Stabilizer Maintenance Gallery

Boat stabilizer photo gallery.

By PMY Editors

January 16, 2014

Photo Credit: Nordhavn
Many long-range cruisers like this Nordhavn rely on active stabilizers to keep things steady offshore. Other skippers stick to reliable, low-tech paravanes.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Capt. Carl Gwinn
Stabilizer fins are big and heavy on large yachts.
Here, it takes three guys and a forklift to replace the fin after removing it for service.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Nordhavn
Fins work best when they’re tight against the hull throughout their rotation.
Water escaping between the top of the fin and the hull adds drag, reduces efficiency.
Here, a section of the round bottom has been flattened to accommodate the fin.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Nordhavn
Winglets (maybe we should call them “finlets”) at the tip of the fin reduce turbulence and drag by preventing water on the high pressure side from swirling around to the low pressure side.
Racing sailboats use the same technique on their keels, and airplanes on wingtips. Note also the guard to keep weed and other debris from getting jammed between fin and hull.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Nordhavn
The mechanism inside the hull requires little day-to-day maintenance, mostly checking fluid level before start-up, and monitoring oil temperature and pressure during operation.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Nordhavn
The oil cooler at the left of this photo — the tube marked HOT — can get very hot indeed if the flow of cooling water is blocked, so hot it can make the paint bubble. Overheated oil has to be changed, so keep an eye on both cooling-water flow and the oil-temp gauge.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Naiad
Naiad stabilizer fins press onto the shaft, rather than the typical set-up of the shaft being permanently attached to the fin. The shaft seldom has to be removed. Naiad says this makes their shaft seals last a long time, since most damage to the seals comes from sliding the shaft in and out. When the fin is removed, the shaft should be protected with a sleeve, as this one is.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Capt. Carl Gwinn
A low-aspect fin (wide but not too deep) is required on this big yacht to minimize draft; otherwise the fin would project beneath the keel. High-aspect fins (narrow and deep) are more efficient, because of their longer leading edge, but not always practical.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Naiad
This Naiad fin is pressed onto its splined shaft, and stays put without fastenings.
Removing it requires special equipment, though.
Note the narrow winglet at the tip of the fin to make it more efficient.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Naiad
It takes a skilled forklift operator to slide this Naiad fin onto its slightly tapered shaft smoothly, and without binding. Note the spiral groove in the shaft to help lock the fin in place. The white fitting in front of the shaft is a weed guard that has yet to be painted.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

Photo Credit: Naiad
Here’s another view of the Naiad fin being installed.
Note the size of the fin relative to the ladder; you know that fin is heavy, too!
The bottom of the winglet needs a couple of coats of antifouling before launch.
Read “How to Maintain Your Stabilizers”

SUBSCRIBE TO POWER & MOTORYACHT

SUBSCRIBE TODAY

PMY Editors

Photo Gallery

More Photo Gallery

Azimut 72 Fly

Exposure 2017

Marlin in the Abacos with a Pair of Pursuits

2017 Newport International Boat Show

Related

Exposure 2017

Marlin in the Abacos with a Pair of Pursuits

2017 Newport International Boat Show

The U.S. Military Response to Hurricane Harvey