1.Outboards. Has anyone tried an electric (eg Torqueedo) outboard on a Romilly? The 3hp version looks as if it might not be powerful enough and the next stage up – the Cruise R – needs separate batteries
2. We would like to do some cruising this year. We don’t have a cockpit tent and would welcome suggestions for equipment and stowage plans for a 2 or 3 day cruise.
Jonnie Taylor
Jonnie – We only purchased our Romlly a year ago, but we have spent quite a few nights on board & have cruised probably a couple of hundred miles on the West Coast of Scotland. In fact, in 4 days time I hope to be sailing into Tobermory on Mull ! One thing that has been really fantastic has been the cockpit tent. This provides a warm & sheltered place to cook & sit, & enjoy a dram, & also a place to stow all the gear while we sleep down below (Have you thought where all that kit will go when you are sleeping down below & its poring with rain ?). Of course you may be cruising in the sunny south, but for us up here it really makes all the difference to us.
Steve
You just need the halyard to carry the tent from mast until aft-end cockpit. Some people use the mizzen-halyard-line to hoist the horizontal halyard-boom.
I made a “scissor” of two aluminium tent-stockings (total cost € 4,50 !) to carry the halyard-boom at the cockpit’s end.
The tent is just of a simple design; I use the two port-holes on both sides to fix the tent with elastic ropes and the same on the cabin roof around the hand-railings.
I tried this “design” the last two years and it worked well. It is simple to set up and I use those elastic tubes of an old tent to set a kind of bow inside to give it more room and shape.
Of course you can make the aft-end of the cockpit-tent more or less the same way, which I’m planning to do this year.
After much thinking and seeing lots of tents, I finally came back to the simple “boom-tent” and use elastic tent-tubes to give the right bow inside of the tent. It’s just a simple sheet of sail and easy to fold/unfold and to storage it.
Rinus Alberti
skipper of “De Scoonheijt van Oele”
Netherlands
Hello Jonnie,
I don’t have experience with the mentioned combination. At my former work (I’m early retired) we gave technical (and other) information about watersport to our members. Our ‘rule of fist’ for (auxilliary) motorpower on sailing boats was 3 hp per ton displacement. That would mean that Romilly needs about 3 to 4 hp (displacement 1100 kg). As the lines of Romilly are very fine I guess that 3 hp will do for manoeuvring in harbours and to reach hullspeed with a bit of power in reserve. But if you want to motor longer distances with strong wind ahead your progress will probably be slower.
Pieter van Kuppenveld
Netherlands
I now have a “hoop” tent made up on the basis of a description given elsewhere on this forum. so far so good – and as snug as bug once its all up. No windows but am planning clear pannels to zip in the place of the door flaps. Only used three hoops – with hind site this might not be enough. I have used single lenghts of fiber-glass yacht battens and want to experiment with a couple of loose bendy tent poles to take the slack out of the cloth between the main sleaved poles. Have a photo, but can’t fathom out how to add it to this posting
Using the Torquedo is tricky as the propellor wants to hit the rudder support if you just hang it. I had to fill in the gap in the outboard well to raise it high enough, angle it a little so the forward part of the motor goes past the hull, and move it forward after filling in the block so that the battery would clear. The motor does work but the bigger one with a separate battery would be easier but more costly.
I note that the Torquedo is an awkward fit for Romilly. Has anyone tried fitting the Eprop Spirit plus electric outboard?
The answer to my question about Eprop Spirit electric outboard is that it fits perfectly – and having a 2 blade prop means it can easily be removed or inserted.
Hi Ed,
I assume you are using the Spirit 1.0 Evo portable 3HP, correct? Which shaft length are you using?
I currently use a Yamaha 4ps but the prop seems to danage the rudder, even if i don’t know how exactly…seems to be well clear in neutral. If i tighten it all a bit higher, it obstructs the tiller though :-(
Epropulsion Spirit plus 1.0 short shaft but have discovered that it occasionally hits the rudder in astern
Hi Benjamin
You are correct in that I am using the Spirit 1.0 short shaft. Unfortunately I found the same problem of hitting the rudder that you describe, but only in hard astern. This does not happen with 5hp Honda. Obviously the astern pull causes the outboard leg to move astern slightly so that the prop impinges on the rudder stock low down
Hi Benjamin
You are correct in that I am using the Spirit 1.0 short shaft. Unfortunately I found the same problem of hitting the rudder that you describe, but only in hard astern. This does not happen with my 5hp Honda. Obviously the astern pull causes the outboard leg to move astern slightly so that the prop impinges on the rudder stock low down.
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