Has anyone installed a bow thruster on a 39 Express. Narrow marina fairways and a new slip with cross winds says it is time.
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I haven’t but I’m also thinking along the same lines. Have you looked at the jet thruster? I definitely like the idea of it, rather than cutting a tunnel through the bow.
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Since the original post I have selected the Jet Thruster as the way to go. A three inch intake and two 2 inch holes for the jets made me much more comfortable than two 8 inch holes right under the forward mast. The pump will fit in the bottom of the stateroom closet and all of the plumbing will run under the port settee to the bow. I can do the install over the winter and put the thru-hulls in when I haul in the spring for bottom paint.
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Can’t wait to hear more about your install, please post pics and insights. I’m relocating my black water tank to the starboard outboard area of the shower, so I have loads of space under the v-berth now. Hopefully that will make the project easy in the future.
I have started the installation of JetThruster. This is the dry fit of pump and intake. Tight but the pump will fit in the bottom of stateroom closet.
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Is the black hose pointing forward under the seat the intake? Where are you routing it to?
The intake is on the right in the picture, the 3 in hose runs to the left in the picture to the center of the pump. The silver 90 degree elbow on the top of the pump is the discharge which runs to the bow.
I heard the freedom 39 Express has a problem with the bow dipping in high seas. I just bought mine, so I don’t know.
But one thing that I dismissed was a bow thruster because of the weight. Does putting it in the stateroom closet help with the weight?
I will be following this tread and wish you the best.
Congratulatios on getting a 39 Express, I have had White Wings for 28 years and have loved every season. I carry 200 ft of 5/16 G4 and a 66 lb Bruce and have not noticed a tendency to dip and we have seen some seas.
The entire Jet Thruster systems weight 55 lbs, I changed the house bank to li and just kept two of the agms for the 24v needed so this project has actually taken weight off the boat. I haul March 31st to install the thru hulls so will post the final installation shortly after that.
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The out of water work has started. Aft hole is intake, front is port nozzle which measures 34 inches back from bow at waterline. The core pic is just to show the layup for the 39 Express and that 39 years after the hull was layed up the coreis still BONE DRY…
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Installation completed and launched today. It performs as advertized, brought bow through a 15 knot wind with power to spare. Have one leak in the yard portion of the installation which they will address next week. The rest of the installation,including the wiring, is straight forward. Happy with the products quality and support from Jet Thruster (Andrew Banks) and the performance.
This looks amazing, and the performance sounds impressive. Will you share the model you used and the cost of install?
I installed the JT-50 which was the recommended size. I had the yard do the install of nozzles and intake thru hulls and build out to the ball valves, I did the rest. Material prices are listed on Jet Thruster web page, labor for yard was $3.5K all in.