Torqeedo 403 Ultralight Motor / Hobie TI Application Guide

Ok, here's the first test on the water of the 1103AC and my Hobie TI. When we pulled our pedals, I believe we achieved 7.4 mph with the motor against the light winds. Also brought dagger board up. This motor worked beautifully and I couldn't be happier. I highly recommend this if you're looking for a motor on your TI. I liked the fact I can sail and operate the motor from the front seat.
Video link:
https://youtu.be/o4FeqnwXjuI

Jim

These results are comparable to what I see when running my Suzuki outboard at full throttle. Actually better, considering that there were two people on board. The 1103AC is nearly silent whereas my Suzuki would be wailing at full throttle.

So now TI owners have an excellent electric alternative to gas outboards with comparable performance especially if you value nearly silent operation, zero emissions, zero air/water pollution, instant starts, remote throttle operation, an effective reverse gear, and no gasoline onboard. These are a lot of key advantages to offset the higher price.

Great job mounting the 1103! I am amazed how quiet the new direct drive Torqeedo motors are. My Evolve/403 makes more noise at any throttle than what I hear on your video.

Peter

Yes, quiet is the key. I love just hearing the breeze on the sails and I couldn't really hear the 1103 from the front seat (then again my hearing isn't what it used to be). But my wife in the back seat loved the fact the motor was so quiet. And it was one of those perfect days. Winds were light in the morning which isn't a lot of fun unless you're into paddling. So I used the motor a lot in the morning and when I got into some open water got some good wind and didn't need the motor as much. But coming back in the sheltered areas with little wind it was nice letting the motor assist.

One thing I didn't mention about the test drive was I tested the reverse locking mechanism. It worked well. I have a little cleat mounted on my boat to lock it in if I want to back up without having to hold the locking line. But it was so easy to give that line a little tug and hold it while backing up, the cleat wasn't completely necessary.
For me one of the best advantages is that we'll be using our TI more. We'll be able to head out more on those days where the wind isn't favorable, which in the summer is often.


Jim

Hello, I am trying to mount the 403 ultralight at the stern of my adventure island.
I have an old model, the one with the "twist and stow" rudder, so I cannot mount the torqeedo on the left side of the stern, since it would block the rudder up/down movement.
But It seems to me I cannot install on the right, because the torqeedo moving joint, when reversed, won't stop at a 90° angle.
Can anybody help me please? Any idea?

I'd like to help but I'm not all that familiar with the Adventure Island with the twist and stow rudder. Would it be possible to post a few photos showing the rudder in the operational and stowed position for reference?

a very nice motor mount
do you have a rough bill of materials?
looks like 2 Yak Attack T rails (length?)
5 square Al hollow ?box? beams (1 inch?)
flat plate of diamond stamped metal
bunch of nuts and bolts
T bolts for the Yak attack rails
2 L brackets to hold battery?

is that close? do you need the metal plate

Yeah, you pretty much got it. Getting the longest yakattack t rails spreads the load and make sure you get the backing plate to make them strong. The diamond plate was 'just in case' and it looks nice. Not sure if it's needed but I've been in some rough conditions with my TI so wanted to try and make it as strong as I could.

The aluminum hollow square tube was what I could source at the hardware store and what was in my pile of metal stock at home. I'm sure other options would also work.

Jim

thanks.
looked at Austin Kayak to discover they went under but the liquidators had 3, 1 ft long yak attack T rails.
there are lots of Manatees and some gators in the canals i pedal my AI around in, but a silent motor would help me go further (and back)

few shoal markers in the Caloosahatchie, 26.6 deg N

power boat sunk ~10+ years ago "here there be shallow water and rocks",
sail boat leaning 1/2 way over for well over a year "this is _NOT_ a channel so use your depth gauge, the channel is over there =>"
good for kayaks and shallow water folks tho

Here are 4 pics of the twist and stow rudder. It moves horizontally and vertically, than enters the water. If I mount the torqeedo on the left side, it cannot operate unfortunately.

You can still probably mount a 403 Ultralight. You will not be able to stow the rudder in the full flat stow position but that might not be that critical. You can just bungee it down on top of the 403 for stowage. The newer AI/TI's don't even have the stow flat feature, they just pull vertically up for stowage.



If you want to use Jim's mount for the 1103AC Ultralight but can't mount it on the left side, consider mounting it on the starboard (right) side. Which side you mount it on doesn't matter. I installed a right-mounted gas motor on the starboard side. It should be possible to mount an Ultralight or even a Travel series Torqeedo motor on the starboard side.



You can always just go with the Hobie Evolve motor as well.

There's always a way to power an AI/TI, you just need to figure out which option works best for your specific boat.

I managed to modify the joint, and found a way to install on the right side.
But before drilling holes in my kayak, I want to ask you: is it right that the motor is more efficient at the stern, compared to a mounting in the mirage drive cassette?
The cassette mounting would be a lighter installation... but I would lose the ability to use pedals and motor together... and I think the motor is less efficient in that position...

Excellent observation, many people fail to consider this. I've brought this up before but I'm not sure if anyone took note of it.

A motor is usually most efficient where you see it mounted on the vast majority of boats, in the exact center of the boat at the back of the stern. It was mounted there by boat designers for very good reasons. Other positions can still work well but may be somewhat less efficient.

For example, mounting a motor to the left or right of center will create a lateral acting torque that will tend to steer the boat in the opposite direction. The further from the center, the greater the torque. This force must be offset by the rudder and the hull, resulting in an efficiency loss of the desired directional force, i.e. forward thrust. In a powerful motor, this loss may be relatively insignificant, but in a very small motor with only 1-3 HP, it may be significant. This is why I prefer to mount the 403 Ultralight in the center. I tried to procure an 1103AC Ultralight last season but was not successful. I plan to contact Torqeedo again as soon as I return from vacation. If I'm successful, I'll try to engineer a rear center mount solution for the 3HP 1103AC on the TI as well.

Additionally, anything that might interfere with the ideal prop wash might also cause a loss of power. So if you mount a motor underneath or to the left or right of the boat near the hull and the resultant prop wash is disturbed and/or deflected by the hull, a loss of forward thrust might occur. Again, the loss might be small, but we're dealing with very small motors, so it should be considered. With a jet boat, the prop wash is purposely deflected to make the boat slow down and even reverse, so you can easily imagine the deleterious effects of anything that might deflect an ideal prop wash.

In the absence of an ideal installation, this potential and unavoidable loss must, unfortunately, be accepted. Any loss in efficiency is undesirable but no motor configuration is 100% efficient.

07/22 Update: I've just purchased a 3HP Torqeedo 1103 AC to replace both my 1 HP Torqeedo 403 and Suzuki 2.5 HP motors. It's being shipped today.

I did this for several reasons:
1). I want to increase the available electric power from 1HP to 3HP. This will resolve any speed/power issues with the 403.
2). I want to sell my Suzuki 2.5 HP auxiliary gasoline motor. Although it was great to use in tandem with the 403 when I wanted to go faster, it was too noisy and cumbersome for my tastes. Having two motors was redundant, the 1103 AC will replace both and should provide better performance than either. Selling the Suzuki will help pay for the 1103 AC. (I'll also be selling my Suzuki/TI mount if anyone would like it without needing to build one yourself, just PM me.)
3). I already have two Torqeedo batteries which are compatible with the 1103 AC. This, along with the 915 Wh battery that comes with it, will give me all the range I want.
4). The new direct drive on the 1103 AC is even quieter than the 403. I really enjoy a quiet motor, it makes using the TI so much more enjoyable and peaceful.
5). I want to provide the Hobie TI/AI community (along with all others who own a ruddered kayak) with a fully detailed and documented mount design that will be easily replicable from readily sourced parts so that anyone will be able to use the 3HP Torqeedo 1103 AC on a TI/AI or virtually any ruddered kayak. I've been wanting to do this for some time now. I've been in touch with Torqeedo and they support this and are looking forward to receiving the design themselves. In the past, I provided a mount design for the Suzuki 2.5 HP which has proven to be very popular and has since been copied/modified by many others.
6). I want to fully test the 1103 AC on the TI as I did with the 403 as well as I did with gasoline outboards. I'll post detailed results here for anyone else considering such a motor option.

If you're interested, please check back in a few weeks for the detailed 1103 AC/TI mount design and then soon thereafter for the 1103 AC/TI detailed test results.

I'm guessing you might have some other ideas how to mount it other than the side mount I came up with. It will be interesting to see what you come up with. It's a heavy motor. I tried it many different ways before I compromised on the side mount. But it works excellent side mount and I love using this motor.

Jim