CD 30 13 HP Volvo

[Ayars Lore]

Fellow CD 30 Owners,

I am in the process of buying our 2nd Cape Dory. Some years ago I owned with great pride a CD 25 with a brother. My wife and I are in the process of purchasing a CD30. We plan to sail primarily on the Chesapeake Bay. The only concern I have is the 13 HP Volvo engine. I am sure it will bring the boat up to hull speed. However, I am not sure it is large enough to keep the boat at a safe speed when faced with a heavy head sea or a strong head current.

Your thoughts please,

Ayars Lore



B-Ayars.Lore@att.net

[Murray Glue]

Dayspring has a Volvo 2002 fresh water cooled diesel in her. The performance is OK with the 20hp this engine is rated at, but not startling, maybe because of the prop configuration. She has a V drive arrangement ( the motor is back to front ). I think 13 hp might be a shade frustrating.

Murray Glue
CD30 Dayspring
Nelson
New Zealand



murray@offshoretechnical.com

[Michael Bond]

Murray, I have a CD 30K and recently repowered. My original engine was a Yanmar YSE12 coupled to a walters V-drive. This was the original set up from the factory. I spent 6 mos cruising in the spring and put a lot of miles on this engine. When I bought the boat 5 yrs ago the engine was using oil so I rebuilt it completely. The 10 hp continious rated Yanmar was a bit underpowered for this boat I feel. I had many times in the gulf intracoastal canal with much tug and barge traffic that I wished she had a little more go. But she still went just fine. I believe that your set up is very similar. I know that the old volvo parts are expensive and some are no longer available. The Volvos are pretty good engines. If yours is in good shape I might consider using it till it is not in good shape. This could be another 20 yrs though. Do you have a 2 or three blade prop? I changed my original fixed two blade to a fixed 3 blade and got much better performance into heavy chop and the strong currents in most of the passes and inlets. But there is more drag when sailing. I repowered with a 3GMD Yanmar with a new gear and v- drive. This was a lot of work but much worth the trouble. I now have a 3 blade max prop and this arrangement has no problem maintaining hull speed plus the feathering prop increased the speed under sail by between a 1/2 and one knot! Good luck with her.

Michael Bond
"Frivolity"
CD 30K

Dayspring has a Volvo 2002 fresh water cooled diesel in her. The performance is OK with the 20hp this engine is rated at, but not startling, maybe because of the prop configuration. She has a V drive arrangement ( the motor is back to front ). I think 13 hp might be a shade frustrating.

Murray Glue
CD30 Dayspring
Nelson
New Zealand

Bondmichael@worldnet.att.net

[Leo MacDonald]

Hi Ayars,

I owned a 77 CD30K with a Volvo MD7A engine, Walker V-Drive and a 2 blade 13-LH-13 Prop. The only time I felt a little underpowered was after the spreader caught the Genny (yielding ~7 foot rip) and we had to motor into a 3-4 ft chop with the seas & wind on the nose. That might have been answered with a 3-blade prop - but this is a SAILboat.

I would recommend a separate 'Engine Survey'. The Volvos are good engines but repair parts are expensive.

Fair Winds,
Leo



macdore@aol.com

[david low]

Ayers:

I have a CD30 on the Cheasapeake and have had good luck with the MD7A. I have a three bladed prop that will stop the boat on a dime when I need to and push it pretty well in chop and head wind.

It is very important to keep the prop clear of all barnacles. I had just limited build up last summer and the performance goes to pot.

Dave



davidlow@erols.com

[Patrick Turner]

The 13 hp engie on the CD30 is a bit underpowered and you will find that if you get into a heavy seaway you'll only be able to get about 3-4 knts of speed through the water. Having said that, it is adequate for the boat. Everytime I worry about engines and if they are strong enough I remind myself that there are people out there right now, sailing around the world with no engine at all. I'm not one who would choose to do so, but with no engine to rely on (or perhaps a slightly underpowered one), you don't run out and play when perhaps you shouldn't. I imagine those sailors that rely less on their engines, become very adept at knowing weather and the sea's and currents and all that.....wich is not a bad thing at all. A slightly underpowered engine just might keep you in check a little and make you take that extra moment to "think about it"....and that's o.k.

Pat

[Olli Wendelin]

Ayars,

I have a CD30 with the original 10HP Yanmar and a 3 bladed prop. This does just fine for me. The boat is faster under sail than under power, but it is a sailboat. In Charleston we have very swift tidal currents. The only time the boat seems slow is when the prop is fouled with barnacles. It's reminding me to clean the prop.

Good luck with your purchase.

Olli Wendelin
BLUE MOON
Charleston, SC



wendelin@spawar.navy.mil

[Ken Cave]

The big trick is to change that two bladed prop to a three bladed prop! But, be sure to go to someone with experience!! When I puchased mine, it had to be cut down and reconfigured so it would not overpower the engine.

It is sure worth doing the change out only once, instead of trial and error!

Ken Cave
Cape Dory 28 #227



bcave@whidbey.net

[Clay Stalker]

The big trick is to change that two bladed prop to a three bladed prop! But, be sure to go to someone with experience!! When I puchased mine, it had to be cut down and reconfigured so it would not overpower the engine.

It is sure worth doing the change out only once, instead of trial and error!

Ken Cave
Cape Dory 28 #227

I agree with Ken. I have heard all the horror stories about how a fixed three-bladed prop negatively impacts sailing performance, but I have just not seen this with mine. No doubt I am losing 1/2 to 1 knot because of it, but I don't race much and, for goodness sakes, it's a Cape Dory! I really like having the extra power a three-blade prop provides when I need it.

Clay Stalker
CD27 Salsa #247
Bristol Harbor, R.I.



cstalker@cheshire.net

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