Howdy folks. I currently have a Honda 8hp on my D that is real dog, so it's time to replace it. I'm strongly considering a Torqueedo. Does anyone have any experience with them? I only sail on the weekends, and I have way more solar generation than I need, I should have no problems keeping the battery charged for getting in and out of my slip. For those that have been using Torqueedo, which model did you go with, and did you have enough power? My 35 year old 8hp is way more power than I need, I never throttle past 50%, I sail on lakes with no currents.
The pro's as I understand them
- Lighter weight: I have two bad discs in my back and wrestling 80lbs of outboard is always something I dread.)
- More reliable (I hope, looking for reviews. It can often take me 5 minutes to get my Honda started, and the pull start really bothers my back.)
- No gas vapors
- 360 propulsion, nice for getting out of my tricky slip
- Bonus, I could probably troll for fish, my outboard wont let me go below 3mph currently.
Cons
- Equivalent HP is a bit more expensive.
- New technology, is it proven enough?
- Charge anxiety (not as big of an issue for me, lots of solar generation and very limited use of the outboard.)
- Concerns around lithium batteries (I'm pretty familiar with the dangers here).
- Possible issue with proprietary parts.
Anyone using a Torqueedo on their S or D?
-
Maraquita
- Engineer
- Posts: 102
- Joined: Thu Mar 31, 2016 9:44 am
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26D
- Location: Whitewater, CO
Re: Anyone using a Torqueedo on their S or D?
I went electric last year about this time and I am sold on it. I ended up using the Cruise 3.0, which they claimed is 5 HP equivalent. My watt meter confirms that I'm actually using slightly more current at WOT. like you, my old 8 HP Mariner was getting impossible to trust, especially at low RPM, where I usually used it. With the Torqueedo, my wife is even willing to take the boat off of the trailer and over to the visitor dock while I park the trailer!
The 5 HP gets my D up to hull speed going straight into a 50 Knot wind. Going across that wind and with the accompanying waves, she can keep enough hull speed to give me steerage way up into it. When docking, it will tick over at less than 1 watt and slowly creep up on the bumper with no problems at all.
Im mostly a day sailor and have no charging ability on the boat, so I didn't get the Torqueedo battery. I use 2 100 amp hour/12 volt Chinese LiPo batteries wired in series (it's a 24 volt motor). With that arrangement I get 100 amp hours usable current and the batteries only weigh about 20 pounds apiece, so they are easy to take home and charge overnight for the times that I rent a camping slip at our local state park. The day that I took the boat out in the aforementioned 50 knot wind, I played all day with the motor, to see what its limits were. after 6 hours I was down by about 40 Amp-Hours. In my usual sailing I really only use the motor for docking, getting out of the marina, on and off trailer, setting an anchor etc. Under those conditions I have gone out every day for 4 days straight, with the boat parked at a slip overnight, and have not felt the need to charge the batteries at all. After 4 days, they were still above 50 percent charge. The hood\se battery needs more TLC just to play the CDs and light the running lights!
2 things to be aware of:
1. Without the Torqueedo battery, the power display on the motor is pretty "dumb". It does tell you how many amps you are using, and your GPS boat speed, but you need to figure the rest out for yourself. I was warned of this, and bought a middle of the road Amp-Hour meter off of Amazon. it works fine and gives estimated time remaining, power used, Etc.
2. The tiller does not swing up high enough to let the motor pull completely out of the water when mounted in the outboard well of the D. This does not bother me, but if you are a looking for max sailing efficiency, you will either want to put it on a bracket, or buy the remote throttle and remove the tiller completely
I am an absolute acolyte for the Torqueedo, in case you didn't notice! Through all of my research, and questions, and ignorance when I bought it, Nancy Frainetti at The Electric Marina (727-517-5330) was an outstanding help. I did buy the motor from her and can absolutely recommend the company
The 5 HP gets my D up to hull speed going straight into a 50 Knot wind. Going across that wind and with the accompanying waves, she can keep enough hull speed to give me steerage way up into it. When docking, it will tick over at less than 1 watt and slowly creep up on the bumper with no problems at all.
Im mostly a day sailor and have no charging ability on the boat, so I didn't get the Torqueedo battery. I use 2 100 amp hour/12 volt Chinese LiPo batteries wired in series (it's a 24 volt motor). With that arrangement I get 100 amp hours usable current and the batteries only weigh about 20 pounds apiece, so they are easy to take home and charge overnight for the times that I rent a camping slip at our local state park. The day that I took the boat out in the aforementioned 50 knot wind, I played all day with the motor, to see what its limits were. after 6 hours I was down by about 40 Amp-Hours. In my usual sailing I really only use the motor for docking, getting out of the marina, on and off trailer, setting an anchor etc. Under those conditions I have gone out every day for 4 days straight, with the boat parked at a slip overnight, and have not felt the need to charge the batteries at all. After 4 days, they were still above 50 percent charge. The hood\se battery needs more TLC just to play the CDs and light the running lights!
2 things to be aware of:
1. Without the Torqueedo battery, the power display on the motor is pretty "dumb". It does tell you how many amps you are using, and your GPS boat speed, but you need to figure the rest out for yourself. I was warned of this, and bought a middle of the road Amp-Hour meter off of Amazon. it works fine and gives estimated time remaining, power used, Etc.
2. The tiller does not swing up high enough to let the motor pull completely out of the water when mounted in the outboard well of the D. This does not bother me, but if you are a looking for max sailing efficiency, you will either want to put it on a bracket, or buy the remote throttle and remove the tiller completely
I am an absolute acolyte for the Torqueedo, in case you didn't notice! Through all of my research, and questions, and ignorance when I bought it, Nancy Frainetti at The Electric Marina (727-517-5330) was an outstanding help. I did buy the motor from her and can absolutely recommend the company
-
LordElsinore
- First Officer
- Posts: 255
- Joined: Thu Sep 02, 2021 6:09 pm
- Sailboat: MacGregor 26M
- Location: Salt Lake City, UT - "As You Wish" - Suzuki DF60A
Re: Anyone using a Torqueedo on their S or D?
That's a great review. Thanks for sharing your experience. I've heard good things about the Torqueedo but not in as much detail as you shared