motor well

[Steven R]

What are the advantages/disadvantages to having a motor well in a sailboat? I'm inclined to think that the farther I can get it away from me, the better.

I really like the looks of Welsfords Pathfinder, but I'm not sure how I feel about getting snuggly with a motor while sailing.

BTW, checkout Paul Groomes Pathfinder progress. Coming along nicely
Pauls Pathfinder (http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/breathe/home.htm)

[jwaldin]

What is your 'vision' of a motor well. I know what a motorwell is but if you could be a bit more specific re your boat and the relationship a motorwell is to it.

[Venchka]

I guess you saw this picture of the Pathfinder with motor:

http://home.clear.net.nz/pages/breathe/images/main/woody.jpg

That would be one step removed from hanging the motor on the transom like your basic outboard powered skiff. Not bad at all. The motor is well protected. BTW, that's a BIG dinghy!

The other end of the spectrum are shown in this Caledonia yawl double ender:

http://www.mavc2002.com/caledoniayawl/davportimg/a22b.jpg

and this Banks dory:

http://www.doryshop.com/images/bastard1.jpg

Of the three examples, John Welsford appears to have done the best job of moving the motor as far out of the way as possible without resorting to a big cut out in the transom. Works for me.

[Phil Young]

Doesn't that big hole in the bottom of the boat really mess up the waterflow? Iain Oughtred's Eun Mara has an outboard well AND twin bilge boards instead of a centreboard. Bilge keels don't seem to have a great reputation, will that boat actually sail??

[imported_Steven Bauer]

Some people make a box that fits in the well when the moter isn't in place. The box is sized and shaped so that the bottom of the box is perfectly fair with the bottom of the hull. Lift out the box - then drop in the engine. You could even drill a few small holes in the bottom of the box and have a live well/beer cooler.

Steven

[Venchka]

Originally posted by Phil Young:
...Bilge keels don't seem to have a great reputation, will that boat actually sail??Bilge KEELS are one thing. Eun Mara's bilge BOARDS are different altogether. Think of them as off-centerboards. I haven't heard any complaints. Anybody heard any complaints?

Back to the matter at hand. Since the "well" on Pathfinder is at the port corner of the transom, there shouldn't be a whole lot of underwater disturbance. Any transom sterned boat is WAY easier to fit with an outboard.

I didn't include the picture of the covering device on the Caledonia yawl. The Bastard dory has a lifting board closing off the well a la John Gardner's "The Dory Book." Both work well enough.

[Aramas]

Bilge boards are the duck's nuts if they are designed canted outboard to be sailed with only one down at a time - if you can be bothered with tacking the boards - lol.

If they're just little ones intended to be down all the time then they loose out a lot on efficiency like any biplane wing arrangement. They're probably still better than a long keel though, and since they're further from the LCF (which the boat rolls about) then they also help more with roll damping, giving a more comfortable motion.

Bottom line is that they're usually used to get the centreboard trunk out of the cabin, so a little performance and a fair bit of work is traded off for footroom.

Putting an outboard in a real boat is awkward no matter how you do it. There are a number of ways of being 'clever', but I've never seen one that was even close to not having one at all. Any way you look at it you pay for the convenience of the outboard several times over with drag, annoyance and diminished aesthetics.

[ 12-05-2003, 03:49 AM: Message edited by: Aramas ]

[jwaldin]

I saw a 23' dory about 20 years ago with your basic outboard motor, the power head bolted to the bottom using a flange afair with a matching flange on the ouside and the bottom end (prop gear housing) protruding. Essentially the leg had been eliminated. It was an off-the-self item I think. It eliminated the need for a motor well.

[Jack Heinlen]

The most signifigant advantage of a well is that it moves the prop forward and hence keeps it in the water during pitching.

Drag is an issue, but not very troublesome in a displacement hull, unless racing.

Some wells are such that they create no extra drag. My Drascombe Lugger's well is situated at the waterline, the mount for the motor essentially the transom. Watkin's arrangement in this boat is worth a look.

[Venchka]

John Welsford has done essentially the same with Pathfinder as the Drascombe Lugger.

http://www.duckworksmagazine.com/store/plans/jw/pathfinder/pathfinder.gif

[Jack Heinlen]

Well(ha! smile.gif ) Welsford's design isn't like the Lugger at all.

Second transom, keyhole in the essentially false transom for the shaft to lift, not really a well at all but a system to make an outboard at home.

It's not perfect, but for a small, transomed sailboat that has pretensions of a launch, it's close.

[Steven R]

Thanks for the feedback, all.