Roger

I spent a week on a boat with this kind of setup once, and it worked
very well, easily moving the bow . The boat manufacturer, Viking (58),
was very specific about the mounting location, out of the water at
crusing speed. I haven't seen a factory mounted bow thruster on a power
boat yet that didn't sit out of the water at cruse, where it should be.
Obviously, all thrusters do have their limitations with respect to
their ability to counter the effects of wind and tide. And I do agree
that they are probably over kill on smaller boats (less than 55 feet or
so), but they often help a captian get in and out of places that they
might not normally be able to.

John