Disconnecting motor while sailing

[hart]

I'm not an expert but it seems to me as long as you leave the motor in neutral it's fine. If it's in gear and if by chance somehow there's enough force in the water to spin the prop fast enough you could "jumpstart" it without warning.

[John Christian]

Re-opened this thread to point out another benifit of disconnecing steering. With the motor disconnected and permanently centered the rudders can be moved to starboard and make egress much easier. Also prevents the motor from flopping around if someone inadvertently leans on a rudder while climbing aboard.

[jeffz]

We have had the BWY quick disconnect since our boat was new. I would not be without it. When we are sailing and need power just drop the motor and the rudders will steer fine. I forgot to hook up the steering once going into the Marina and it steered fine but was sluggish. I docked just fine and found the problem.

When we are ready to hoist the rags I just unhook the linkage and point her into the wind. As new sailors we have gotten into Irons several times when turning and just drop the motor and get a little speed to get us back on track, turn off and raise the motor, and away we go.

It takes about 10 seconds to disconnect and reconnect with one hand and really works well when beaching.

[Frank C]

. . .here's what you'll have to do - in addition to lowering and starting the motor - before you can steer the boat. Watch closely."

Actually, all she needs to do is lower the motor and start it. When you disconnect and secure the outboard in its dead-center position, it is (STILL) immediately ready to power the boat, with rudders performing steerage. I have sometimes done exactly such after making sail and then finding the winds won't cooperate. Try it next time you're sailing in fickle winds. You'll gain comfort in recognizing that the outboard is still waiting, and ready to assist.

[parrothead]

Frank,

You are correct. I overstated my point - the boat can be steered with the rudders even if the motor doesn't turn. That is how any conventional boat with an inboard [not an I/O] is steered. On the other hand, I haven't noticed any difficulty sailing with the still-connected engine tilted up, but that may be because our Nissan 50 is relatively light in weight.

Doug

[Duane Dunn, Allegro]

When we put on our Tohatsu 70+ this summer we also installed the BWY custom steering on our X. In the past with our 50hp motor I had always had the motor attached while sailing. Yesterday evening we were out for a great early evening sail with friends and for the first time I reached over the back and disconnected the motor from the steering arm using the quick disconnect and placed it on the fixed mount. Super simple and took all of 5 seconds to move.

I was impressed with the lightness this added to the steering. Also there was no tendancy of the steering to self adjust as we heeled due to the larger motor weight. The steering was hands off straight and true.

Since we were in no hurry I had left the motor down as we started to sail, but decided to tilt it out to see what a difference it made. With our hatchboards stored under the helm seat the motor cannot be fully tilted clear of the water before it hits, however just getting it up as far as possible to where the prop was just at the surface instantly added 1 knot to our speed. This was with the motor in neutral.

It turned out to be a great evening of sailing, we spent almost an hour close hauled on starboard tack all the way from Elliot Bay going west across the Sound to Eagle Harbor at Bainbridge Island. I had the 150 genoa out about 90% and the boat was on rails perfectly balanced as we cruised at 5 knots without ever having to touch the wheel. We were sailing into the setting sun with the mountains around us on all sides and the Seattle skyline to stern. Once over to the island we tacked north back across toward West Point while we dined, then we ran east back to Elliot Bay Marina where we have the boat for a week. We finished up with a tasty desert back in the slip at dusk.