Operating a sailing boat with an auxiliary propeller is a mixed blessing. Even if it feathers, we still don’t enjoy what it does to our sailing performance, yet today’s marinas are so tight that trying to get into an awkward berth without one is often unrealistic. This leaves us stuck with some degree of drag.
The time we really don’t want a prop is when we’re racing, and on one occasion I had a bit of luck. I was aboard , a 40ft (12.2m) Irens-designed cutter (50ft sparred length) built for me out of wood epoxy. Although she
