As promised I'm finally back from my travels to METS in Amsterdam and a trip immediately after that to work with all of my friends up in Halifax, Nova Scotia. One of the items that caught my eye at METS was a new bow thruster design that is truly new, and super innovative. The "Rimdrive" as they are calling it is unique and was nominated for a DAME award at the METS this year. Check it out here:

RimDrive Motor

Vetus explains this revolutionary design this way:

"The Rimdrive is an exciting and innovative development in bow thruster design. In contrast with conventional thrusters, the electric motor does not take up valuable space inside the boat. The propeller forms the rotating part of the electric motor (rotor) and the fixed winding (stator) is mounted in the tunnel. This results in a very compact and self contained thruster."

• Virtually cavitation free and thus very silent
• Proportional control as standard
• Unlimited working time
• Propeller can easily be exchanged

To give you a better feel for how much storage space this baby can create for you under your v-berth, check this drawing out:

So I really can't wait to see one of these units installed in a boat. This was for me the coolest new idea I saw at METS this year.