I changed the engine on  my GH 28 Lady Louise to a two-cylinder 15hp Kubota engine, driving a fixed 3 bladed propeller. This not only provided the necessary extra power not only for the going but also for the stopping, but also provided that extra power much more quickly as the more modern engine was/is so much more free revving. The old Sabb engine, which very soundly built and an excellent marine engine, was very slow to rev because of the weighty flywheel and being a single cylinder engine. Plus we gained all the advantages of single lever control - the variable pitch control was a nightmare, it couldn't be done quickly, and as the fuel lever also controlled the engine stop it was all to easy to find you'd inadvertently stopped the engine when you least wanted it. What with that and crowded marinas - no wonder I've got grey hair and a drink problem.

The new engine fitted onto the same engine bearers, but I used cushy-foot mounts which cut down on the structurally-borne vibration, and associated noise, tremendously. I kept the same stern tube as it was too much of a job to remove it in the time I had as it would have necessitated removal of the bolts holding that part of the keel together, but had the propeller-end bearing modified by Lancing Marine to accept a modern thin walled cutlass bearing. I fitted a l inch diameter stainless steel shaft in place of the old bronze one and a flexible coupling between engine gearbox and shaft, which also helped alignment as it allowed a couple of degrees of misalignment. The flexible coupling, shaft and 3 bladed prop - think I used a 15x9 but a 14x10 would do also - were all from Vetus which I found reasonably priced, fitted (no mis-match problems) and were available off the shelf. Had I renewed the stern tube I would have used a Vetus one for that too - I actually bought one but managed to get the chandler to take it back when I found I had to do without it. If re-engining I would say best to do it now before anything else is built in the boat, it can be a pig to access things later, especially around the engine bearers, you need all the room you can get unless you are short and very slim, which I am anything but! Long arms with universal joints would also be useful, but I'm not blessed that way either. Also, the new engine will need a fuel lift pump on it if it the fuel tank is fitted in any of the usual low down positions. The tank on Lady Louise was fitted higher up and provided a gravity feed, which was handy as her new engine relied on gravity feed.

A final point, the Sabb engine weighed in at about 220 kilos - that's very heavy. The new engine weighed just over half that - as any other more modern engine will. That is a serious weight gain, and we felt the boat to be better balanced after that too, seemed to be better trimmed, but with the change to junk rig that also affected the trim so it was hard to be absolutely sure.

Now if you are looking to change to junk rig then I'm your man, as I designed the rig for Lady Louise (with a lot of other help) and I have the sail plan and the info to do it. The sail was very well received on a test sail by the sail maker himself and the secretary of the junk Rig Association (who's forgotten more that I will ever know about the rig). The modern junk rig is a seriously under-rated rig. On Lady Louise we found that close hauled she equalled the pointing and performance ability as the old Bermudan rig - although the old sails were probably at their bin-by date - but with the wind on a reach or run there was no comparison, she just ran away and embarrassed boats much larger. The modern junk is very controllable, from ability to correct heeling and weather helm on a reach/run by hauling the sail across the mast thus moving the C of E inboard, to controlling twist in the sail, to the ability to reef or drop all sail in seconds, literally seconds. Light wind sailing also vastly improved. The only down side is the effort sometimes needed in hoisting the sail, plus the lack of shrouds (it uses an un-stayed mast) upsets late night revellers as they traverse your boat to theirs rafted up alongside! The JRA is very active and development is constantly on-going as members experiment and develop their own ideas.

I hope that the above maybe of some use and I'm not guilty of reaching too much egg-sucking to Grannies!

Chris Hobday