Torqeedo 1003L on a Catalina 22 Sailboat: First Sea Trial

Finally, I am able to report on our first test of the Torqeedo 1003L on our 1983 Catalina 22 sailboat, Ellipsis!  To briefly recap, we had the following challenges prior to this first sea trial:

• The Torqeedo 1003L's tiller would not clear the 1983 Catalina 22's transom when affixed to the standard motor mount.  We needed to extend the mounting board by about 5-6 inches further aft to allow for clearance.  
• While examining the motor mount (original 1983 equipment, we think), we discovered a missing stop nut on one of the bracket assembly's bolts.  The bolt's threading was so damaged that it would not take a new stop nut.  When we tried to pull out the bolt, we found it was frozen in place.
• In the end, we removed the entire motor mount assembly from the transom of the boat and had to rebuild it (see previous posts for details).
• Today, we re-attached the motor mount assembly to the transom, with the 5-6" extension to the mounting board, and were able to use the Torqeedo 1003L on our Catalina 22 sailboat for the first time.

The results?  Generally favorable, but with some important caveats.  Read on for details.

Catalina 22 Torqeedo 1003L Sea Trial Report #1

Weather Conditions

   Today was a good day for a first test, as winds were very light and the water was nearly flat.  The tide was nearly slack, between a high of +12 ft and an impending low of +7 ft.  This was an opportunity to see what the Torqeedo 1003L could do with the hull of a Catalina 22 in nearly still water.  We began with the battery at 95% charge (we had previously mounted the Torqeedo to our 12-foot aluminum jon-boat for some fun on a local lake, but that is a whole different story).

Performance

First of all, the Torqeedo seemed to deliver the thrust promised by the company's website.  Until now, we've used a Minn-Kota 50-lb thrust saltwater trolling motor to get us in and out of the marina.  We would never have considered using the trolling motor to take a powered cruise anywhere but in and out of the marina.  The Torqeedo pushed Ellipsis, at just under half-throttle, as fast as our Minn-Kota could push us at full throttle.  At full power, the Torqeedo 1003L moved us across flat water at 3.9 knots (according to the Torqeedo's integrated speed-over-ground calculator).  I'm guessing that the outgoing tide probably gave us a boost of no more than 0.2-0.3 knots, so call it 3.5 knots, to be conservative.

At half-throttle, the Torqeedo 1003L pushed our Catalina 22 at about 2 knots--about what our trolling motor would do a full power.

It is difficult to compare this with any specificity to the speed offered by the trolling motor, since the Torqeedo is the first-and-only speedometer we've ever had, but our sense, based on years of experience with our Catalina 22, using the Minn-Kota, is that the Torqeedo company's claim of having over 100-lbs of thrust at full throttle seems reasonable. 

Range and Battery Life

The Trolling Motor:  First of all, the Torqeedo's lithium battery is designed to be drained to zero, without any damage to the battery, unlike lead-acid batteries, which suffer when drained below about 50%.  With our trolling motor, we had set up a dedicated 2-battery bank to power it, with a dedicated 15W solar panel to keep the batteries charged.  With 2, 75 amp-hour 12v batteries, wired in parallel, we could expect about 30 minutes at full power, before the batteries were drained to 50%, at which point they would start to take damage.  This means we could accomplish about 2 knots over flat water for 30 minutes before our battery bank became compromised.  And that was the maximum option, given, say a lee shore or a strong counter current (and counter currents are common, here in the South Puget Sound).

The Torqeedo:  From this first sea trial, it appears that the Torqeedo 1003L can deliver about twice the thrust for the same period of time--i.e. nearly 4 knots over flat water for 30 minutes--before the battery is depleted.  There are times when this might be a useful capability.

But, for the Catalina 22, the Torqeedo seems to display its real benefits when you find yourself with little-to-no wind and current, which is precisely when we intend to put this motor to use.  Based on our initial trial (see the map above), this motor is plenty able to push our boat over moderate distances at moderate speeds.  To be more specific, consider the following:

• "Leg 1" on the map was about 1/3 of a NM.  Most of it was out of the marina, and we played a bit with full-throttle to see what the motor could do.  This drained our battery from 95% to 87%.
• "Leg 2" on the map was probably about 2.5 NM.  We accomplished that, at about 2.5 knots on average, with about 40% of the battery remaining when we hit the dock.  In other words, we could have gone a lot further under those conditions.   And yes, it took about an hour to complete "Leg 2," which further reinforces the "average 2.5 NM" speed reading on the Torqeedo, itself.

So, the Torqeedo is a definite improvement over the Minn-Kota (and a costly one, for sure).  I'll post more pix and videos to augment this report in the days ahead....

 Future Plans

Based on this trial, we plan to keep the Torqeedo 1003L and use it as a more powerful auxiliary, compared to our trolling motor.  I am sure that it will, someday, bail us out of a tide/current scenario that our trolling motor couldn't do.  Based on today's performance, I am certain that the Torqeedo could get us off a lee shore in moderate winds, at least to a point where we could drop the hook and wait things out.

Aside from such dire conditions, I am satisfied that the Torqeedo 1003L can do the following:

• Push a Catalina 22 (with appropriate modifications to the motor mount) at about 4 knots over still water, at full throttle.  
• Allow for some slow (i.e. 2-3 kt) motor cruising for periods up to 2-3 hours, with a full charge.
• Provide a way to get gasoline off your boat altogether, provided you insist on using wind/sail as your primary form of propulsion.
• In other words, the Torqeedo 1003L is a fine "auxiliary" motor for people who take the "auxiliary" designation seriously, and are committed to travel by sail.   

Now... what happens when we buy a second battery for the Torqeedo?  Well, obviously, we double our range!  It ain't cheap, but neither is gasoline...

Check back for updates on Ellipsis and the use of the Torqeedo, and our use of more batteries to extend our range under power.  In the meantime, let's all remember that the reason we own a sailboat is....  to sail!