hi again everyone, thanks for all the advice!
the main reason i am put off petrol outboards is the lower fuel ecnomy.. i will be living on the boat for probably at least a year before i get sails and moving around alot. plus i plan to live onboard longterm exploring overseas eventually so the fuel saved should overcome the likely larger initial investment. i've always been one to worry about the ongoing costs and not so much the fixed ones! i had throught about using old outboards or maybe stern drive gearboxes modified to use an electric motor. would anyone know what the likely decrease in efficiency would be going through an angle change and gearbox as opposed to direct drive in the hulls? there would certainly be advantages to being able to remove them from the water.
one idea that has been going through my mind is to use two lightweight self marinized diesel engines producing 4-5kw, each driving an electric motor and altering revs to control speed. this would mean i could cotrol each motor seperately and also mean i would have 2 completely seperate systems for safety. i could run both when needed or just one at a time for economy. downsides would be cost and weight.. although without a large battery pack shouldn't weigh much more than having 2 normal diesel engines but solves the problem of trying to fit them into the hulls as they could instead be mounted in the ideal location for weight distribution. any reasons why this setup might not work? have just sold my current boat so will be starting on the new one soon!
thanks.
adam.
--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "nzsilvia" <nzsilvia@...> wrote:
>
> hi everyone, im new to the forum.
>
> i live in new zealand and i am about to start building a 35' sailing catamaran.
>
> http://www.wallerdesign.com.au/cs35.html
>
> simple deep v hulls 3600kg(8000lbs) displacement.
>
> the boat is designed for petrol outboards but i am really not keen on this idea. have been in contact with the designer who says due to the deep v hulls twin diesel installation would not be ideal. he reccomended somehow using a single centrally mounted diesel powering 2 smaller drives. this led me to consider diesel-electric propulsion. (or hydraulic but from what ive read so far it is inferior to electric)
> knowing little on the subject i have spend many hours reading many webpages but alot of things still dont make sense to me! i would have 10-12hp on each side if using diesels, would i need similar sized electric motors? i was at first thinking of modifying 2 outboards to run with electric motors in the designated positions but it sounds as if just having the electric motors inboard mounted in the hulls would be more efficient?
>
> where i get most confused is it the many possible ways of doing things.. i am on a budget and do not want to spend more $ than i have to. the main reason for having electric drives is just to use a single engine.. i am not worried about having a long battery range or anything just decent efficiency and reliability. i would quite happily just run the motors straight off a generator and start it whenever i want to move.. what would i require for such a setup? is ac or dc the way to go? to be honest i still cant get my head around the difference!! what would be the best speed controller to use? props? as you can probably tell im pretty lost..
>
> any help would be greatly appreciated! im keen to learn alot about it
> thanks
> adam.
>
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