"Jere Lull" wrote

I may be hyper-sensitive to noise and vibration, but the drivesaver
makes my motoring time more enjoyable.... Okay, less objectionable.

I have no doubt that it does. My point was that setting up everything
PROPERLY would very likely produce an even smoother running system.
The key word is properly. Few boats have their shaft systems machined
properly which makes a good market for the Drivesaver. At least this
is the opinion of the people who have set up the demanding drive
trains in my 1400+ HP boats so they run far smoother than my sailboat.

Doing it right probably would cost quite a bit more than a drivesaver
which may also help keep those folks in business.

One thing I hadn't thought of:

The shafts on the boats I'm used to dealing with are very
conservatively designed and I've almost never heard of one breaking,
even when the wheels are totally trashed. With the small shafts
common on many yachts, it might make sense to have a "fuse" in the
system that is cheaper than the shaft.

I'll have to confess that I don't deal with the nitty gritty details
of shafts; just the basic layout and sizing. I'm simply passing on
what a guy who has solved shaft problems that others couldn't on boats
from fast patrol boats to aircraft carriers told me when I said,
"shouldn't we have a Shaftsaver?"

I'm sure opinions vary. The shaft shop you talk to may love to just
take stuff out of boxes and sell it to you alone with a Shaftsaver for
the same price as doing it the right way. They may not even know the
right way in which cast the Shaftsaver is your best option.

Like I said, taking the one out of my shaft line is about item number
6374 on my list of things I'd like to do.

--

Roger Long