Velvet Drive Turning

[dave6330]

I am now getting intimately familiar with our new 1979 Pearson 365 Ketch, POLARIS.  I have a question for the more enlightened:  Is it normal (or desirable) for the propeller to continue to spin when the engine is shut off and the boat is sailing along?  It doesn't seem to matter whether or not the transmission (a Borg-Warner Velvet Drive) is in reverse, nuetral or forward - the shaft keeps spinning, working the V-Drive as it rotates...Polaris is NOT equiped with any kind of shaft brake that I can see.

[Atavist]

nope... that is very very bad for the v drive  and the gear box... as in any boat... this is a chronic problem with our boats (365's)... I have a folding prop on mine which normally solves the problem but sometimes even this will free-wheel when I kill the engine instead of folding... to stop it I restart the engine, run it astern for a second then go back to neutral and kill the engine again, so far that seems to shake the prop enough to get it to fold when I shut off the engine the second time....

I'd recommend installing a folding prop, it's the only solution I know of for these boats.

[EdHouston]

I knew there was a benafit to the Paragon transmission !

I would instale a shaft brake before I went for the folding prop option I like the thrust I get with my three blade, it is a bit of sea anchor when sailing but hey your not going to be first around the bouy anyway !

Just my two cents.

Ed

S/V Moonlight Mile #110.

[RayNWanda]

We have a letter from the Borg Warner dated 1978 to the original owner of our boat that says the shaft spinning while sailing is not an issue for the Velvet Drive.

[slokat]

We'll eventually get a shaft brake for Wind Tamer - in the mean time, it sounds like we're being followed around by a submarine...

wonder if it could be harnassed to charge the batteries...

[SailingSeaDragon]

All,

Our Shaflok (brand name) has served us well for the last 6 years and one of the first upgrades made to Sea Dragon.

http://www.sailingseadragon.com/Shaftlok.htm

Garner

[dave6330]

Follow-Up:

I called the folks at Borg Warner who, in turn, referred me to a dealership in Everett, WA.  He said that, unless I was sailing at 30mph or greater, the RPMs generated by the propeller free-wheeling would cause no problems (as long as both the V-Drive and transmission had oil).  I told him that if we ever reached 30mph it wouldn't be for long.

I think I'll NOT try to install a shaft break (or use a pipe wrench).  Seems to me that both solutions to a non-problem would be inviting trouble.

V/R

Dave
S/V Polaris (a Pearson 365 Ketch)
Slip D-25, Seward, Alaska