• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

+34 722401299

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn

BarcelonaSail

Sailing in Barcelona Boat Tours Day Sails & Sunset Tours

  • About Us
    • BarcelonaSail
    • Our Good weather guarantee
    • Our Sailboats
    • BarcelonaSail Reviews
    • Location Boats, Yachts and Catamarans
    • Videos BarcelonaSail
    • Sailing in Barcelona Frequently asked questions [FAQ]
  • Sustainability
    • Corporate Responsibility
    • Electric Boating
      • 5 step Electrical BLDC sailboat motor program
      • Is electric sailing cheap or very expensive?
      • Battery solution for electric sailboats
      • Four options for electric drive propulsion sailboat
      • Electric BLDC Sailboat Motor
      • Best electric drive system for sailboats
    • Single Use Plastic
      • Marine biodegradable plastic in 2020
      • Plastic ocean pollution during Sailing in Barcelona
      • A guide for Single use biodegradable plastic in Restaurants
      • Public awareness on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean
      • Micro plastics in nature a full circle
      • What have biodegradable plastic and Marlboro lights in common?
      • Earth day event: Barcelona boat tour, plastic fishing
  • Boat Tours
    • Sunset Tours
    • Marriage Proposal
    • Stag and Hen Tours
    • 2.5 Hour Sailing Tour
    • 6 Hour Sailing Tour
    • Catamaran Sailing Tour
    • Large Group Tour
    • Photography boat tour Barcelona
    • Sagrada Familia Sail Tour
    • Yacht Charters
  • Events
    • Sailing Team building Events
    • Online Team Building Events
  • Barcelona
    • 10 best day activities in Barcelona
    • Barcelona restaurants after sunset sail or day sail
    • Best places to stay outside Barcelona
    • Best things to do outside Barcelona
    • Buying a boat in Spain in 2021
    • Weather bulletins Barcelona
    • Animals in the Mediterranean Sea
      • 10 most important fish in the Mediterranean
      • 6 most important mammals in the Mediterranean
  • Stories
  • Book Tour
  • Search

Mobile Menu

  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • Deutsch
  • 한국어
  • Nederlands
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Phone
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • About Us
    • BarcelonaSail
    • Our Good weather guarantee
    • Our Sailboats
    • BarcelonaSail Reviews
    • Location Boats, Yachts and Catamarans
    • Videos BarcelonaSail
    • Sailing in Barcelona Frequently asked questions [FAQ]
  • Sustainability
    • Corporate Responsibility
    • Electric Boating
      • 5 step Electrical BLDC sailboat motor program
      • Is electric sailing cheap or very expensive?
      • Battery solution for electric sailboats
      • Four options for electric drive propulsion sailboat
      • Electric BLDC Sailboat Motor
      • Best electric drive system for sailboats
    • Single Use Plastic
      • Marine biodegradable plastic in 2020
      • Plastic ocean pollution during Sailing in Barcelona
      • A guide for Single use biodegradable plastic in Restaurants
      • Public awareness on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean
      • Micro plastics in nature a full circle
      • What have biodegradable plastic and Marlboro lights in common?
      • Earth day event: Barcelona boat tour, plastic fishing
  • Boat Tours
    • Sunset Tours
    • Marriage Proposal
    • Stag and Hen Tours
    • 2.5 Hour Sailing Tour
    • 6 Hour Sailing Tour
    • Catamaran Sailing Tour
    • Large Group Tour
    • Photography boat tour Barcelona
    • Sagrada Familia Sail Tour
    • Yacht Charters
  • Events
    • Sailing Team building Events
    • Online Team Building Events
  • Barcelona
    • 10 best day activities in Barcelona
    • Barcelona restaurants after sunset sail or day sail
    • Best places to stay outside Barcelona
    • Best things to do outside Barcelona
    • Buying a boat in Spain in 2021
    • Weather bulletins Barcelona
    • Animals in the Mediterranean Sea
      • 10 most important fish in the Mediterranean
      • 6 most important mammals in the Mediterranean
  • Stories
  • Book Tour
  • Search
BarcelonaSail » Blog Barcelona Sail » Electric boat propulsion best solutions » Four options for electric drive propulsion sailboat
propulsion solution sail drive lots of water resistance during sailing

Four options for electric drive propulsion sailboat

November 20, 2016 //  by Sailing Barcelona

Installing electric drive propulsion

Currently electric drive propulsion is a hot topic for both cars and boats because electric drive propulsion is a clean and sustainable solution for the future.  For BarcelonaSail the conversion to electric drive propulsion presents particularly challenging questions, such as, maintenance, costs, drag, autonomy and additional holes in boat hull.

Electric Drive Options

Below we summarize the four options to convert an inboard diesel engine with an electric drive propulsion system:

  1. Shaft-drive:

    Install an electric motor in the location of the diesel engine, shaft-drive solution. This is a complex installation and requires a specialist. Using the existing shaft and propeller is a problem for BarcelonaSail. The shaft is often the root cause of multiple problems, most import water entering near the stuffing box, and vibration as a result of shaft alignment issues.

    • Water can enter the motor cabin and causing the electrical motor to operate in a moist environment affecting its lifetime.
    • Vibration causes damage to electric motors in several ways. First, it can accelerate bearing failure by causing indentations on the bearing raceways at the ball or roller spacings. Secondly, it can loosen windings and cause mechanical damage to the insulation by fracturing, flaking or eroding of the material. Third, the excessive movement it causes can result in lead wires becoming brittle. Fourth, it can cause brush sparking at commutators or current collector rings.
  1. Sail-drive:

    Install a sail-drive system at the current propeller location. This option is often not possible because the space is simple not available. An electrical sail-drive system has an 80cm to 100 cm height. Secondly a sail-drive requires an opening in the hull of 30cm x 15cm. Obviously, a work that can only be done by specialists.  This option was indeed not possible for BarcelonaSail.

    electric-sail-drive-propulsion
    Sail drive: electric drive propulsion for sailboats
  1. Pod-drive:

    A Pod-drive is an alternative to the sail-drive system. The electrical motor system is completely built under water. The entire system needs to be bolted onto the hull in a waterproof manner. There is no access to the engine from the inside the boat, rendering maintenance impossible without the expense of taking the boat completely out of the water.

  1. Electric outboard:

    Install an electric outboard motor. This can be done by the owner without hiring a specialist and maintenance can be done with ease. The big drawback of outboard motors is that they do not work well at sea in rough conditions, this is a safety concern, and the outboard motor doesn’t appeal to boat owners having an “invisible” inboard engine.

Conclusion by BarcelonaSail

In conclusion we didn’t really like any of the four options presented to us. First of all is the fact that all inboard solutions cause more drag, because for regeneration requires a larger propeller. Minimizing the drag to the current situation is one of the criteria, see our earlier blog. Furthermore the installation is all inboard solutions is complex and requires making additional holes in the hull.

The Pod drive is BarcelonaSail’s favorite solution, no shaft, no vibration, no noise and a very small thru-hull. The disadvantage is that the whole unit (electrical motor included) is under the boat. In case something doesn’t work the boat needs to go out of the water.

The electric outboard is practical and easy in maintenance but not ideal at rough seas and not appealing.

As a result BarcelonaSail started to work on our own new electrical BLDC engine drive design. We expect it to be better and more affordable than the mentioned solutions in this blog.

Category: Electric boat propulsion best solutionsTag: Battery solution for electric sailboats, electric drive propusion, pod drive, sail drive, shaft drive

About Sailing Barcelona

Sailing enthusiast living in Barcelona, who developed a new way of enjoying the Barcelona sea side via active sailing. Using BarcelonaSail.com as the main site to attract people.

Previous Post: «bldc motor for sail boats 5 step Electrical BLDC sailboat motor program
Next Post: Best electric drive system for sailboats best electric propulsion solution for sailboats»

Primary Sidebar

Barcelona Sail weather

Barcelona Sail Reviews

Highest score on TripAdvisor with 100% excellence 5 star ★★★★★ reviews on Google and Facebook. Barcelona Sail reviews are very positive. BarcelonaSail is setting the bar with highest scores on both trip advisor here and other local review boards. Below is a listing of people that left a sail experience note on our local review boards. "Don't look any further, best personalized private sail tour in Spain"  -  Thomas on Jan 2018 "Simply the Best sailing trip"  - Javier on Feb …

BarcelonaSail Stories

  • Barcelona Photography sailing tour April 11, 2022
  • Onboarding New Employees December 9, 2021
  • Gamified Introduction of New Software March 16, 2021
  • Cyber Spy – Cybersecurity Awareness March 16, 2021
  • Plastic Presentation followed by a quiz March 12, 2021
  • Corporate team building game: Plastic Mission Impossible January 25, 2021
  • Sail course for children in Barcelona June 26, 2020
  • Best Covid-19 Prevention Sail Plan with May 18, 2020
  • Plastic Awareness Regatta an New Event Idea December 19, 2019

Explore Sailing Blog Categories

  • Animals in the Mediterranean Sea
  • BarcelonaSail about us
  • Best Things to do in Barcelona
  • Boat tours barcelona sailing
  • Electric boat propulsion best solutions
  • Single use plastic in Barcelona
  • Team building Events
sailing camp for children in barcelona

Sail course for children in Barcelona

June 26, 2020 By //  by Sailing Barcelona Leave a Comment

Introduction sailing course in Barcelona Barcelonasail provides a special sail course for children between 12 and 18 years. During the sailing introduction, the children will get a thorough introduction to sailing, learn to appreciate the ocean environment, and improve their English. We sail with only 5 children on a boat, this way the children can really …

Sailing with covid sail plan is safe

Best Covid-19 Prevention Sail Plan with

May 18, 2020 By //  by Sailing Barcelona Leave a Comment

The BarcelonaSail Covid-19 prevention sail plan is ready and we are ready to going again. A few more weeks and we can all going at sea together and have great fun on the Barcelona coast line. We going to have fun at sea and be safe. It is easy with the BarcelonaSail Covid-19 Prevention Sail …

Sunset sail in Barcelona

Barcelona Photography sailing tour

April 11, 2022 By //  by Jasper Leave a Comment

Sunset Barcelona from a sailing boat

onboarding employees

Onboarding New Employees

December 9, 2021 By //  by Sailing Barcelona Leave a Comment

Onboarding new employees nowadays is not as easy as it used to be. Because more and more staff work remote. How to get your new hire to feel at home and connecting fast within your organization? It is a serious question for which we have developed a gamified solution, that is flexible, fast and proven. …

adjusting to new software

Gamified Introduction of New Software

March 16, 2021 By //  by Sailing Barcelona

Is your company introducing new software or upgrading applications or new protocols? Having problems with staff unwilling to adopt the new information technology? Contact us to help you implement new software faster.

cybersecurity awareness course

Cyber Spy – Cybersecurity Awareness

March 16, 2021 By //  by Sailing Barcelona

cybersecurity awareness training to reduce the risk for potential cyber attacks

teambuilding at work

Plastic Presentation followed by a quiz

March 12, 2021 By //  by Sailing Barcelona Leave a Comment

BarcelonaSail organizes a plastic presentation at your HQ to share our knowledge about plastic with you. Because presentations are boring and from the 90-ties, we combine our presentation with a game. You better take notice to win the game! What is it? Plastic presentation with the plastic digital game is a 60 – 90 minutes …

corporate team building game plastic

Corporate team building game: Plastic Mission Impossible

January 25, 2021 By //  by Sailing Barcelona Leave a Comment

Does your company want to bring together your staff and reduce your plastic footprint? Are you ready for a plastic challenge? Is your company aligned with the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals? Our Plastic Mission Impossible corporate team building game is exciting, fun, and full of information on how to reduce your plastic footprint. …

Footer

Location

Contact BarcelonaSail

Enjoy a fantastic sailing trip along the coast of Barcelona.

Call Maria: +34 722 401 299

 

BarcelonaSail Address

Moll de Xaloc 5

08005 Barcelona

Spain

Book Boat Tour

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube

Disclaimer

Voucher and pay in advance

Ibiza sailing

Privacy policy BarcelonaSail

  • Boat tours barcelona sailing
  • Single use plastic in Barcelona
  • BarcelonaSail about us
  • Electric boat propulsion best solutions
  • Animals in the Mediterranean Sea

Copyright © 2023 BarcelonaSail · All Rights Reserved