Re: [electricboats] Pocket Trawler Electrification

Agree for large ships however these are 6kw not over 100kw. The boat is 10m or less not ten times thst.

I could see steering through differential thrust first off. Standard for catamarans. Spining the boat on its axis almost. At low speeds the rudders have low to no effect. If you want rudder effect from prop wash I assume the prop and rudder must be close to each other and indeed  that is what shown in ship design texts. Especially close with fishtail rudder types.

i am now starting to see the situation. Pods fixed underneath. No additional skeg to protect them and their props. Hmmm that sounds like a lot of care needs to happen to not hit one or more props. Even aluminium props get mangled blades.

I looked at pod drives but always had a method to lift them up. Indeed steer them. I sail shallow waters and my draft is 250mm which is a lot less than a pod.

Best regards

Lee Eldridge

0427874796

On 1 Feb 2026, at 21:52, Carsten via groups.io <Carstensemail=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:



Hi Lars,

Did you get the point, that fixed pod needs a separate rudder for each engine ?

I worked with big tankers for the Potomac River 24 years ago, in Hyundai Shipyard, Korea.

Dual engines, with 70 meters, hull 280 meters, fixed engines running both ways.

Rudders in the flow of the prop stream.

(Means two rudders).

Make your own design in a proper way.

Just an input...

Carsten

On Friday, 30 January 2026 at 22:25:47 CET, maaseidvaag via groups.io <maaseidvaag=yahoo.com@groups.io> wrote:

Hi Carsten & Paul,

 

Yes, fixed pods mounted so the props are in the same vertical plane as the current prop.  The side-mount controls just refer to the controls that came "free" with the purchase, as opposed to the top-mount dual control.  The dual control would be ideal I guess, but it does provide a single point of failure in a system that otherwise provides complete separation and redundancy.  The image below is near-enough to scale showing where the pods will hang on the hull.  My plan is to tuck them in as tight as reasonable against the full keel to 1) help protect them from striking anything, and 2) to keep the prop wash as close as possible to the single rudder that will remain.  I'm not worried about low-speed maneuverability as the boat does have a bow thruster.

 

Inside the hull above the pod mounting locations I will laminate in watertight bulkheads and covers to protect against flooding should I ever tear a pod clean off the hull.  Highly unlikely in the Great Lakes with a boat that draws 2.5', but easy enough to do and I'll be adding thickness on the inside of the hull where the pods mount, so a few more pieces while the epoxy is mixed won't be much trouble.

 

Lars

 

 

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