Prop Rotation
 

Hey guys, my neighbor has a new 35ZR, lots of goodies under the hatch, anyway, he can't dock this thing worth a damn. His props rotate inward and we were wondering what is the deal with switching the rotation. The local dealer tells him that if he changes it, that the hull will react different and he could loose control and possibly roll the boat. Are they feeding him a line or is there some facts to back up there statement. What is your opinion??

Why change something that works? Rotation will have no effect on your buddies docking skills.
Jim

Not familiar with the Donzi specifically, but typically props inward are a little faster, LESS stabil at speed and a bit(h to dock. Outward are a little slower, MORE stabil and easier to dock. If these are bravos can you just swap props and run the boat with the sticks in reverse? (not sure, worse case you need to swap the cables at the helm)

Thanks for the replies so far. I offered to switch the controls etc for him. The problem he has docking is this boat docks totally different than the cruiser he normally drives. When I offered to switch the cables and props he called the dealer and they told him, "it would make the boat so unstable at speed, he could loose control and possibly flip the boat" I say they are full of crap! I have switched my current and prvious boats back and forth with no noticable effect on the stability of the boat.. Lost a little top end, but it docked better, especially in reverse. But these were not step bottom boats. Just did my friends Powerplay and that boat is a whole different animal now. The mid range punch is much more responsive. I have not been keeping up to date on Donzi's and was looking for some input from someone who might have tried this with success or close calls to share.

Actually he docks that big butt cruiser very well, just can't handle the smaller boat, especially in the rough water we have in the area.

If the "big cruiser" is an inboard boat then outdrives are harder to get used to. I had cruisers for a number of years and with the props under the boat you can pivot them on a dime.

I hve little experience on a twin but did hear that when turned inward on any boat they are harder to dock. One guy I have talked to mentioned using just one motor instead of both to make it easier.

Again no actual experience but just "hear say"....take it for what its worth!

I feel his pain as I have a 40 ft cruiser and a 38ZR. Yes the ZR is harder to maneuver because the props are so close to gether you don't get much pivot, and the inward rotation causes the opposite effect when docking. My advice is not to mess with the boat, but rather just keep practicing docking. You have to give it a little juice every now and then if the wind is up to get it to move, but move it will. You can also try using the opposite motor to offset the inward rotation, i.e instead of using the port engine in reverse to bring the stern to starboard, try the starboard engine. (when in reverse the props spin outward).

Thanks,
I passed on the info....

Big cruiser you should not use the steering wheel to dock.

Twin I/O you need to use the wheel.

Tough to get used to going backwards. The natural progression of most people's boating takes them from single engine, to twin I/O or Outboards, then onto twin Inboards... twin inboards is an easy setup to learn, once you stop screwing with the wheel:)

Tell your friend to find an open area where he can do some testing. put one drive in F, one in R... notice the speed of the turn, the rotation, and where the pivot point of the boat is. That's the most important thing to figure out. On inboard boats the boat will basically spin. Twin I/O's are not nearly the same, and varies greatly from boat to boat... He'll also learn that putting one stick in F and one in R around the dock is pretty useless:angry-smiley-044: