I’m one of the two Florida Laser 28 owners.  I’ve a problem I hope somebody can help me out with.  Last week while motoring out to the start, our spin sheet fouled our propeller.  We pulled the boat and got the prop clear, but now the boat won’t go into forward or reverse.  I wasn’t on the boat when the prop ate the spin sheet, but I’m told there was a big “clunk” followed by a loss in forward speed…but the motor kept running.  In other words, the prop was stopped by the spin sheet but not the engine.  I can think of three possibilities:

1.  Prop hub came loose from internal rubber sleeve.  I doubt this – the prop seemed to be in good condition when re-installed.  It didn’t seam to be loose on the hub.  On the other hand I wasn’t really looking for this.    

2.  The rubber “clutch element” between the engine and lower unit (part 56, page 41 of manual) was destroyed.  I would think this is most likely the case.  But the folks at North Jersey Marine tell me that the motor would engage the lower unit even if the rubber element was removed; but I frankly find this hard to believe.   

3.  We stripped a gear.  God I hope this isn’t the case; I just installed this sail drive last summer.

Have I missed another possibility?  One of the brochures from Bukh says “A special slide-clutch will automatically be activated in case of overload, e.g. if the propeller hits an obstruction.”  Does anybody know what they are talking about?

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. 

ken