Jason , without a doubt some of the new purpose built boats , like the cat you are looking at , are superb boats , no doubt with a high degree of safety factor .
But I worry about some of the retrofits , in particular.
In my case my boat is a 22 ft Iain Oughtred Grey Seal centre board gaff cutter that I am repowering , and I really would have liked to have been able to use silent electric power for most of the time I am using other than wind power.
Without tearing my beautiful boat apart , there was no way I could go all electric power , and certainly not with the degree of safety I have with even my old I/C engine.
For me , I was really sweating on Hybrid Marine , I think their system would be perfect for me , it would give me the best of both worlds.
But I'm not prepared to wait for it , so I have opted for a Lombardini LDW 502 M.
I know that will take me wherever I want to go , in relative safety , easily.
The example I mention on my last post , well I have been on that trip , but with the wind and current behind me , surfing along at 10 knots in a couta boat .
But what if I had wanted to go the other way ?.
I believe we should set up for the "worst case scenario" , because if you don't , one day you well may regret your lack of foresight.
Another thing .
I am working with a boatbuilder of 40 years experience , and I sail with men of the sea with just as much , or greater experience on the water.
They won't have petrol , or LPG on a boat , end of story.
That of necessity includes outboards.
Simply because petrol is such a volatile , and dangerous substance .
Sounds a bit extreme , but these men used petrol engines in the past , and when diesels became available with better power to weight ratios , they changed all of the petrols out for diesels.
Where does spilled petrol go ?.
Where does leaking LPG go ?.
Are the men of the sea receptive to electric power ? , yes , very much so , but they are realists , and any system has to be shown to be better , and safer , before they will take it on , they aren't doing it for some "warm and fuzzy feeling".
Deal with reality , and stay safe.
Regards Rob J.
--- On Wed, 7/10/09, jasegard <no_reply@yahoogroup
From: jasegard <no_reply@yahoogroup
Subject: [Electric Boats] Re: Repowering 40' 1975 20,000 lb sailboat
To: electricboats@
Received: Wednesday, 7 October, 2009, 8:52 AM
Totally agree with you Rob,
I hear and see a lot about this but I never get any firm examples of different set ups. I've been looking into this for a long time now. I'm looking to do it with a light weight 40-50 ft Catamaran and I don't want to have to rely on a Generator. It seems if we were to do it it would be a certain part experimental. Try this link for some basic case studies of monos with electric drives.
http://www.electric
At the moment we are in the Philippines and about to commission a 40ft Fusion Catamaran that has a Glacier Bay set up onboard. I will be sure to write up here about our experiences once we are in the water. Shall also get some pictures up of the set up.
All the best,
Jason
--- In electricboats@
>
> Don , once again , you would need to be specific.
> Batteries used to propulsion I believe should be seperated from house batteries , otherwise if you got in a situation where the batteries ran down , not only would you lose power , but also the use of a lot of instruments , radio etc.
> But even running a 20,000 lb boat on 4 batteries , where is it safe or astute to do that ?.
> Is it going to be enough to work for hours in to a head wind , or a strong current ?.
> I would dearly like to go to electric power , thats why I've been on this forum for some time , but I've yet to see anything safe enough to use in my environment , and I suspect the same would be true for a lot of other forumites.
> Regards Rob J.
>
> --- On Wed, 7/10/09, postal6@... <postal6@...
>
>
> From: postal6@... <postal6@...
> Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Repowering 40' 1975 20,000 lb sailboat
> To: electricboats@
> Received: Wednesday, 7 October, 2009, 7:56 AM
>
>
> Usually electric propulsion systems are less weight than the original
> gas/diesel set-up. Most sailing vessels utilize two batteries, and the
> addition of two more is less than the weight of a half filled gas/diesel
> tank. And comparing the weight of a gas or diesel engine, with
> transmission, to a Mars electric motor is quite a drastic weight
> differential. Less weight, less chance of flammable explosion, would
> make any insurance entity happy. And if lead cell batteries cause a
> safety concern, alternative
> batteries are available.
> Don Swanson
>
> On Tue, 6 Oct 2009 20:48:56 +0200 "Alan Ford" <alanford@..
> writes:
>
> Gday all
> Replacing keel mass ( in a sailing vessel) with batteries is going to
> affect your boats stability curve, and quite possibly then any insurance
> cover you may have, as you are altering an original design parameter
> pertaining to safety.
> rgds
> Alan
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: aweekdaysailor
> To: electricboats@
> Sent: Tuesday, October 06, 2009 6:17 PM
> Subject: Re: [Electric Boats] Repowering 40' 1975 20,000 lb sailboat
>
> Futher confirmation that the "sweet spot" - sailboats < ~30' holds.
>
> The combination of cheap mass-produced components (golf carts...) in the
> appropriate power range (6HP) and the ICE weight-credit to
> energy-capacity/
> that, and the power requirements start to overwhelm the load-bearing
> capacity of the vessel using lead-acid and the budget of the owner if
> using LiPO4.
>
> AC Motor with AC generators maybe? It's just a series-hybrid at that
> point but could still be supplemented with a big inverter/charger and a
> moderate battery-bank for harbor maneuvers.
>
> Denny has suggested taking some weight off the keel to compensate - that
> would help push the envelope to larger boats. In fact the first time I
> read about an electric conversion it was a concrete-keel Rawson 30 where
> the owner had chisled out the concrete to make room/capacity for the
> batteries. Not too many of those available unfortunately, so we're left
> with chopping lead (or iron...)
>
> Hollow (filled fiberglass) keels on some boats?...hmmm.
>
> Any marine architects on the list?
>
> -Keith
>
> --- In electricboats@
>
> > I received two prices for converting, and without batteries, is getting
> close to $12,000 US. Out of my ballpark, and no savings in the long run
> at all.
>
> >
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>
>
>
>
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