Advice on buying a 40 - 43 Boat and Volvo IPS Pods

Mine was built in 14 owned for 3 years. Neighbors was a 10 owned for at least 5 years. This is not my inability to handle a vessel. This is problems that arise when u try to control a vessel from only its stern. Simple mechanical advantage. There needs to be significantly more thrust applied to turn the vessel when using pods. Basic free body diagram. That additional thrust makes pulling close to seawalls more difficult as you get reactionary forces. Bow and stern thruster will pull a vessel off a wall faster and easier. Maneuvering in shallow waters will cause sea strainers to clog and the main drive seal to leak. This is not just me complaining, these are well documented issues. To many people were sold on these "fantastic " technologies. They are not as promised. Boat was kept in sfl. So lots of choices for service. None were good.

I've run several 65' to 110' crew boats with no thrusters, and never had a problem walking them straight sideways. And yeah, boats don't like to run through sand. If you want to do that get a boat with outboards or I/O's that you can raise. Conventional inboards don't like sucking in sand either. How does thrust make pulling close to seawalls more difficult unless your pushing the joystick in the wrong direction? As for the quality of service in your area, DK what to say about that without insulting people, but I know we've got good Volvo and IPS mechanics up here.

I've seen bow thrusters on IPS boats, every Prestige has them I believe......at least the 50' and 62' do from the factory. I agree with Slim Shady to a bit. In shallow waters IPS does stir up a lot of crap, no matter how gingerly you are. And yes, sometimes the thrust pushes you away from the seawall as you're sucking so much water....but I've had that sensation in deep draft boats with thrusters to, just to a lesser effect. Also the boat does tend to wash around in the slip (not sit still) because of the underwater exhaust and bubbles. I don't have any issues with them, they're just different. I've also seen several drive failures in 2014-2016 boats. The biggest issue I see with IPS, is who programmed the IPS joystick......some builders spend a lot more time refinining the joystick movements than others.

Having been aboard a number of IPS boats in addition to the two we have owned, much of the issues that have been discussed are the result of two things: poor design of the boat primarily for those that are not designed specifically for IPS and improper configuration of the IPS system. Until the system is setup correctly, it is possible to get considerable rocking when operating in close quarters. After the setup is finished, this is greatly reduced.

At least one discussion here on YF ref pods:

https://www.yachtforums.com/threads/should-i-buy-a-boat-with-ips-drives.32848/

-Chris

Can't comment on when you get to 62'. The biggest IPS I've run is 48' (Formula 45) and it sure didn't need thrusters. One particular docking comes to mind on a windy day when I had to spin it with about 1" over my length at the 2nd slip out (with my transom and swim platform under a bow), slid it sideways to the bulkhead and back into the slip. Impressed the hell out of the people on the dock. I didn't bother telling them how easy it really was.