My first few lessons in small powerboat handling as a young lad included "thrust
vectoring" examples, although those terms were never used. I remember vividly
bringing the launch (about 18 feet with an Atomic 4 and a "stick" tiller) bow to
the dock and wagging the butt back and forth with the tiller. The exercise was
repeated in reverse hanging off a bow line, proving (contrary to jaxie's claim)
the affect works in reverse, although with greatly diminished results. These
exercises were an eye-opener for me, since as a sailor, I had never thought in
terms of water flow created by a prop.

A few years later I had another lesson (I should have known better by then) when
I tried to power off of a dock at Castine, ME with a very strong current
flowing. An old hand showed me the "power against a spring line" trick. I was
amazed that so much power could be brought to bear.

These techniques are best taught "hands on," in a small boat, if possible, so
that one can feel the power the prop can generate. Whether the words "thrust
vectoring" are used depends on the audience.





"otnmbrd" wrote in message
hlink.net...
Interesting. I can't think of too many boats that "pull" water over a
rudder for steering, except in reverse, and this is well known to be,
generally, of little effect.
Of course, considering the source of that statement, we realize it has
no value, other than to say he didn't understand what I was saying, nor
does he have any knowledge of the subject.
G I'll call that a "negative", with reservations.....
Come-on group, I'm looking for some pos/neg responses from people with
some knowledge and experience, not jaxasses .....