Hi Gothvanhellsing,
Where are you located? I found that seeing a boat that had aleready been converted help sort out some of the details in my mind before I made the considerable investment for a quality drive system.
I'm working with James Lambden of Propulsion Marine in Santa Barbara while converting my Cheoy Lee 30' ketch to electric drive. If you look in the links section of this Yahoo group, you will find a number of companies selling drive solutions for your size boat. Sailboats from 26 to 32 feet are a good size for elcectric propulsion, big enough to cary the battery weight and volume, and small enough to be driven by a reasonably sized (2 - 5kW) drive system.
Even with considerable background in electric propulsion (I converted a couple of cars to electric over 15 years ago) I chose a complete system from a vendor to reduce the time and cost of "re-inventing the wheel". I think that a common fallacy is thinking that there's a bundle of money to be saved by converting to electric drive. My system will end up costing only about 25% less than repowering with a new diesel. I think that you'll find that even sourcing and building a complete system yourself will cost at least $4000 for 30' sailboat. Beyond the drive-unit, you'll need batteries, charger, wiring and other related gear. Adding on-board generation like solar, wind or fossil fuel will drive the price higher.
There are considerable trade-offs by converting to electric, spend some time researching the idea on this board and learning what you'll be giving up. This kind of conversion is not for everyone, but for the right type of boater, it can be a great idea.
Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA
--- In electricboats@
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> I am new to the EV idea and am wondering what a good system would be for a 30 foot pearson sailboat. I am not new to electronics but am new to the idea of EV power any help I can get in designing a system for the boat woulsd be great.
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