Benefits of Speed Controlled Bow Thrusters

Thrusters are great and make maneuvering in challenging spaces and marinas easier as boat numbers and sizes, continue to increase. But if under-powered for the adverse weather conditions your in, what’s the point of having it? 

Power and Stealth

If you have ever owned or driven a boat with an under-powered thruster, you probably quickly learned its important to have enough power to perform well in even the worst conditions. Many boat owners find using their thrusters at full capacity in calm weather conditions is unnecessary and  creates unwanted noise in an otherwise quiet marina. 

A Proportional Thruster System, like this one from Side-Power (insert link) is a different experience and provides a no compromise solution to using full speed controlled thrusters. These systems, unlike your typical on/off thrusters, starts at a lower RPM as you throttle on. This softer acceleration creates a far less cavitation in the tunnel significantly reducing the noise it makes. Docking in a quiet marina doesn’t require much thrust and the Proportional Control allows you to slip the boat into your dock space almost without making a sound. 

Hold Please

Power and stealth a very important aspect of the Proportional Control, but the benefits of this thruster don’t stop there. Put the extended runtime of this thruster to good use by using the unique hold-function. With a press of a button, the bow and stern thrusters keep you right alongside the docks, freeing you jump ashore and tie the dock lines yourself. In this function you can adjust the amount of thrust applied and the bow and stern units can individually synchronize to get a balanced sideways push, making single-handed docking a breeze no matter the size of the boat. 

Low Voltage Got You Down? 

Low voltage reaching the electric motor is one of the most common issues associated with DC thrusters. Many underperform when running on a significantly lower voltage than rated which can reduce the solenoid life span as well as increase the risk of solenoid lock-in. Your electrical system should offer the correct operating voltage to the thruster system. 

Modern Proportional Systems are digitally controlled and monitor key parameters like thruster voltage. With a Proportional System, you can verify real-time levels and by that, actual performance with a quick glance at the display.

Step away from the helm 

Adding a remote control to your thruster system provides even more functionality as momentarily increasing thrust will allow you to put the mooring lines on as tight as you want. Like that’s not cool enough on its own, you can turn off the hold function without going to your fixed control panel. 

Last but not least, these proportional thrusters are the only thrusters suited to interact with a joystick-based system.

Interested in speaking to our thruster specialists about a proportional speed system?

Call us (321) 890-4511 

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