Am looking at a duncanson 29 but am a bit concerned about steering at low speeds with the prop aft of the rudder. Also the prop being quite shallow under the water. Wondering if any duncanson 29 owners could shed some light on the yacht manoeuvres at low speed and in reverse
cheers

They are no worse than the others. The big advantage of the shallow prop is you can clean it easily snorkeling.

I've had a Dunky now for 4 years, it is their only flaw. The rudder is very slow to respond and I do not use reverse when leaving my berth.
I have found walking it out of the berth finger and pushing it away, avoids any collisions. so you can put the boat in full forward lock and head out. If your caught in between berths, it can get pretty hairy, especially in breezy conditions. There are plenty of stories of all Dunky owners having near misses, within my Marina, but its something you get use to. When coming back into the pen, a Dunky hull will glide very well with momentum, you just need to be aware of wind direction, steer accordingly and generally put into neutral, halfway within the turn, as prop walk can be a minor issue in forward and reverse.
With all that said, they are a great boat. They have been built well and they are a very safe, capable cruiser. They have completed many circumnavigations and are still going strong. There are many here in SA, as they were first designed and constructed by John Duncanson, here in enviable SA...
Cheers, Mike.

Thanks for the info. The dunc might be a bit problematic for my pen. Wonder if anyone has bothered to attach a second tiller controlled rudder of the stern for pen departure and docking. Can't see myself pushing the boat out of the pen
cheers

I found it best to learn how to put your boat into the pen backwards . I do it with two ropes and I don't touch the rudder at all when I start the manoeuvre
When I leave the dock I just drive straight out.

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Jolene said..
I found it best to learn how to put your boat into the pen backwards . I do it with two ropes and I don't touch the rudder at all when I start the manoeuvre
When I leave the dock I just drive straight out.

Yep, I find it easier to reverse in as well. For the Dunc 29, this would also give you prop flow over the rudder if you needed it.
Dropping it into neutral is a quick way to tighten the turn on most boats, handy when entering a tight mooring.

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shaggybaxter said..

Jolene said..
I found it best to learn how to put your boat into the pen backwards . I do it with two ropes and I don't touch the rudder at all when I start the manoeuvre
When I leave the dock I just drive straight out.

Yep, I find it easier to reverse in as well. For the Dunc 29, this would also give you prop flow over the rudder if you needed it.
Dropping it into neutral is a quick way to tighten the turn on most boats, handy when entering a tight mooring.

You guys obviously don't own a Dunky 29 or ever been at the helm of one...

Like I said, I can put my boat into its pen backwards without even touching the helm so the way the boat steers in reverse is irrelevant.

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BeamReach said..

shaggybaxter said..

Jolene said..
I found it best to learn how to put your boat into the pen backwards . I do it with two ropes and I don't touch the rudder at all when I start the manoeuvre
When I leave the dock I just drive straight out.

Yep, I find it easier to reverse in as well. For the Dunc 29, this would also give you prop flow over the rudder if you needed it.
Dropping it into neutral is a quick way to tighten the turn on most boats, handy when entering a tight mooring.

You guys obviously don't own a Dunky 29 or ever been at the helm of one...

You have me there Beam, I've sailed a 34 but not the 29.
It looks so cute, what could possibly go wrong .