Hi Randy,
Welcome! I have a boat very similar to yours that I converted to electric a while back. When you say the Westerbeke is underpowered - can you elaborate? What kind of speed do you get at full-throttle? At cruising-throttle? And if you know the size and pitch of your prop that will also help.
Also please describe the sailing conditions (typical, as well as worst-case) - currents, wind-patterns, etc.
We also need some sense of how much speed and range you expect (without auxillary power like a genset). On your weekend trips - will you have access to shorepower?
The Thunderstruck kit is not intended for direct-drive - they just leave the mounting as an exercise for the reader :) Note that there are vendors with more turnkey systems, but are priced accordingly. This system will typically need a 2:1 reduction.
Best-case - you are looking at about $3K for a setup (motor/controller, batteries, cables, trays, meters, transmission, etc) including a lot of DIY effort. You probably already know you can replace your w-b for about the same or less.
The pros and cons are going to depend a lot on you and your expectations. Your inclination to being fastidious (I am not) and detailed oriented (ditto) will mean a lot. Mechanical/electric
It is helpful to put electric in context - think about all the trips you have taken - now imagine you started with 1 gallon of fuel and think about how the trip would have changed.
Regards,
-Keith
e-S/V "Aja" - 1978 Hunter 30
San Francisco
--- In electricboats@
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> I have a westerbeake 1 lung 9hp diesel that is woefully underpowered. This winter the JB Weld that was dealing a cracked block in the water jacket sprung a leak. It is now time to take a serius look at an inexpensive EV system.
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> I looked at the Thuderstruck page and it seems to be the cheapest and fairly simple to install.
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> We pretty much do day sailing with some weekends in the plans.
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> It also looks a\like a direct drive system rather than a belt system.
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> Can anyone enlighten me on the pros and cons?
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> Thanks
> Randy
>
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