off set propellor, huh?

[johnnyandjebus]

Earlier this spring I was talking with an owner of a Albin Vega, down at the harbour. He pointed out to me that his boat had a prop that was off set to port (If I recall). Earlier tonight I was reading up on a sailboat called a Gladiator 24. It also appears to have a prop that is off set to port.
What gives with this?
Whats the point?
I can envision problems with this design but not advantages. Please enlighten me.

John

[herezjohnny]

My 37 Morgan is the same way. My buddy and I were contimplating why it was like this. We figured either the guy was drunk that originaly bored the shaft hole or to keep it from waddling. If you`ve ever driven a smaller power boat at low speeds, idleing basically, it waddles and has to be constantly corrected. Thats absolutely just a guess, I`d like to hear what the experts have to say.

[mdbee]

There was a long thread on this a few weeks ago, with pictures. You might try to locate it.

[johnnyandjebus]

Thanks mdbee, I suspect this is the thread you are refering to;

http://www.sailnet.com/forums/genera...ine-setup.html

John

[herezjohnny]

Still no definate answer in that thread. I did see several votes for prop walk. "waddling" LOL

[jrd22]

Haven't read the other thread but I always figured it was designed that way so you can remove the shaft without having to pull the rudder.

[Faster]

Originally Posted by jrd22

Haven't read the other thread but I always figured it was designed that way so you can remove the shaft without having to pull the rudder.

... and perhaps to offest some propwalk effect? The Perry designed Mirage boats are this way as well...

[sailjunkie]

Originally Posted by Faster

... and perhaps to offest some propwalk effect?

Ron, I'm not so sure. Like one of the other posters, my personal experience is that it might even aggravate the effect. I sea-trialled a C&C 32 while I was still working as a broker. It was only when he could see that I was having some difficulties that the vendor told me that he had a 3-bladed prop, off-set to port. The sale went ahead, but the vended bought lunch for both the buyer and me.

I lean more towards the theory about being able to remove the prop and the shaft without having to remove the rudder.

BTW, I saw your comment on the other thread, about Mirage 33's. I heaved a huge sigh of relief that we opted for a Mirage 29 with a shaft in the centre.

[Liquorice]

I've got a C&C with an offset prop.
It's positively so you can pull the shaft without dropping the rudder. I thought everybody knew this.
Has no effect on steering!

[bobperry]

I have offset props for the reason JRD mentions, so you can pull the shaft without removing the rudder. In the old days an offset prop was very common. I think in many cases it was so they didnt have to bugger up the rudder with a big hole for the prop.