Counter rotating outdrives
 

I have a friend that has a 1989 SeaRay Cruiser 30' and he is thinking about putting counter rotating outdrives on it. Would doing this make any difference in the way the boat handles? With both drives rotating in the same direction he has a lot of tourque on the steering wheel had has a hard time running the boat in rough seas(3-5 foot). He is looking at spending about $2000. and is not sure if it would be worth the investment.
Any thoughts?

Re: Counter rotating outdrives
 

Yes, it would eliminate the steering torque.
The boat would behave more consistently around the docks with the drives set straight. Not enough difference to really matter, though.

I advise him to spend $50 instead of $2000.
Buy two new extended length zinc torque tabs for the outdrives (these go on the bottom side of the cavitation plate and are used to combat steering torque). All single engine boats come with them, but for some reason, you see a lot of twins with "flush" plates there.

You can get a pretty good amount of counter effect from them. My guess is that you won't need to set them but about a third of the way in the offset direction.

Technically, you will need to set them for the most frequent cruise speed, and trim setting. They can be optimized for that speed and all is great with the world. At different trim settings and speeds, though, they will not be "perfect" but will be a WHOLE lot better than what he's running now.

Re: Counter rotating outdrives
 

Are these Bravo Outdrives? Just get an opposite rotation prop for one side, and switch the cables.

Re: Counter rotating outdrives
 

On a 1989 Searay they would be Alpha drives.

Re: Counter rotating outdrives
 

They could be Bravos but only if there are big blocks in there which I doubt on a 30 Searay. Unless its the SS 300.

Re: Counter rotating outdrives
 

Julio Wendell did that to his boat it made a world of difference. He used to have to darg a tab to keep the boat level. Now he doesn't have to.

Re: Counter rotating outdrives
 

The 30 Sundancer was manufactured with outdrives and to the best of my recollection was not offered with big-blocks or Bravo drives, only small-blocks with the Alpha drives. The 30 Weekender was offered with straight inboard engines/transmissions and would have been counter-rotating, with the starboard side being a reverse-rotation engine.