Motorsailing

  • 05 Feb 2014 11:06
    Reply # 1491059 on 1490069
    Anonymous member (Administrator)

    Stavanger, Wednesday

    All my sailboats have had outboard engines only. I have found that boats with a square transom and short overhang ( like Malena) worked very well, even in some chop. It would have worked even better if it had been mounted at the centreline. Double-enders are not so easy to fit with an ob. engine. The engine tends to get drowned by waves and therefor needs a kind of box around it to deflect the side-waves and the rising sternwave. I can see the point in having an ob. well in these boats.

     

     

    When I bought Johanna, still with a dead diesel engine on board, I was a bit sceptical to fitting her with an outboard, because of her semi-long overhang. However, it has turned out to be a success. The engine, with hi-thrust propeller and extra long leg, pushes us to hull-speed (6.3kts) on flat water, and I have measured the consumption to 0.5l/NM at 5.8kts. I don’t say that the outboard on Johanna will handle offshore conditions in much wind, but at least the propeller stays well in the water when we are hit by stern-waves from ships. The only time the propeller cavitates, is if I turn the boat sharply at speed.

     

     

    My advice is to put quite some effort into the designing and constructing of the outboard bracket. To me, the ideal one slides up and down on long rails. With a 2 to 4-part purchase the engine’s vertical position can then be adjusted under way to fit the conditions. This would even let one have an offset-mounted engine and motorsail on any tack. The engine should definitely have the extra-long leg (25”?) and a hi-trust propeller. Yamaha makes some good ones.

     

     

    I have only motorsailed Johanna once, close-hauled, but was surprised how well it went. The three sail panels in use added a knot to the speed. No cavitation, despite heeling quite a bit in the gusts.

     

     

    Cheers, Arne

    Last modified: 05 Feb 2014 13:12 | Anonymous member (Administrator)
  • 04 Feb 2014 22:04
    Reply # 1490573 on 1490069
    An outboard well is certainly more effective for motorsailing than a transom mount.  Even in flat water, my outboard motor cavitated when on the port tack.  I thought seriously about fitting a well instead of the diesel and sometimes wish I had.  Taking the outboard ashore for repairs is a lot simpler!  However, fuel range is what finally swung my decision.  I didn't like having 60 litres of petrol in the cockpit for one thing, and I still had a very limited range.  The efficiency of the diesel means I can motorsail for several days if need be on remote sections of the coast.  It all depends on one's cruising grounds.  In parts of Australia, like North Queensland and Western Australia's Kimberley region, extreme remoteness, strong tides and lots of unlit reefs combine to make effective motorsailing a good option when the winds don't oblige.  What I like best is making 10 - 15 mile passages with easy anchorages - then, I often sail on and off the anchor and only start the diesel when the wind fails.  The Whitsundays are excellent for this sort of sailing which is why I have spent so much time there.  Pity about the cyclones!

    I have unbridled respect for people, like Alan on Zebedee, who cruise happily and successfully without engines, but for me, a little judicious motorsailing when needed takes a lot of the pain out of coastal passagemaking, especially singlehanded.  With a reliable crew, you can keep tacking forever, but on your own, there is a strict use-by date!  I can go 18 hours without a problem, if also without much pleasure.  24 hours is a bit of a strain and 36 hours is close to my limit (I take 10 minute catnaps).  Being able to effectively motorsail means that I can usually get my anchor down before dusk. 
  • 04 Feb 2014 17:21
    Reply # 1490356 on 1490069
    Gary, thanks for your kind comments on mag 64, which all of those who either wrote material for it or helped it on its way will much appreciate.

    Graham - a nice piece of forum moderation. If you're not careful you'll find yourself 'volunteered' to help moderate of one of these fora :-)
    Last modified: 04 Feb 2014 17:22 | Anonymous member
  • 04 Feb 2014 14:16
    Reply # 1490150 on 1490069
    Deleted user
    May be true our 6hp isn't powerful enough, noisy too, we don't like using it at all. Its there for in port. But it is in an outboard well and is unaffected by tossing seas, unlike a transom hung one. The well really works.
    The real solution is wait another day for favourable winds, which came the next day. But the anchorage had become uncomfortable so a moot point.
    But a boat with a big mast perched on the bow like ours really doesn't like steep chop.
  • 04 Feb 2014 09:56
    Message # 1490069

    Gary King wrote (in another forum):
    Hey Graham, we faced 25kt building to 30kt on the nose and short, steep chop yesterday, 2.5kts average. 6 hrs to go 6Nm as the crow flies. Pitching in the seas wipes any speed and caused tacking angles (on GPS) of 135˚! We spent the final hour motorsailing, but with a 6hp motor only 3kts, but enabled 20˚ off the wind which helped a lot. Otherwise it would have been 7 hrs to go 6nm...

    Hi Gary, if you were going to cruise the coast extensively, you might find your outboard too small and the lack of fuel range frustrating, unless you were very patient!  However, once you sail offshore it won't matter, and the outboard will be quite adequate to help you in through reef passes and harbour entrances etc.  I sailed for 10 years with an outboard on the transom and had about a 50 NM range, assuming the sea was flat enough to use the motor.  You learn to be cautious and sail the boat defensively, it makes you a good seaman I guess.

    I love having a diesel now (except when it needs repairs).  It has transformed my coastal passagemaking.  Besides the efficiency of the three-bladed prop, giving me 5 knots to windward when motorsailing at 2000rpm, I also have a much extended fuel range of about  100 hours.  That equates to between 300 - 500 NM depending on sea-state.  However, when I go offshore again, I won't sail any differently than I always did.  Once I am clear of the land, I'll just wait for the wind.  I might use the motor to get in at the end of the passage too, if becalmed or in deteriorating weather.

    Nonetheless, motorsailing with the junk rig, for those who have a taste for it, is one of the highlights of cruising with this rig, as I wrote in some detail in my recent article in JRA Newsletter 64.  (Anyone reading this who is not a member will find the magazine alone well worth the cost of membership!).  It is probably the most efficient motorsailing rig the world has ever seen.

       " ...there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in junk-rigged boats" 
                                                               - the Chinese Water Rat

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