No Bow thruster
- Thread starter xavpil
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Assuming you mean jib halyard - why would you need an electric winch for furling jib which you would rarely raise/lower?
A convenience but certainly not a ”big deal”.
For most sailboats I think a bow thruster is only going to be 'necessary' if the boat won't back up nicely with control - and/or if you have a really tight docking situation, esp if current and wind are typical factors.
I would consider a bow thruster a “nice to have” on a 40 foot boat, but not necessarily a deal breaker if it didn’t have one.
Depends a bit your confidence and ability to dock the boat and your need / availability to have crew.
I sail single-handed most of the time, so I need to be able to dock by myself. Not too hard with my 32-footer, but a strong cross wind and my bow easily blows off the wind. I have come up with ways to mitigate and deal with it…but a bow thruster could always make things easier.
Greg
Depends a bit your confidence and ability to dock the boat and your need / availability to have crew.
I sail single-handed most of the time, so I need to be able to dock by myself. Not too hard with my 32-footer, but a strong cross wind and my bow easily blows off the wind. I have come up with ways to mitigate and deal with it…but a bow thruster could always make things easier.
Greg
No..... But if you feel you need a bow thruster, who are we to tell you you don't. It' only important if you think it is....but I certainly wouldn't make something so easily added to a boat a deal breaker in any way.
I moved up from a C30 to a B411 about 5 years ago. Docking the bigger boat with tide currents and wind was always the comedy adventure at the dock. The B411 had a thruster. My big mistake was relying too much on the thruster to get me out of a bad docking approach. A friendly dockmate took the time to teach me how to back the boat into the slip. Now I use the thruster in pulses to get final alignment usually when half in the slip. I find the thruster very useful especially in unfamiliar docks, slips and fueling.
A bow thruster is a wonderful thing, until it stops working. A dealer once told me that most small boat thrusters had about 100 hours of reliable use. That makes me wonder if the people who use their thrusters to anchor, know this.
However, personally I think everybody should be able to handle their boat as well as, or better than, those with a thruster, without one. It's always nice after a docking when someone comes up and says, "nice job. It must be nice to have a thruster." when that boat doesn't have one.
Its about seamanship and boat handling, which is part of that. Some care nothing for the traditions and skills that a proficient sailor should have. Maybe I'm just old school. A relic of the past. Few, if any, seem to wish to learn the skills taught to me by real Cape Horn commercial sailors of the early 19th century.
However, personally I think everybody should be able to handle their boat as well as, or better than, those with a thruster, without one. It's always nice after a docking when someone comes up and says, "nice job. It must be nice to have a thruster." when that boat doesn't have one.
Its about seamanship and boat handling, which is part of that. Some care nothing for the traditions and skills that a proficient sailor should have. Maybe I'm just old school. A relic of the past. Few, if any, seem to wish to learn the skills taught to me by real Cape Horn commercial sailors of the early 19th century.
We dock our 37’ boat in a slip off a fairway that’s about 50’ wide, with a catamaran sticking a couple feet into the fairway directly across from us. I consider myself pretty good at boat handling (no problems in transient marinas, fuel docks, etc), and on calm days I can get in or out of our slip without touching a piling or using the thruster. But with any amount of wind I’m *very* happy to have the thruster to help make that turn into the slip. I use it for maybe 10 seconds per trip, so even with Capta’s 100 hour estimate I expect many years of trouble free use. It’s been 9 years so far and it’s just fine. 100 hours is 6,000 minutes. That’s a lot of 10 second uses per maneuver.
Bow thrusters in smaller boats is a relatively new phenomena, they seem (I don't have one) to make it easier to maneuver the boat in close quarters, but they don't do much improve boat handling skills and seamanship. They do add yet another piece of expensive equipment to maintain.
For the cost of retrofitting a bow thruster, a larger well designed LFP battery system with solar and larger alternator could be installed and be much more useful.
For the cost of retrofitting a bow thruster, a larger well designed LFP battery system with solar and larger alternator could be installed and be much more useful.
I hear you.
my great grandfather didn’t understand why my grandpa was using a winch. He was used to raise by hand and had big hands. Then my grandpa wouldn’t understand why my dad was using an electric winch. Manual ones were for real men
And now my dad doesn’t understand why I have a two speed electric winch
I personally don’t understand why my son wants AIS.
you get the point
The answer to this is simple, with AIS you are less likely to get run over by big boats. An event like that can ruin your day.
Yeah I mean this was part of the explanation/ justification. Of course AIS is good, like any piece of technology that has proven itselfThe answer to this is simple, with AIS you are less likely to get run over by big boats. An event like that can ruin your day.
It was a logical progression rationalizing progress through new functions over generations. Does not validate that it is better or worse. For some (aka your great grandfather) a simple machine (hands to line) provides a solid reliable system to do the desired work til he could no longer provide the power to drive the system.
All of the new systems to raising a sail remove the operator from the source of power and accomplish the same task (perhaps with less work by the operator) yet are at the mercy of the improved system to function properly. Each new machine adds a bit of complexity and new failure points. These new machines also add an element of cost dependent on the complexity.
I look at the AIS as not in the same class, though I understand the how it was attached being a generational progression. The other systems were methods of power conversion. The AIS is a sensory extension. It provides a totally new capability for the boat it is more like radar or a powerful search light, providing you a means to see where your generations of sailors could not.
While raising a sail might be for everywhere use, AIS provides safety and avoidance information of unseen dangers in advance.
I can see the application of both on a boat.
Hey,
My current boat, a Jeanneau 409, came with a bow thruster in a tunnel. I would not have ordered the thruster, but with used boats you get what you get. Anyway I rarely use the thruster, but when you need it, it is really valuable. Yes I know how to use spring lines, and how to back and fill. The thruster make short handed docking and maneuvering much simpler.
Barry
My current boat, a Jeanneau 409, came with a bow thruster in a tunnel. I would not have ordered the thruster, but with used boats you get what you get. Anyway I rarely use the thruster, but when you need it, it is really valuable. Yes I know how to use spring lines, and how to back and fill. The thruster make short handed docking and maneuvering much simpler.
Barry
The thing is, I'm not anti thruster. I'm just suggesting that any boat owner learn to handle their boat without using a thruster. Then using the thruster when needed, not for every docking.I hear you.
my great grandfather didn’t understand why my grandpa was using a winch. He was used to raise by hand and had big hands. Then my grandpa wouldn’t understand why my dad was using an electric winch. Manual ones were for real men
And now my dad doesn’t understand why I have a two speed electric winch
I personally don’t understand why my son wants AIS.
you get the point
I think the above is good advice. This is my first season with a 40' boat with a bow thruster. In certain situations it really makes things easier - but it is definitely not a "cure all".
I've actually found it too difficult (for me) to use when backing into a slip. I use the common method of turning around and driving facing toward the stern when backing into a slip, and I need all my concentration for that maneuver. Using the bow thruster while reversing would distract me too much from my primary focus. Like a lot of people, I've found that reversing down the channel perpendicular to my slip and judging the "arc" of a backing turn into my slip is much easier than trying to back straight in, with wind and current pushing me one way or the other while i'm trying to keep the boat straight. Just get up speed in the channel, and turn into your slip - that generally minimizes the current and wind effects for me at our marina, and I'm confident up to 15 knots of wind with that technique. More wind and I'd be even more unlikely to use the bow thruster - I don't think it would have the power to overcome the environmentals at that point - its all technique.
I DO find a bow thruster useful in tight quarters for quicker turns such as coming out of a slip in a narrow channel (though I can spin the boat in its length without one) - though a springline is even better for that really, or to negate a bit of wind or current I couldn't adjust for in a maneuver. But it's definitely not a solution for big adjustments - better to bear off and try again.
But to answer your question directly, its not a show stopper to not have one on a 40-ish foot boat. You'll adjust your technique.