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Post by srah1953 on Apr 6, 2020 9:20:09 GMT
As a matter of pure curiosity when and, more interestingly why, did Jeanneau stop offering the swiveling saildrive on their sailboats.
Thanks
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Post by Zanshin on Apr 6, 2020 11:36:35 GMT
I believe that the drive wasn't popular. Like most sailors, I'm pretty conservative when it comes to gear and was rather wary of this 360-docking drive. The Z-Drive system had several reports of failure during docking, where the prop was swiveled at some angle and fixed at at that angle, and no amount of rudder could compensate. Once the breakers were back the system functioned again, but since the only time you need the turning is in close quarters that is a particularly inopportune to fail and to fail in a mode that is not safe.
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Post by zaphod on Apr 8, 2020 16:46:47 GMT
Yeah when I saw a demo of their "360 docking" I thought it was pretty cool, but at the same time, it adds a level of cost and complexity that just isn't worth it.
When you think about the extra maintenance cost and complexity of a regular sail drive it is bad enough. Now take that sail drive and make it rotate 360°? Yikes!
It may be great when it is new, but I suspect it will become a liability as the boat ages.
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Post by MalcolmP on Apr 8, 2020 17:55:53 GMT
It was also a 10% cost addition from new.
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Post by Don Reaves on Apr 8, 2020 18:01:42 GMT
I have a friend who had a number of very awkward failures when his boat was new. Supposedly, it was eventually fixed, but I certainly wouldn't trust it.
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Post by zaphod on Apr 10, 2020 2:08:51 GMT
Really, for boats under 40ft I think bow thrusters are cheating a bit. The 360 docking system is full on "training wheels". I believe one should learn to dock their boat without such luxuries anyway.
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