Torqeedo – very nice bit of gear

This is about Sailing around Britain.

9 Responses to “Torqeedo – very nice bit of gear”

  1. 24 August, 2017 at 10:47 amTed Timberlake says:

    Careful Dylan. Sounds you are getting to like the little ugly duckling on the transom. Looks and sounds like a good piece of kit. Hunter’s have a project to fit a Torqeedo engine to one of their 4-berth yachts – hopefully if it works out to whatever the parameters are, they will only fit to the 4-berthers, as it would be a great pity to change their USP with the other boats in their fleet – no engines. The Torqeedo range looks to be pretty impressive albeit the are expensive, but in time prices may come down. Besides the Torqeedo what are the other options either outboard or inboard? Anyway, great stuff.

  2. 24 August, 2017 at 5:56 pmApplejack Jim says:

    I am slowly warming to the idea of e-outboard.
    How big is the battery, How much to replace said battery? Some images of battery to give scale might also be well received. Thanks.

  3. 24 August, 2017 at 7:25 pmdylan winter says:

    I plan to use this through most of the winter – it will get used four or five times a week with any luck so by the spring I can tell you if the engineering is going to last. Functionally I am very happy with it so far

    D

  4. 24 August, 2017 at 7:30 pmDave says:

    Lots of bonuses to the Torqeedo. $$$$ being the greatest negative. A motor, battery, and a spare battery is $2300-2600 (US). can get a Honda 2.3 for under $1000 and burn a lot of gas for that amount. for smallish lakes and/or going in/out of harbor are great. going slow, as Dylan noted, is how you get range. not best for cruising as range limited and need a good power source to recharge. Have a Torqeedo 503 in the shop right now being delivered with a Sage 17 in October.

  5. 30 August, 2017 at 2:36 amWill says:

    Dylan, your post on the Torqeedo inspired me to check out their website. Don’t know what model you have, but I looked at the low $$$ Model. Forty pounds of thrust. A low end Minn Kota trolling motor with the same thrust rating, with a zinc added to the shaft for use in salt or brackish water is a couple hundred bucks. A 12v deep cycle Group 27 or 29 battery is about 125USD…and has higher capacity than the Torqeedo. So the total cost of a system whose performance exceeds the Torqeedo is less than 400USD. The only positive is can think of in favor of the Torqeedo is a few pounds of weight, at a cost penalty of about 1300USD. Am I missing something?

  6. 30 August, 2017 at 6:34 amdylan winter says:

    I don’t think you are missing anything W…..

    It is an expensive bit of kit…But Chris thought I should have one…. so he sent it to me

    It does save some weight and the battery re-charges pretty fast- from flat to full in few hours and the thrust is 68 lbs – equivalent to 3 hp apparently

    It gets the dinghy on the plane really quickly and has lots f power beyond that

    although torqueedo says this

    * Torqeedo static thrust measurement is based on internationally accepted ISO standards. Static thrust figures for conventional trolling motors are typically measured differently, which results in higher values. To compare Torqeedo static thrust data with conventional trolling motors, add approximately 50% to the Torqeedo static thrust values.

    so I am not sure.

    It shoves the trailer sailer along at around three knots – which is not bad.

  7. 30 August, 2017 at 10:01 amTed Timberlake says:

    Hi Dylan. From the last sentence do I gather that you have actually been out with the Torqeedo driving KL?

  8. 30 August, 2017 at 1:50 pmdylan winter says:

    I use it quite frequently on Katie when the wind is light – I will make a film as soon as I have given it a decent run against Deben tides

    D

  9. 31 August, 2017 at 11:24 amTed Timberlake says:

    That would be great. Appreciate that the new electric motors and kit is expensive vis diesel or petrol, but guess there must be a trend towards combined installations, rather like with cars and other road vehicles. Plus with a boat possibility of solar panels and wind generators, and even generation from prop shaft when sailing, to keep up the batteries topped up. As I said likely to be expensive at present but over time costs have a tendency to come down. Anyway look forward to learning of your experiences with Katie, as and when.

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