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Hello,

some words from a french future pocketship builder

I think that Torqeedo electric engines should be a good choice for the auxiliary propulsion of the small unit no gasoline no poor smell in the cabin !! and no noise just one problem the price and the maintenance of the battery pack

Best regards to all readers and sorry for my poor english
Bruno from DIJON Burgundy FRANCE

To resume an age-old thread. As John said, there are certain areas where it is not very practical to go without a motor. In our area there are only rivers, which make sailing difficult in many places. We bridge that under the engine. At first we had a four-stroke, but since last year we've been sailing with an Epropulsion 1.0 Plus, which is a lot of fun.

I tried rowing and I didn't find the position bad at all. The only problem is that the high Pocketship is susceptible to wind, and if you only have normal-sized oar blades, it's hard to get the boat under control. Unfortunately, I didn't succeed on our river with wind and current. I must also add that I had far too little weight in the boat at the time. Maybe with enough lead in the bilge it will be a bit calmer on the water.

It took me a long time to decide what to do re 'secondary' propulsion. For me the option using oars or a yuloh was a non-starter:

1. The boat has too much windage, and I do not want to get into trouble around other boats or at the dock (let alone trying to get home in a breeze).
2. I am too old for this ...

So, an outboard was the only option, and petrol at that ( there are many reasons why electric is not suitable for my purposes ).
The only real question was, whether to mount the motor onto a bracket, or to cut into the transom.
While it may not be pretty, the setup works extremely well:

1. I can get to the motor without having to lean over the transom ( starting, fueling, going reverse)
2. The weight is not way aft.
3. It is not in the way of anything, the rudder clears the prop (always).
4. The 2.3 gets her moving on fast idle, and a bit of throttle pushes her into the breeze.
5. With a few liters of fuel, I have plenty of range.
6. The prop is well clear of the water when tilted up.
7. Because of the noise, I use it as little as possible !

Cheers.