Sail Drive

[Bogart]

Has anybody hard and fast thoughts about this drive method? Spoken to a couple of people who thought they were one step down from the Devil's spawn.

Surely they are not that bad?

[Smoggy]

On what type of boat? No good for a cruiser.

[grendel]

can the mast be lowered for bridges?

 

[grendel]

looking at the picture, my thought is that it would be far too easy to damage on the bottom on the broads, with less than 1m of depth in places, anything unprotected sticking out of the bottom of the boat is at high risk.

[MargeandParge]

Looks like a fantastic weed cutter. 

Regards Marge and Parge 

[ChrisB]

The main problem with "Sail Drive" is when they reach the second hand market because it is only then you discover that the unit was not maintained as well as it should.

In common with "Outdrives" on motor boats the drive has to go through 90 deg, nothing wrong with that but oil changes are critical as is replacement of seals this inspection requires a lift out and as a lot of folk only start up to get in and out of the marinas so skip it.

However !!! If it is a vessel from the Newbridge range (Corribee, Navigator etc,) and should it be fitted with a Seagull outdrive, don't touch it.

Personally, I raced inshore on a boat fitted with a Sail Drive as a syndicate member but for my own boat as we went bluewater I could never fancy having a hole that big in the hull. Many short handed long distance boys and girls have no holes below the waterline these days.

[ChrisB]

I just had to phone a friend as I had forgotten which make we had on our syndicate boat. It was a Yanmar unit and the chap I phoned bought the rest of us out of the boat rather than sell her when we gave up. He still has her at Christchurch and the motor is still going 27 years later. But I must stress she is lifted out every winter and the engine and sail drive leg are serviced annually regardless of hours run. 

[NeilB]

Designed for sailboats who want less drag, normally used with a folding prop.  Also reduced installation time for boat builders as package comes with it's own engine beds ready to be glassed in with no shaft alignment required.

Not much use on the Broads.

[Bogart]

One point that struck me on seeing this on a broads boat was , as mentioned, how much it sticks out below hull.

And as pointed out they may be more efficient propulsion wise but are more maintenance intensive due to a complicated gearbox. Plus the seal around the exit hole needs to be 100% and inspected regularly.

[Smoggy]

At least with inboard/outdrive you can lift for shallow water, can't do that with a saildrive.

But it can punch a neat hole through the hull to make space for itself, this is not a good thing...

They call it a SAIL drive for a reason,  it's meant for people with no sense of direction. 

[NeilB]

It's quite a basic gearbox really, the oil can be changed from inside the boat on drives less than 10 years old or so.  You need to keep an eye on the prop seal to prevent water ingress but they seem quite robust.  They can burn through anodes though depending on location.  Very few reports of them being damaged by grounding, if you reverse onto something the rudder will be crunched first and there's a huge great keel in front of it !

The hull seal is supposed to changed every 7 years but I've heard regular stories of 20 year old ones looking like new. 

[Bogart]

Like most things advantages and disadvantages, though for broads crusing the the latter outweigh the former.

[PaulN]

I have had a Volvo Saildrive and no complaints at all, no 'A' bracket and no cutlass bearing and stuffing box. However, that was on a yacht with a keel and deep rudder so no chance of it running aground and punching a hole through the hull. I wouldn't have one on a broads cruiser though, as too vulnerable and  a weed catcher.

[Speleologist]

NeilB has summed up saildrives rather well. The hull seal is a potential weak point, but can easily be fitted with an alarm to alert you of any developing issues. Water ingress in the event of prop seal failure is an issue. Every time I have had something wrapped on my prop it has let to the seal being damaged. It's an easy fix but it does entaly taking the boat out of the water. Grounding it shouldn't be an issue. The key is in the name. They are designed for fitting to sailing yachts and so are protected by the keel and by a rudder that is much larger than on a motor boat.

There is one other major benefit. By keeping the propeller well away from botht he keel and the rudder the propwalk is minimised. As an instructor I find that this makes teaching students to handle a yacht in reverse is a whole order of magnitude easier.

The Yanmar ones that we use also have proved durable. We are just replacing them after the first failure on our 5 yachts. They are 7 years old, which doesn't sound like a lot, but the yachts are in use around 40-45 weeks a year and the units have done in excess of 6000 hours.

[Bogart]

As you say keep them to yachts.

[stumpy]

I believe they've fitted an electric sail drive, or something similar, to some of the Hunter fleet. Round here, which is amateur lobster pot central, sail- and out-drives are known as devil's egg whisks.

[grendel]

I believe they use the torqeedo drives, which are a bit like an electric outboard