I have a 2000 model monohull yacht with 21hp Nanni diesel fitted with a Selva sail drive. The engine itself is fine - The sail drive has developed gear problems and basically needs rebuilding. The problems are;
1. I can't buy a new or reconditioned sail drive leg of the same type.
2. Newer sail drives probably won't fit the engine and will require a new engine/sail drive bed - many dollars.
3. Very few people know about or will touch these sail drives.
4. One option id a new engine/saildrive and bed - many many more dollars - and its a 16 year old boat!
5. As we all know, time on the hard stand is expensive and I am trying to find a solution that does not involve the boat sitting on the hard while weeks go by trying to source parts or decide on a plan etc.

Does anyone have any thoughts or suggestions on how I might best deal with this.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

You could take the saildrive into an engineering workshop and see if they can fix it, or at least fabricate new gears for the old one

There are that many people on the forum that have reported big problems with sail drives that convinces me to never own a yacht with a sail drive.

I know this is of no help for your problem but from what I can see you have an expensive exercise ahead of you. It might ease the pain of the expence if you weigh it against the overall value of the vessel on a percentage basis.

Hi Seabird, Collins Marine in Sydney are the Ozzie importers and agents for Nanni. While they do offer a kit for the lower end gear setup on my sail drive, they are the ones who told me that you can't get a new version of what I already have and that while a later sail drive might fit, it would require a new engine and sail drive bed. This means a lot of cutting and re-glassing which is probably not worth it for old engine.

I'm curious to know what problems have been reported with sail drives? I've had (2) sail drives on my cat for over 10 years without any problems whatsoever.

OK, I did once twist some heavy fishing line around the prop which damaged the seal and let water in, but that would have occurred with any prop, not just a sail drive.

scruzin said..
I'm curious to know what problems have been reported with sail drives? I've had (2) sail drives on my cat for over 10 years without any problems whatsoever.

OK, I did once twist some heavy fishing line around the prop which damaged the seal and let water in, but that would have occurred with any prop, not just a sail drive.

Some early design sail drives used cones to drive forward and reverse from memory some owners had trouble be it Bukh or Volvo.
the cones would slip result no drive
My Bukh DV24's sail drive had this problem that's why the owner sold it to me . I sold the sail drive off it to a marine engine shop in Canada he repair it . I think he made one out of two sail drives.
Ive seen on forums some people bed them in again
Ive wondered if it may have been a result of to higher rpm when selecting forward and reverse or selecting either to quickly in the case of manoeuvring in a marina for instance