Northstar 25 - Is there Moor?

Electric Motor Conversion Project

This pretty little cruising/racing sailboat, a Northstar 500, 25’ fin keel by the name of Is There Moor? was built in the mid to late 70’s. A Sparkman and Stevens design, she was originally powered by an Atomic 4 gas engine going through a V-drive.

Jeanie Ingram and Carolyn Ackland are the proud owners and the boat is located on Percy Priest Lake in Tennessee. There is a large fleet of Northstars on the lake and Wednesday night racing is very popular.

The Atomic 4 inboard motor was in need of a major overhaul and the decision was made to re-power with a clean, green and quiet electric motor. This would eliminate the owners’ docking anxiety as well as the smells, noise and winterizing requirements of the petrol engine.

Project Challenges

When I arrived on the scene, the Atomic 4 had already been removed. The trick with this installation was to fit the new electric motor where the V-drive was. Of course there weren’t any engine beds or stringers in place so beds had to be fabricated and epoxied into the hull.

Project Equipment/Specifications

Nancy Frainetti, Electric Marina, provided us with an EY QT 5k motor from Electric Yacht of MN. The motor was set up with a remote mountable controller assembly to save space. The batteries consisted of four Northstar Meridians at 210AH each. Charger is a Noco Genius four bank 10 amp charger.

Happy Clients

“Good morning Bob!

We are up having coffee and discussing yesterday’s regatta. We won the first race! I should mention we did not turn on the electric motor during the race haha :-). We had such good wind, we weren’t even tempted! It was very exciting and we are sore but happy. Anyway, she is a joy to sail, and we will always be grateful to you for the work you did. The quality of our sailing life went up dramatically, thanks to you.”

— Jeannie | Nashville, Tennessee | Northstar 25'