Let say Sector Steve Top Hat needed a new propulsion system and he fitted a paddle wheel pivoted off his stern and at the axel point of the paddle wheel there were floats fitted so it always at the same height as required to drive the paddle wheel and when sailing it generated power back into Steve battery system or could be lifted out of the water so there was no other restriction than the hull speed design
and driver and generator would be a belt driven electric motor / generator
As you can see in the video, the problem is once it reaches a certain rpm, it starts spinning backwards
Top Hat stern barely manages a bolt on outboard. In reverse the paddle wheel would remove the transom. Under full power it might actually eat the whole boat!
Select to expand quoteBushdog said..
Top Hat stern barely manages a bolt on outboard. In reverse the paddle wheel would remove the transom. Under full power it might actually eat the whole boat!
it would not have to be large paddle blades to move the top hat along I'm just using the top hat as an example of re powering
a sail boat. The paddle wheel has large area to drive a boat along and in a river system it has to take into account the river flow when its taken up stream
You could even use a air cooled diesel motor to power it made out of alloy
Its just an idea of using a river driven system in an ocean and what its limitations would be
Just remembered they used to have ships driven like that
I think the paddle wheel diameter could be smaller than what on the you tube video
Id power it via electric motor and generator power when sailing and lift it out of the water when the batteries were fully charged
so if a boat had two stern wheels one driver and one generator and the generator paddle wheel could be wider making increase generating power than the driver which would mean the driven would be easier to drive 
What's your opinion Sands? should I be certified or not
could it reach perpetual energy?
Stop trying to re invent the wheel ho2 I have done the cruise around tassise and up east coast..just keep it simple
Select to expand quotesouthace said..
Stop trying to re invent the wheel ho2 I have done the cruise around tassise and up east coast..just keep it simple bored just puzzling
HG since you're thinking on this re powering subject .... how could I attach my 2HP outboard to Trek (Martzcraft 35) in case main engine failed. I'm thinking if my motor did fail sailing to outside my bay would be OK but getting through the moorings to mine would be dodgy. As long as water was flat and no breeze I imagine there would be just enough push from sails down to parking on mooring. No hard astern for stopping though it would have to be slow.
Heavens above HG!
Have you taken something?
What was it? Just to make sure l never go near the stuff! 
Select to expand quoteTrek said..
HG since you're thinking on this re powering subject .... how could I attach my 2HP outboard to Trek (Martzcraft 35) in case main engine failed. I'm thinking if my motor did fail sailing to outside my bay would be OK but getting through the moorings to mine would be dodgy. As long as water was flat and no breeze I imagine there would be just enough push from sails down to parking on mooring. No hard astern for stopping though it would have to be slow.
Warp the dinghy alongside and use it to get to your mooring.
Thanks for the question HG. As I worked on the 'top end' of the river I drove side wheelers...stern wheelers
were too hard to round up because of the extra length. There's no reason why you can't adapt a boat to be a
paddle wheeler as long the hull shape allows. One problem may be the limit of the speed of rotation of the
wheels. 22rpm is maximum before cavitation occurs, no problem obtaining low revs on a steam engine, but
an internal combustion engine revs too quickly....however....if I were contemplating building a diesel driven
paddler I would consider using a tractor engine/gearbox combo, very low revs achievable....you may get away
with that.
Select to expand quotesamsturdy said..
Thanks for the question HG. As I worked on the 'top end' of the river I drove side wheelers...stern wheelers
were too hard to round up because of the extra length. There's no reason why you can't adapt a boat to be a
paddle wheeler as long the hull shape allows. One problem may be the limit of the speed of rotation of the
wheels. 22rpm is maximum before cavitation occurs, no problem obtaining low revs on a steam engine, but
an internal combustion engine revs too quickly....however....if I were contemplating building a diesel driven
paddler I would consider using a tractor engine/gearbox combo, very low revs achievable....you may get away
with that.
At the moment id like to have a play with a paddle wheel generator pivoted off the stern by a couple of arms with floats
much like a car trailing arm and winch it up when not needed . Plus perhaps a stepping stone to get on the stern of the boat as well'. But that later once the boats a float
Select to expand quoteHG02 said..samsturdy said..
Thanks for the question HG. As I worked on the 'top end' of the river I drove side wheelers...stern wheelers
were too hard to round up because of the extra length. There's no reason why you can't adapt a boat to be a
paddle wheeler as long the hull shape allows. One problem may be the limit of the speed of rotation of the
wheels. 22rpm is maximum before cavitation occurs, no problem obtaining low revs on a steam engine, but
an internal combustion engine revs too quickly....however....if I were contemplating building a diesel driven
paddler I would consider using a tractor engine/gearbox combo, very low revs achievable....you may get away
with that.
At the moment id like to have a play with a paddle wheel generator pivoted off the stern by a couple of arms with floats
much like a car trailing arm and winch it up when not needed . Plus perhaps a stepping stone to get on the stern of the boat as well'. But that later once the boats a float
I doubt whether a paddle wheel generator off the stern would work. The water might be too disturbed from the transom. On the side of the hull maybe OK for a "Spoon" type paddle wheel generator. I've often thought a small paddle wheel generator like those used in creeks would be handy on the side of a moored yacht in strong tidal systems for some low level battery charging. Underway I would find the extra drag tedious.
HG, there is no such thing as a free lunch.
If you would like 7 amps at 14 volts from your wheel, you will need to generate about .13 horse power. At 5 knots that will induce about 9 lbs drag - if the wheel was 100% efficient. You won't get better than 20% efficiency, so the drag will be more like 45 lbs. Quite high. Propellers are more efficient, so you would be better off dragging a well designed prop which would look more like a reaction turbine.
Sorry about the imperial units - I still think that way.
Here is a blurb about flat verses wing paddle wheels and I think that feathering wheels get a mention.
people.eng.unimelb.edu.au/imarusic/proceedings/11/Jackson.pdf
Select to expand quotePhoenixStar said..Trek said..
HG since you're thinking on this re powering subject .... how could I attach my 2HP outboard to Trek (Martzcraft 35) in case main engine failed. I'm thinking if my motor did fail sailing to outside my bay would be OK but getting through the moorings to mine would be dodgy. As long as water was flat and no breeze I imagine there would be just enough push from sails down to parking on mooring. No hard astern for stopping though it would have to be slow.
Warp the dinghy alongside and use it to get to your mooring.
Thanks Phoenix I have contemplated that but often wouldn't have the dinghy. I thought about a fold down duck board maybe.
