Thanks Ken
Any info would be great
We trialled an ePropulsion last weekend on a trip from Bembridge back to Chichester Harbour. It's about a 3Hp equivalent but has all the torque from nothing. It was great in our tender but we didn't use it on the way to Bembridge as there was a strong wind on the nose and we were in a hurry for the today gate
On the way back there was a lovely broad reach. Without sails our Tohatsu 6Hp sail drive pushed Lili with a bit of tide and wind to 5knts at full throttle, or about 4.2 knots (GPS speed) at a more comfortable 80%. On the same bearing, we then swapped to the eProp Spirit 1.0 Plus and could get 3.4 knots at full throttle with a range of about 70mins. Easing it from 1000W to about 500W drove us at 2.8knts but the range went up to 160min. Blissfully quiet!
With the spinnaker up and the mainsheet out we were comfortably heading back and used the eProp go up to about 5knts. It was a pleasure to be around (unlike the petrol one!)
In the Chichester harbour we were with mid-tide (biggest spring of the year), but unfortunately turning it head to tide (with minimal wind) we could only do 1knt into tide. That was the biggest today test we could give it, but probably enough of a "fail" that it can't replace the 6Hp.
They do a stronger one (the "Navy") but the cost gets a little ridiculous...