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We never did like outboard motors , and have always thought that an outboard spoils the lines of a Corribee. Having no engine is unthinkable - we are not good enough sailors and like most people in the modern world have too many time pressures to wait for fair tides. Over the years we have examined all the possible inboards that could fit in to a Corribee, and their price tags, and have been convinced that it would be quite uneconomical to install one. It would in fact make better sense to sell one's present boat and buy a Corribee with an inboard engine. But we have sold Nyoni once before, and when we bought her back we said we would not do that again.
The BMW D7 is the inboard motor installed into Corribees from new, and the owners we talked to were very satisfied with them. The snag is that, like the Corribee itself, they are no longer made. Nor is the Seagull sail drive, but no one in their right mind would install one of them. The smallest marine engine we could find was the Yanmar 9hp diesel.
Then last year we heard that Andy Rose had installed a Yanmar 9 hp diesel in Nampara, a mark II Corribee with much the same specification as Nyoni. David rang him and there followed several technical discussions on the fitting of such an engine. Andy did most of the work himself but he also consulted Marine Power, Bursledon, on the Hamble, whom he found most helpful when he ran into difficulties. He recommended them very highly.
So one Saturday in the summer we drove down to Bursledon to discuss engine fitting. They had 2 Yanmars in the workshop, the last before a price increase, and offered us one at a discount, which we accepted. We did not want to take the boat out of the water in mid season, so we arranged for Bursledon Marine to store our new engine until September, when we would bring the boat from Chichester Harbour to the Hamble for them to install it.
The boat was duly delivered in
September and each Saturday we went down to see what progress had been made, and
to take photographs. Graham the fitter knew that Yanmars had been installed in
Corribees before, but when he first looked at Nyoni, sitting stripped down in
their yard, he sucked his teeth and said it would be a tight fit. In fact it
turned out to be easier than he thought, and fitted in very neatly.
The companionway steps were discarded, and the inner moulding floor was cut away in order to mount the engine bearers directly on to the hull. The humble engine bearers turned out to be a work of art. Weekly visits to the work in progress revealed at first two substantial balks of hardwood glassed to the hull. Subsequently these were finished to a state where the next stage appeared to be French polishing! On the following week we were puzzled to find they had become welt finished fibre glass beams. When Graham was asked why the wooden bearers had been so beautifully finished if they were then to be glassed over, .he replied, "Oh it would have showed otherwise". He is a true craftsman.
Although the Yanmar fitted in to the Corribee more easily than had been expected, some compromise had to be made. One of the cockpit drain sea cocks had to be moved to make way for the exhaust. This was re-routed to the hull in way of the starboard keel.
As the engine intruded just beyond the space originally occupied by the companion way steps these were not replaced, and a substantial lift off wooden engine cover was made. This was lined with sound proofing material, and also functions as a step, a seat or an extra table!
Nyoni already possessed a comprehensive electric system, supplied by a battery in each keel, which had been charged in a half hearted manner by the outboard, and by a solar panel mounted on the lazaret hatch cover. The solar panel has been retained, and now feeds directly to the batteries via a two way switch. A heavy duty make-before-break battery selection switch feeds the charge from the engine alternator to one or both batteries, and also serves as an isolator. Although this belt and braces approach should ensure that power is always available to start the engine, it has proved possible (just) to hand start the engine.
The
back of the skeg was cut away to make room for the propeller, which is
positioned immediately forward of the rudder. When the skeg was cut in to, it
was found to contain sand and lumps of concrete! Starting from inside the boat a
passage was drilled down through the skeg towards the rudder, and a glass fibre
tube was bonded in to provide for the drive shaft, at the same time massively
restoring the structural integrity of the skeg. A two bladed propeller was
selected after some debate. The argument in its favour was that it would provide
for both more efficient motoring and sailing; the argument against was that it
would cause a vibration. In the event the two blade was the right choice as the
vibration and noise in the boat are less than that caused by the outboard, and
experience has shown that when the motor is switched off and the boat is under
sail the propeller free wheels until it has lined up behind the skeg, where it
conveniently stalls and parks itself!
A five gallon diesel tank was installed in the aft lazaret on the starboard side against the forward bulkhead. This tank has fitted in very neatly, taking up far less space than the petrol cans it replaces, while giving sufficient range to motor to Cherbourg and back! The motor uses less than a pint of diesel per hour in normal conditions. A fuel filter and cock were also fitted in the lazaret.
Now that we have had a season with the Yanmar we can only say that we are delighted with it. The weight of the engine is in the right place, between the bilge keels, giving Nyoni excellent balance. She has ample power for any conditions we are likely to meet, and it is available at the touch of a button - no more leaning over the stern in a seaway struggling to start or re-fuel an outboard! There is no smell of diesel in the boat (something Kathleen was concerned about), and the boat handles beautifully, turning on a sixpence. The whole installation went well thanks to the professionalism of Marine Power, and although it was expensive we think it has prolonged the use of the boat for us.
Kathleen and David Bird
Winter 1996
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One of the members at my yacht club. Sean Harris, decided to replace the Vire in his Corribee with a second-hand Yanmar 10M (the original 6.5 hp version). I became involved, as I am a friend of Dennis Toms, the Marine Engineer Sean asked to fit the engine.
We looked long and hard at the best way to mount it and decided that, by strengthening the quarter berth sides we could dispense with conventional bearers and mount the unit on angle plates bolted through the berth sides. This of course greatly simplified installation. Dennis had already made the template for the relative positions of the shaft, feet etc. It was, of course, an enormous advantage having the old shaft and log to use In lining everything up.
Sean decided to try keeping the original propeller, I must say I had my doubts that this would be satisfactory but Dennis was willing to give it a try. The fuel tank remained in the lazerette locker aft, the exhaust was taken under the cockpit sole up into a swan-neck in the lazerette. A water-lock was fitted as low as possible behind the coupling.
Experience has shown the installation to be very successful, despite my misgivings about the prop. It is reasonably quiet and smooth running. Sean is naturally delighted.
Chris Austin
December 1999
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