From BR No. x onwards, Swallowboats fitted flexible plastic lamellae to automatically open and close the outboarder well to prevent the well from scooping.
Brilliant idea, and works surprisingly well, but I think there are drawbacks.
One is that the lamellae are held by a frame under the hull. The forward edge of the frame is chamfered, but it remains to be a protrusion and I feel the waterflow there is disturbed so it keeps the the sump - selfbailer from sucking best.
The other thing is that the outboarder well scoops a bit and is water-filled while sailing which is not ideal.
Solutions:
1) The Andersen selfbailer I have in the sump has an inside-hull mounting flange. I took the bailer out, and mounted it from the underside of the hull so that now the bailer looks like it is protruding itself. Sucks much better like this.
2) I built me a closing flap for the outboarder well. I made a fibreglass shell cast of the opening, put that shell underneath a piece of plywood the size of the well floor, and used PU foam to fill the shell. I used moss-rubber tape as seal around it so the insert now, when put in, less water in than the sumpbailer sucks out. Thus the well is dry when sailing and following waves lift the stern earlier for better surfing.
Alas, Matt told me a closing flap can only be fitted with small outboard engines, not with big engines. But then, users with big engines probably are not after best sailing performance anyway.
