I've also been confused by the term, but I have seen it applied to the
strut/bearing carrying the shaft outboard of the hull.

Roger

http://home.insightbb.com/~derbyrm

"Thomas Wentworth" wrote in message
news:iJStf.2010$WX3.1725@trndny09...

snip

Now ............ back to the Cutlass Bearing ...

Let's see ,,, the shaft goes through a shaft log,,, and it is held in
place by a Cutlass Bearing and then there is the stuffing box ....

The Cutless bearing is actually a bushing in the strut that holds the
prop shaft on some boats. Not all sailboats have one. When the boat
is out of the water, grab the prop and shake it from side to side. If
it goes THUNK THUNK, it needs replacing. If it just goes rattle
rattle, its still ok. To get an education, go around the boat yard
shaking the props on various boats and you will get a good idea of what
is good and bad. There are an amazing number of boats out there with
worn out cutless bearing and maybe it is not a problem for them.

Very few of the damaged boats I have seen on Ebay are worthwhile. When
they say "slight easily repairable damage", it seems to mean the glass
has been crushed in such a way that the layers have delaminated over
the entire side.

Thomas,
I somewhat disagree with the previous posts, in that if you do have a
strut, it is common to call the incorporated bushing/bearing the strut
bearing,there is still another (cutlass bearing) in the exterior or
both ends of the shaft log...a strut is only present when there is a
fair distance from the cutlass bearing to the end of the shaft,
creating a need for additional support...
Regards,
markvictor