After many years for trailer sailing, I finally decided to keep my DSII at a Marina this year. I have never used a motor for my DSII or any other sailing dinghy but it seemed like a prudent choice given how crowded the marina and nearby waterways can be. Specifically, I purchased a long shaft ePropulsion Spirit 1.0+. That will be a topic for another day as I'm eager to see how it compares to either the Torqeedo or the Electric Paddle.
I've read many past threads about motor mounting options and it seems very easy to make a couple of transom plates to protect the gelcoat. My only concern is that no matter how far outboard of the rudder you mount the motor, it seems you can never fully eliminate the risk of the prop hitting the rudder. Plus you have the issue of moving the thrust far from the centerline of the boat.
The two that I could come up with were:
1. Make a motor mounting plate with pintles that can drop into the rudder gudgeons. They seem to use a similar idea for the RS Quest (https://westcoastsailing.net/rs-quest-outboard-motor-mount-que-ua-103/) On one hand the eliminates any risk of the prop striking the rudder. On the other hand this requires me to "hot swap" the rudder for the motor while underway which doesn't sound like a lot of fun, particularly if seas are rough.
2. The other is to somehow connect the free end of my tiller extension to the outboard tiller. The thinking here is to allow the tiller extension to act as a "linkage" between rudder and motor allowing both to turn at the same time and in theory never come into contact. It also avoids the question of whether to steer with the motor or the rudder as both would move in tandem.
Curious to see what folks reactions are to my ideas and if anyone has come across any other creative solutions.