Hi

I am in the process of buying a old 32 foot sailboat. It has a 30 hp engine in it and a two blade folding prop.

When under motor it was increadibly heavy on the steering to keep her straight. It felt as if the tiller would break. It would be unmanageable for a few hours and I don't think a tiller pilot could handle it.

I'm happy with the rest of the boat.I also noticed the stern was really sucked down into the water or there was a large wake which meant the exhaust was under water. Also a lot of vibration.At full throttle the engine only got up to 2000 rpm (at 6knts). I have the same, but smaller, engine on my boat and run it more around 2800rpm.
One hypothesis was that the prop is just dirty. But having a look from the dock it didn't appear to be. My thought was that by going to the two blade prop they had significantly increased the pitch of the blades which then put a lot more water on the rudder.

I could then change the prop but I would have to buy the boat first. I would hate to be stuck with a boat that was impossible to motor.

Thanks, Jack