Sterndrive on Albin 28TE

[hatchetjoe]

Hi,

I'm a newbie here. After a lot of internet work I've decided that an Albin 28 will fit my needs better than any of the other boats I have seen. My wife and I have been on a couple of Albins and have come to terms with the compromises inherent with any boat.

One of the boats we have looked at has the Volvo diesel stern drive. I couldn't find any comments on this site about the pros and cons of this drive compared to the more common engine arrangements with either the deck hump or the flush deck. Obviously the stern drive changes the CG toward the rear and changes the handling but you gain a shallower draft which would be helpful in my area. With the loss of the deep keel are the sea keeping qualities changed for the worse?

Would any of you who have owned both or handled both please give me some ideas?

Thanks

Hatchetjoe

[special k]

i feel the skeg is an intregal piece of the overall hull design. if you need shallower draft choose a different boat...jmho

[Jeremyvmd]

I've seen the listing for the boat you are talking about. i feel that the stern drive will make the boat run more bow up especially as the tank runs down. however these boats respond very nicely to tabs so it just means giving her some more down tab. the handling with the stern drive will be much more responsive and easier to dock and maneuver. likely rear quartering sea handling will be improved as that is a keel boats achilles heel, i do think the tracking will decrease a little but realistically the keel on the 28 is fairly short so losing it will have less of an affect than on a full keel boat (say like a 32+2). Mind you this is all theoretical, i have not been on a stern drive 28. i will comments on how few of them were made however...i feel if they handled better than the keel boats there would be more of them. my understanding is they were made for someone who needed a shallower draft but wanted all the amenities of a A28 - which quite frankly are better than most other 28s.

that being said the 3+ foot draft of the 28 isn't that bad once you get used to it. most of my boating is in and out of barnegate bay which is notorious for its sandbars and shifting channels and i haven't had a serious issue yet. you slow down if your not sure and speed up once you know you have good water. the rudder shoe on the 28 protects your running gear and a soft grounding on mud or sand just damages bottom paint.

i guess my point is, if your interested go for a ride on her, sea trial or otherwise. if you hate it you can always back out of a deal. If your ever up in my area (after prob sept, lol) id be happy to take you for a spin on a engine box 28...

[Old School]

I've seen the listing for the boat you are talking about. i feel that the stern drive will make the boat run more bow up especially as the tank runs down. however these boats respond very nicely to tabs so it just means giving her some more down tab. the handling with the stern drive will be much more responsive and easier to dock and maneuver. likely rear quartering sea handling will be improved as that is a keel boats achilles heel, i do think the tracking will decrease a little but realistically the keel on the 28 is fairly short so losing it will have less of an affect than on a full keel boat (say like a 32+2). Mind you this is all theoretical, i have not been on a stern drive 28. i will comments on how few of them were made however...i feel if they handled better than the keel boats there would be more of them. my understanding is they were made for someone who needed a shallower draft but wanted all the amenities of a A28 - which quite frankly are better than most other 28s.

that being said the 3+ foot draft of the 28 isn't that bad once you get used to it. most of my boating is in and out of barnegate bay which is notorious for its sandbars and shifting channels and i haven't had a serious issue yet. you slow down if your not sure and speed up once you know you have good water. the rudder shoe on the 28 protects your running gear and a soft grounding on mud or sand just damages bottom paint.

i guess my point is, if your interested go for a ride on her, sea trial or otherwise. if you hate it you can always back out of a deal. If your ever up in my area (after prob sept, lol) id be happy to take you for a spin on a engine box 28...

Do you know what you call someone that says they have never run aground in Barnegate Bay?

[Jeremyvmd]

No I never said I didn't run aground EVER. Just not with this boat. Lol. I actually hauled someone off a sandbar and almost ran aground myself. But that was in my cat boat not the Albin, would not have fit anywhere near the guy in the albin

[hatchetjoe]

Thank you all for your comments! I am worried about the small number produced with this configuration which suggests that something did catch on with boaters. I would still love to hear from someone who has owned one or someone who has owned a more typical Albin who has been out on a stern drive. My problem is that I don't have a good comparison.

[sneakers]

you should take into consideration that stern drives provide more horizontal thrust into the water than shaft drives. On the 28 the shaft angle is 12 degrees which means only 85% of the prop thrust is horizontal. for the same HP the stern drive should be more responsive

[halfmoon]

Looked at stern drive 28, it was FAST! But, balsa cored transom was saturated so I walked away from it.

[Jeremyvmd]

What was the cruise and top speed of the boat? Did you manage to run her over any chop to see how she handled?

[socalmike]

I/O is a total pain for maintenance. One of the reasons we went with the 28 te is for the shaft over I/O

[whwells]

The sterndrive can be a fine set up in the right hull. I had the Volvo stern drive in an Osprey. Makes for a fast fishing boat. Would not leave in full time in salt water
as the seem to develop water issues. In the Albin 28, 31, or 35 I would want nothing other than an inboard single or twin if the larger 31 or 35's.
whwells "Howard"