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A quest for quiet

Practical Boat Owner

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September 2025

Chris Mardon replaces the engine mounts on his Dufour 40

A quest for quiet

Manufacturers all too often install engines on mounts that do not isolate noise as well as they could. My mounts were 13 years old and I wanted to make my engine quieter so I took the opportunity to replace them.

The rubber bonded within engine mounts comes in varying degrees of hardness. Softer rubber gives better isolation but it has less load support and may allow more engine movement, so you need to check the mount supplier's maximum load.

Anti-vibration (AV) rubber hardness is expressed in 'shore' units from 30 at the soft end to 75 shore at the hard end.

Engine weight is usually specified as 'dry weight' so I added the weight of engine oil, gearbox oil and coolant (another 12kg to the dry weight of my 40hp engine).

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WEITERE GESCHICHTEN VON Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Henri-Lloyd Explorer 3.0 trousers

At first look, I wasn't entirely convinced by the four-way stretch recycled polyester fabric of these trousers.

time to read

1 min

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Top Tactics training aid for young sailors

The idea for this was sparked by 10-yearold Optimist sailor Evie Robertson (left), who wanted a training aid she could use to practise racing at home, including visualising the start line, the marks, and the many situations that can happen out on the water.

time to read

1 min

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

More accurate hole drilling

Gilbert Park scans a cleat to make a drilling template

time to read

1 min

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Fully recyclable sailcloth available at Crusader

Crusader Sails is now offering Marblehead ECO sailcloth. Manufactured by the US company Challenge Sailcloth, the woven cloth is made from 100% recycled plastic bottles (2,336 plastic bottles for a mainsail on a 40ft boat, according to Challenge) and has the same properties as virgin fibre. It is also 100% recyclable at the end of its life.

time to read

1 min

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

BARRY PERRINS: 'I bought the boat and lived the dream'

After nine years of circumnavigating the globe, the 'old Seadog' tells Laura Hodgetts he's home to get patched up and a pension

time to read

5 mins

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Honda upgrades larger outboards

Honda Marine launched upgraded 150hp-250hp in-line four cylinder and V6 outboards at the Southampton Boat Show in September. These models include a number of improvements and features unique to Honda, including Boosted Low Speed Torque (BLAST) that advances the ignition curve for dramatically improved acceleration onto the plane, plus Variable Valve Timing & Electronic Control (VTEC) to provide smoother power delivery and improve fuel efficiency.

time to read

1 min

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Holy Island by trailer-sailer

Frank Sibly enjoys coastal hopping from Northumberland's Seahouses to Scotland's Dunbar Harbour

time to read

7 mins

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Top-end engine rebuild

After years of searching for his dream boat, Drew Maglio explains how he fixed the V8 engine on his new to him Chaparral 2550 SX

time to read

13 mins

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

Great trading ketch

HE Ross looks at the importance of the Garlandstone and why it needs protection

time to read

5 mins

December 2025

Practical Boat Owner

Practical Boat Owner

The Great Museum of the Sea

Shipwrecks have always fascinated sailors, most especially given our intimate relationship with the sea, but ships' watery graves give an insight into the lives of those who commanded and crewed these vessels, and often, more importantly, safety and seamanship lessons.

time to read

1 min

December 2025

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