Yanmar introduces saildrive to larger monohulls and multihulls

Yanmar says it has answered significant demand from the world’s leading boat builders with the introduction of the SD15 saildrive solution for larger sailboats with engines from 80 HP to 150 HP.

Enabling the 50-to-65-foot monohull and multihull sector to access the installation and user benefits associated with saildrive systems for the first time, the new SD15 is already successfully installed on a Sunreef 50 following extensive field testing on a Kufner 54.

The SD15 saildrive, made by ZF, can be coupled to the Yanmar 4JH80, 4JH110 and 4LV150 common rail engines, offering a new option to a vastly extended range of sailboats and catamarans using higher horsepower engines that have previously relied on conventional drive lines.

Said to be compact, easy and safe to install with no specific alignments required, the SD15 simplifies the production process and reduces costs for OEMs while also allowing increased design flexibility. The boat owner will experience low vibration and noise onboard, low drag, improved propulsion efficiency and fuel consumption, and excellent hydrodynamic efficiency, increasing comfort onboard for motoring while not under sail. The SD15 saildrive, which has a light aluminium casing treated to maximise corrosion resistance, is durable and reliable to ensure longer service intervals.

The SD15, in combination with the 4JH80 and 4JH110, will be available to the market from Q1/Q2 next year, with the introduction of the 4LV150 option scheduled at a later stage.