Does anyone have any experience / tips / advise for fitting a 12V electric trolling motor or other forms of propulsion on a P-18? I sail on a small East Texas lake with un-predictible wind, many times it is difficult to get to where the wind is blowing because of the tree shadow.

yes, look into cheta motor mounts.

you can also use a small trolling motor attached to the front beam.. but this usually requires crew.. 1 for the motor, one for the rudders...

I am curious on how to do this on the front beam of a P18 as that seemed like the way to go for me as well. This would allow me sail out of the GSL marina which is less than 10 min away but the only good launching is the marina and it has a hard 90 degree turn without much space to navigate from ramp to open water which.

This is not a problem for all the mono hulls out there as they just motor out and raise the sails once they are out.
of course the motor doesn't solve problem of having to put-up/take down the main sail while on the water which I admit that I am doubtful I am capable of unless I don't bother to set the ring and just tie off the halyard somewhere. I usually need a good land foot hold to get that last foot or so up though

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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
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i truly think a rear cheta mount is a better choice... as you can lift the engine out of the water after you need it.. on the front beam you will have to remove the trolling motor, and store it somewhere or risk it being ripped off (and flying back at you) when you get some speed..

BUT .. if its what you want to do... i would think most trolling motors come with adjustable cleats and could just screw on/off the beam... if i am wrong ... you may need to build/weld some system...

as per raising your main on the water... yes.. no fun at all... as you raise it... any wind will cause you to rotate and sway around.. making raising it much harder.

Dustin, If you dont use the ring system... you will need a super strong cleat to withhold the halyard pressure when you are underway... plus your halyard will stretch and create more pocket in your main (not desired in 25+).

I have a cheta bracket that fits the rear prindle cross beam and also a 2 horse 4 stoke air cooled honda out board. I used this on my tornado catamaran .... at 3/4 throttle it would move me at 6 knots no problem. It's a great way to go, but not cheap. both the motor and bracket are in excellent condition. I would sell the bracket and motor for $600, you pay the shipping :)

mark
mark

andrewscott

i truly think a rear cheta mount is a better choice... as you can lift the engine out of the water after you need it.. on the front beam you will have to remove the trolling motor, and store it somewhere or risk it being ripped off (and flying back at you) when you get some speed..

BUT .. if its what you want to do... i would think most trolling motors come with adjustable cleats and could just screw on/off the beam... if i am wrong ... you may need to build/weld some system...

as per raising your main on the water... yes.. no fun at all... as you raise it... any wind will cause you to rotate and sway around.. making raising it much harder.

Dustin, If you dont use the ring system... you will need a super strong cleat to withhold the halyard pressure when you are underway... plus your halyard will stretch and create more pocket in your main (not desired in 25+).

I have no immediate plans to sail without using the ring, that was just a thought on if I had to raise/lower after exiting the marina. There really isn't much of anywhere there you can put to beach to do this. There is beach but it's very soft marshy clay. Kinda quicksand like. And very very shallow so you have to walk through a lot of it.

Just a few months ago some poor drunk sap went for a walk in the shallows by Saltair and drown stuck in the mud in a little tide pool.

A cheata would be great but they are way out of my price range. I saw pic of someone who had one on the front beam and thought if you could rig something that could rotate and lock either up or down so it could sit horizontally when not in use. And also so the motor it self was locked when down so it did not have to turn so it only provided propulsion and all steering was done at the helm then you(or crew) could turn it on and then move back to helm quickly. All this is along way off for me just random thought on how to make it easier for me to sail more in the future. If I can navigate the marina I could realistically sail a few hours in the early evenings after work during the week and every weekend instead of just the ones we manage to arrange camping on.

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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
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Where do you place the deep cycle, heavy... battery? I do not see a spot on the cheata site.

the cheta bracket is for the motor, most people use a gas powered outboard. That is the problem with an electric motor is where to you store it on the boat, you have the electric cables going to motor, you should waterproof the battery ect ect ect ..... doesn't seem real practical. I used my gas powered outboard off the rear beam a couple of times with the cheta bracket, simple to use and out of the way

m

however.. you really dont want and or need extra weight on the rear beam (or anywhere)...

In addition to Andrew's notes on raising the main on the water, I think the P18 blocks and halyard are too puny for the job.

My halyard rope has insane amounts of stretch compared to a proper sta-set or better halyard. It is adequate for on land, but on the water would be completly unsatisfactory.
I would think if you were going to raise the sail on the water you would want larger blocks and a much thicker (or the same blocks and much, much more expensive) line than I have on my P18.

I really miss my old boats regular halyard and tying it off to a horn cleat: easy to hoist, quick to tie off, fast. On the otherhand, there is a lot to be said about how the ring and tang eliminate halyard stretch completely (and my P18 halyard was cheap).



edited by: kgatesman, Sep 22, 2009 - 03:12 PM

A little over half my halyard is cable... the other half is spectron. virtually zero stretch and way way stronger than needed. I use it on lacing my tramps too.

Sometimes I board research ships that have no metal cables on them at all. Spectron for everything. From shoe lace size to four inch thick. I have a collection... a one inch spec is rated at 27 tons. You could jerk a semi out of a ditch with it and it is soft as nylon.





edited by: Deepsees, Sep 23, 2009 - 02:06 AM

That would do it.

Deepsees

A little over half my halyard is cable... the other half is spectron. ...

Sometimes I board research ships that have no metal cables on them at all. Spectron

do you mean vectran or spectra? or is there some hybrid line i have never heard of?

spectra is the brand name of dyneema blend.. dyneema has creep issues (elongation over time) and does not make for the best stays due to it. there is a new brand called Dynex Dux 75 that is streached and heated and left for a few days... that reduces creep.. but it is still there to a small degree.

vectran has no creep issues

creep would not matter at all in a halyard as it is only used to raise the sails and is released afterwards..

turborat

I have a cheta bracket that fits the rear prindle cross beam and also a 2 horse 4 stoke air cooled honda out board. I used this on my tornado catamaran .... at 3/4 throttle it would move me at 6 knots no problem. It's a great way to go, but not cheap. both the motor and bracket are in excellent condition. I would sell the bracket and motor for $600, you pay the shipping :)

mark
mark

Any idea how much the motor / bracket weigh? Could you send me a pic to bbeach at sbcglobal dot net?

http://store.catsailor.com/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=11633&idcategory=0

http://www.eventid.info/cheata_mount.htm

I live in Queensland Australia with a Windrush 14 foot Cat (Similar to Hobie) and would like to know if there are cheata brackets or similar available in my area or state?? Any help much appreciated! I have a 3hp gas outboard, just need to mount it to the cat!

I 'm afraid I cannot say where in your area but there are several places it be ordered.

http://www.thebeachcats.c…c/11406/start/0#pid36558

http://store.catsailor.co…oduct=11633&idcategory=0

Not sure about your boat but on my Prindle 18 I have been pondering the possibility of a mount the clamps on to the inner lip of the deck on each side behind the rear beam and connects in the middle with a mount with a hinged assembly would sit. I was thinking something that could go on on off quickly as I would always need it and sometimes would just leave it off. It would take some fabrication probably out of aluminum to make though.

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Dustin Finlinson • Magna, UT
Member: Utah Sailing Association
1982 Prindle 18
1986 Hobie 17
1982 Prindle 16
1980 Prindle 16(mostly)
1976 Prindle 16(mostly)
Check out "Prindle Sailors" on Facebook.
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