Luciole Blog

Spring - Pre-season

Winter work is in full swing, we’ve been focusing on the engine room. For better access, we have moved the Luciole, from our usual mooring to the Place St Nicolas.

We’re giving the engine some care, and a new gearbox! The Luciole has a 6-cylinder diesel Perkins, it's 6 litres and naturally aspirated, delivering 130HP at a maximum 2600 revs per minute. It is the right-sized engine for the boat, so it does not under work, but still provides enough power.

The gearbox drops the drive down to a lower height, to align with the propeller shaft. It also reduces the engine’s rotations per minute using gearing, to nearly ¼ the speed - meaning the propeller spins at 25% the speed of the engine, therefore slower but with more torque (force). It only has 2 gears, ahead and astern.

The real challenge with a new 80kg (176lb) gearbox is aligning it, and the 600kg (1322lb) engine, with the, 2.3m (7.5ft) long and 65mm (2.5in) diameter, steel propeller shaft. Alignment must be within 0.1mm on the Y, X and Z axis. This is a very patient day (or 2!)

As work continues to improve the Luciole, we look forward to her cruising for the first time in 2024.