Stort Daybreak

[Golden Duck]

A new community boat has just arrived at our mooring. She is called Stort Daybreak and is a 55ft widebeam day boat. Apparently, one of her features is a hydraulic drive and prop attached to the bottom of the tiller, so that there is no rudder and the whole thing turns like an outdrive to provide better manoeuvrability.

The system appears to be powered by a Beta engine driving a hydraulic pump.

 

There is also a interior steering position for wheelchair users to steer using a follow up steering lever and electronic throttle.

 

Does anybody know any more about this form of propulsion ??

[DHutch]

Yeah, sounds quite plasuable.

- So its basicaly like a z-drive, only using a hydrolic transmission system.

 

What would you like to know about it?

- Basicaly, the enigne has a large hydrolic pump in place of the gearbox, and then that powers the hydrolic motor. Controled by, clearly in this case, and electrnic control. Which presumably operates a set of hydrolic valves.

- Then i seams the boat also has (powered) hydric stearing. Sounds like a pritty good setup for what your using it for. proberbly has a big hydrolic bow thruster two?

 

 

Daniel

[Golden Duck]

I wonder if anybody knew who produced such a system.

I had kind of worked out how it worked, but was interested in finding

some more detailed technical info and prices from the maker.

 

Presumerably these must be some form of rotating joint between the hull and the movable outdrive

leg, for the hydraulic piping to pass through from the boat to the hydraulic motor or it must

work on movable gearing with the hydraulic motor fixed inside the boat.

[fender.]

I wonder if anybody knew who produced such a system.

I had kind of worked out how it worked, but was interested in finding

some more detailed technical info and prices from the maker.

 

Presumerably these must be some form of rotating joint between the hull and the movable outdrive

leg, for the hydraulic piping to pass through from the boat to the hydraulic motor or it must

work on movable gearing with the hydraulic motor fixed inside the boat.

 

power to the hydraulic drive! Morgan Giles introduced the hydraulic drive to narrowboats in the 1970's. One hire company Claymoore is unique in it has a number of hydraulic drive boats. Hydraulics arent going away there are still a number of these types built every year and the advantages is that they are quiet, plus hydraulics offer extras such as that on Stort Daybreak where the whole unit rudders, or mine where the prop can be lifted up to a different postion if the need is neccessary in very shallow water.

[Denis R]

I watched this boat being built at Braunston and it was orignally built with a conventionally mounted propellor and a rudder that looked like a kort nozzle. However the propellor was not contained within the nozzle but actually sat behind it.... Apparently they had all sorts of problems steering it and it was then taken out of the water for a re-design and the last I saw of it, the whole rudder assembly was in pieces on the wharf. I suspect it now has a hydraulic motor mounted in a nozzle with flexible hoses transferring the power. I believe it has an electric bow-thruster - just by the noise, but I guess they all make that fearful din with straight-cut bevel gears.....

[denkirk]

I watched this boat being built at Braunston and it was orignally built with a conventionally mounted propellor and a rudder that looked like a kort nozzle. However the propellor was not contained within the nozzle but actually sat behind it.... Apparently they had all sorts of problems steering it and it was then taken out of the water for a re-design and the last I saw of it, the whole rudder assembly was in pieces on the wharf. I suspect it now has a hydraulic motor mounted in a nozzle with flexible hoses transferring the power. I believe it has an electric bow-thruster - just by the noise, but I guess they all make that fearful din with straight-cut bevel gears.....

I used to be a fisherman and we used Kort nozzles on practically every vessel I sailed on, they were very good at preventing any netting from being drawn over the prop' by the current and gave us exceptional steering at slow speeds. The layout was that the prop' sat behind the nozzle and the rudder was placed forward of the nozzle, some vessels had nozzles that rotated on a shaft which meant it acted as the rudder but these gave quite poor results as the range of movement the nozzle could swing through was restricted by the water flow angle range from the prop', they are pretty much universal on recent fishing vessels and believe me fishermen don't buy or fit anything that doesn't work! It may be that the fact that we obviously fished in tidal streams meant a current always flowed across the rudder and aided steering, it would be interesting to know if anyone finds nozzles better on rivers than on canals? Also the fuel consumption figures improved as there was no wastage of 'powered' water leaving the prop' sideways from the prop' itself but was funneled jet engine like through the nozzle giving increased distance per fuel amount and giving maximum power from the prop' without water that had energy placed into it by the prop' being wasted by not being utilised to power the vessel. Hope this helps!

 

Denis.

[aread2]

There's a boat reviewed in last month's WW with an unusual hydraulic drive. It's a liveaboard butty with a generator in the forward cabin with a hydraulic PTO driving a prop embedded in the traditional rudder for when it's to be moved.

[DHutch]

Yeah, there are indeed a few buttys with hydrolic conversions.

[Denis R]

It doesn't half make a whining noise when its in operation! First time I heard it I thought Cathy's Ghost had returned!

[Golden Duck]

Can you tell me which company built her ? Was it D.B ?

 

I watched this boat being built at Braunston

[aread2]

DB built the butty reviewed in WW with hydraulic transmission. It has a cocooned Beta generator in the forward cabin with a hydraulic PTO piped all the way to the stern. Prop is mounted on the traditional butty style rudder with the hoses going to the rudder. It works somewhat like an outboard. I seem to remember the article said it was not intended for long-distance cruising and that the hydraulic gearbox was surprisingly noisy.