Bow Thruster on an Event 34

[properjob]

A year ago I bought an Event 34 and in general I am very pleased with her.
One area where I am not totally happy is the slow speed manoeuvring. The previous catamaran that I owned had twin diesels, so the single centre mounted diesel with a steerable leg is taking time to get used to !

I can place the stern pretty well where I want, but in any cross wind I find that the bows pay off to leeward and in correcting that the whole boat drifts to leeward. The lack of prop wash over the rudders at slow speeds does not help matters. Therefore I find that I need more space in which to manoeuvre than with previous craft that I have owned, both multihull and monohull.

As I intend to go through the French canals next year and as there is a limited amount of manoeuvring space on a canal, especialy approaching a lock, I am thinking of fitting a bow thruster.

I would welcome any advice or thoughts on the matter.

[janmensink]

Hi

I am buying a Prouy Event, the seller had made a trip through the French canals. I send him a link of your question.

As new sailor of catsailing I'm curious about the sailing qualities and any tips.

regards, Jan

[Ken]

Hi. I have owned my prout event from new since 1996 and have been to and from the Med via the French canals with no problems. My previous boat was a fin keel Moody and there is certainly a different technique required when manouvering. You can manouver at higher speeds in the Event as there is plenty of power and much less weight than in a keel boat which will minimise leeway. Also when applying high power astern there is very little change of direction due to the big 3-blade prop and no prop wash. Have you tried working the rudder in the opposite direction to the drive leg whilst going forward? This allows the boat to crab into the wind minimising drifting. Worth a try, but do practice in open water first! I would be interested if you do fit a bow thruster to hear of your experiences.