Jeanneau 409 I would suggest bow thruster option

[jmoo51]

We purchased a Jeanneau 409 last year and i would recommend bow thrusters. The 409 has a very high freeboard and is very flat bottomed hull. It is incredibly hard to dock with winds coming on the beam. The boat gets pushed by the wind very easily and when backing out of slip if the wind is on the beam it is impossible to get the bow around into the wind in tight quarters. We have had to back out of channels until we had space to maneuver. The boat also has the keel pretty far forward so when coming off a dock the stern will be pushed into the dock. If the wind is blowing onto the dock it is impossible to get her to point into the wind and you cannot turn hard off the dock or you will find that the stern will grind along the entire dock. Bow thrusters are a much needed option to get the bow to maneuver into the wind.

The boat is a beautiful boat, but its flat bottom and high freeboard make it difficult to maneuver at slow speed and high winds and I would highly recommend the bow thruster option. Not sure on the larger 439 468 and 509 but i imagine that this is probably a must as well

[MalcolmP]

We had a bow thruster fitted at the factory for our 39i and also have found it very helpful, but I know many people get used to handling their boats without, depends on normal manoeuvring space and confidence (and number of fenders..) but definitely nice to have esp if short handed - I was lucky to try the 360 system on a 45DS and that makes it all really child's play

On the downside on the 39i the power at times does seem lacking and the battery drains quickly - I think I will replace and slightly upgrade that pack for next season as it is now 5 years old

[MartyB]

Malcolm,

i am recalling some folks have put a smaller batterie up front that is JUST FOR the bow thruster or windlass to keep the cables smaller. Many seem to have more issues with voltage loss in the lines than actual power loss per say at the source. SOmething to toy with when you replace you batteries.

Marty

[MalcolmP]

Thanks Marty, good point, it does seem strange to me that there are big cables for the windlass and not the bow thruster, certainly with the windlass the engine has to be run at quite high revs to stop the low voltage alarm triggering

M