A notoriously unpleasent activity of sailing an iroquois is the hoisting and lowering of the outboard, especially since the 4-stroke engines haven’t lost any weight over the years, and the angle of hoisting (starting from the frame down below towards a person standing upright) remains backbreaking. Especially at my length of almost 2 m. Even with a purchase of 1:6 it is far worse than any of the boat handling activities under sail. Besides I would like my wife to be able to do the job (at times) and the way it is now that won’t be possible.
So the though occurred to install (two) elektro-hydraulic cilinders, on both sides of the frame, and let them do the hoisting&lowering. When lowered they should also act as counterforce for the engine in reverse (preventing the unwanted airing of the propellor). And the costs seem to be reasonable. Downside is of course more elektro-stuff onboard of which I’m not a great fan; at the same time starting our engines electrically works perfectly well so what’s the point of bother actually?
Has anyone though of this or (better still) actually tried it? If so, what size of cilinders is required given the dynamics of the situation, and how is the stability of the system (again considering the dynamics).
Looking forward to hear any experiences/ideas/suggestions/comments.
Kind regards
Dirk Roukema
Aponivi (#260).
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