Morgan 461 462 Reversing problem

[Tucket]

When I bought my Morgan 461 I had a major problem when going into reverse as the boat virtually turned 90 degrees to starboard instantly.

Well I had a look below the waterline and found that the prop walk was to starboard in reverse, But I noticed that the shaft was set off to port ( to allow it to be pulled past the skeg).

You would have thought that that would have compensated for the propwalking prop. It seemed to make it much worse.

After thinking on this for a while I realized that the wash from the prop was hitting the aft end of the keel at an angle and reflecting off to port and therefore pushing the trailing end of the keel to starboard! Big Time.

Well I had put on a three bladed max prop to enhance overall sailing speeds and this prop can be adjusted to pitch in the other direction so it occured to me that if one reversed the controls and reversed the prop then she would go ahead when you selected ahead and vice versa. Reversing the cables at the single lever control made ahead ahead etc.

Now the situation was that the wash on the trailing edge of the keel was still there but the prop was now turning in the opposite direction snd propwalking to port which counteracts the shaft ange and keel configuration turn to starboard.

The great thing about this arrangement is that if you gun her in reverse she goes to starboard and if you tick her over in revers she goes to Port. Your even able to find the sweat spot where she just backs straight astern.

Now this old Perkind 4154 diesel and her hurth box may not like this turn of events but a check mwith Perkins advised that it should be okay provided that I fitted a gear box oil cooler US$ 250 (cheaper than a new box with a reversing idler gear!) Anyway this arrangement seems to have worked great.

Be aware that you do get more of a tendancy for the boat to turn to port especially when accelerating (ie giving it the gun) But I have not found it burdensome.

I talked about this fix to many experts prior to trying the fix and was met with Your Mad to might work Try It Well for $250 it was worth having a go and it has changed reverse into fun as opposed to a furowed white knuckle ride.

Best to all I hope this works for you

[jringles]

Hello Tucket! Thanks for the info. We have a 461 with MaxProp and are considering your solution although we've gotten accustomed to the counter clockwise docking procedure (ha).

We have a question. Have you experienced deck leaks along the hull/deck joint? If so, what was the fix? We keep our boat bristol and would like to cure that problem. We do have her for sale (been sailing for 37 years) and now need a trawler for the grand kids and intracoastal travel. She is listed at Yachtworld as "Voyageur". We live in Tarpon Springs, FL on the Gulf of Mexico.

My e-mail address is jringles@msn.com.

Look forward to hearing from you............Jim