performance and stop the prop cavitation. However, they are also aware of owners complaining about breaking the throttle cable because of the effort required to shift the transmission out of reverse after sailing in that mode. They did not offer any advice on how to get around this. I am not sure which way to go just yet. I know the last time the gear was stuck in reverse I was able to free it by starting the engine. I imagine turning the engine probably moved the gear enough in the opposite direction to unstuck the gear. Like to know what others think. Oliver.
When I first got my Hunter 33 from the dealer this spring, I was told by the service person to leave it on neutral as the Yanmar gearbox will lock if left in reverse making it very difficult to shift out of reverse. However, someone else at the dealership thought it should be left in reverse. I have done most of my sailing this summer with the gearshift in neutral. The prop spins quite a bit and it cavitates when the boat sails above 6 knots. This caused a certain amount of vibration but I was told by the dealer service that this is not an issue. I had a chance to talk to the Hunter factory service last week on this topic. They said that the tansmission should be left in reverse if I wanted more sailing performance and stop the prop cavitation. However, they are also aware of owners complaining about breaking the throttle cable because of the effort required to shift the transmission out of reverse after sailing in that mode. They did not offer any advice on how to get around this. I am not sure which way to go just yet. I know the last time the gear was stuck in reverse I was able to free it by starting the engine. I imagine turning the engine probably moved the gear enough in the opposite direction to unstuck the gear. Like to know what others think. Oliver.
Drag!
John, For best sailing performance coarser pitched props are best left to spin - provided the stern gland is really free running - and most are not. Finer pitch props are best stalled as they can behave like a helicopter rotor with power out. Yanmar say leave in reverse NOT forward and no harm will result. If the engine is difficult to get out of reverse then start it in reverse - it always does - and then select forward.
John, For best sailing performance coarser pitched props are best left to spin - provided the stern gland is really free running - and most are not. Finer pitch props are best stalled as they can behave like a helicopter rotor with power out. Yanmar say leave in reverse NOT forward and no harm will result. If the engine is difficult to get out of reverse then start it in reverse - it always does - and then select forward.
Reverse, unless you have some kind of
Australian V-drive or something, If YOU WANT to sail in neutral get a shaft lock and mark when prop straight up & down for least drag (2 blade, 3 blade get 1 behind the keel I guess). It's not really good to keep all the gear turning when sailing.
Australian V-drive or something, If YOU WANT to sail in neutral get a shaft lock and mark when prop straight up & down for least drag (2 blade, 3 blade get 1 behind the keel I guess). It's not really good to keep all the gear turning when sailing.
Reverse does seem to stop the turning
After reading the most recent string on this subject last month I experimented with leaving my Westerbeke 1987 13.5 in Reverse on the mooring. In Reverse the bilge has stopped collecting water from the turning against the old packing gland while out on the mooring (which it did in neutral and Forward), so that would be the position that locks the shaft from moving. I couldn't find more information on this matter in my manual, but will use Reverse when I'm sailing in the future (unless some other Westerbeke owners have thoughts on that)...
After reading the most recent string on this subject last month I experimented with leaving my Westerbeke 1987 13.5 in Reverse on the mooring. In Reverse the bilge has stopped collecting water from the turning against the old packing gland while out on the mooring (which it did in neutral and Forward), so that would be the position that locks the shaft from moving. I couldn't find more information on this matter in my manual, but will use Reverse when I'm sailing in the future (unless some other Westerbeke owners have thoughts on that)...
Why Reverse Is Better and How To Unlock It
You should sail in reverse unless you're in a race and really don't want any drag with the prop. (If you're that serious about racing performance, buy a folding prop.) The reason you should be in reverse is the gear inside the transmission that takes the pressure of the water on the prop. The reverse gear is a little different than the forward gear and places the strain on a different set of internal reduction gears. These gears transfer the pressure to the crankshaft in a different manner than the forward gear making it easier on your motor/crank AND transmission. Forward gear places all the pressure directly on the primary reduction gear and then straight to the crank. This causes excessive wear and tear on these parts. Which gear do you use most? Reverse or Forward? If you had to wear one gear out before the other, you'd want it to be reverse, right? Freespinning a prop wears out four parts very quickly: 1) the reduction gear in the transmission, 2) the seal in the exit of the transmission 3) packing gland (if of old style), 4) Cutlass bearing. You can add a fifth part: carrier bearing, if you have one between the the transmission and the packing gland. Some boats even have universal joints and more than one drive shaft between the transmission and the packing gland. Having said all that, there are two types of transmissions out there that are specifically designed to let the prop free spin as when they are in neutral; there are NO spinning gears inside the transmission; only the shaft spins. I had one of these and it drove me nuts because it started whirring/whining over 6.5 knots. I finally put a generator on the shaft so I could not only charge batteries off the sail power, but it kept the shaft spinning slow enough not to make a lot of noise. It is highly unlikely that a production boat built after 1990 would have one of these transmissions. They are usually found on offshore rigs such as Hans Christian, Tayana, Moody, Swan, Hinckley, etc. so I wouldn't be concerned with it; reverse is almost always your safest bet. For those interested in how much drag your getting with a fixed prop in reverse gear, my 23" by 22 pitch three-bladed prop cost me less than one-quarter knot...less than the inflatable dinghy I tow. It's almost ignorable if you've got plenty of sail area. NOW, how do you get those pesky transmissions out of reverse while sailing? Eventually, you want to crank the engine back up, presumably to return to your slip, enter a mooring field or anchorage, or some other reason that would mean you were about to douse sails, no? The trick to getting the transmission out of reverse gear is to be going less than 1.5 knots. (One knot on some boats.) You could do an incredibly slow tack stopping the boat in irons until it slows enough to pull the transmission out of reverse but that flogs the sails and causes wear on that equipment. Why not wait until the jib is secured completely then while you head up to douse the main (it's going to luff anyway) you simply wait for the boat to slow, change out of gear, then crank the engine? Yes, you can start the engine in gear without severe damage, but something about that just says "hard on equipment" to me and I'm not interested in replacing a transmission....ever! So I like to just slow the boat first then shift out of gear before starting the engine. It's easy on me and the equipment and I like that plan. Comments?
You should sail in reverse unless you're in a race and really don't want any drag with the prop. (If you're that serious about racing performance, buy a folding prop.) The reason you should be in reverse is the gear inside the transmission that takes the pressure of the water on the prop. The reverse gear is a little different than the forward gear and places the strain on a different set of internal reduction gears. These gears transfer the pressure to the crankshaft in a different manner than the forward gear making it easier on your motor/crank AND transmission. Forward gear places all the pressure directly on the primary reduction gear and then straight to the crank. This causes excessive wear and tear on these parts. Which gear do you use most? Reverse or Forward? If you had to wear one gear out before the other, you'd want it to be reverse, right? Freespinning a prop wears out four parts very quickly: 1) the reduction gear in the transmission, 2) the seal in the exit of the transmission 3) packing gland (if of old style), 4) Cutlass bearing. You can add a fifth part: carrier bearing, if you have one between the the transmission and the packing gland. Some boats even have universal joints and more than one drive shaft between the transmission and the packing gland. Having said all that, there are two types of transmissions out there that are specifically designed to let the prop free spin as when they are in neutral; there are NO spinning gears inside the transmission; only the shaft spins. I had one of these and it drove me nuts because it started whirring/whining over 6.5 knots. I finally put a generator on the shaft so I could not only charge batteries off the sail power, but it kept the shaft spinning slow enough not to make a lot of noise. It is highly unlikely that a production boat built after 1990 would have one of these transmissions. They are usually found on offshore rigs such as Hans Christian, Tayana, Moody, Swan, Hinckley, etc. so I wouldn't be concerned with it; reverse is almost always your safest bet. For those interested in how much drag your getting with a fixed prop in reverse gear, my 23" by 22 pitch three-bladed prop cost me less than one-quarter knot...less than the inflatable dinghy I tow. It's almost ignorable if you've got plenty of sail area. NOW, how do you get those pesky transmissions out of reverse while sailing? Eventually, you want to crank the engine back up, presumably to return to your slip, enter a mooring field or anchorage, or some other reason that would mean you were about to douse sails, no? The trick to getting the transmission out of reverse gear is to be going less than 1.5 knots. (One knot on some boats.) You could do an incredibly slow tack stopping the boat in irons until it slows enough to pull the transmission out of reverse but that flogs the sails and causes wear on that equipment. Why not wait until the jib is secured completely then while you head up to douse the main (it's going to luff anyway) you simply wait for the boat to slow, change out of gear, then crank the engine? Yes, you can start the engine in gear without severe damage, but something about that just says "hard on equipment" to me and I'm not interested in replacing a transmission....ever! So I like to just slow the boat first then shift out of gear before starting the engine. It's easy on me and the equipment and I like that plan. Comments?
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