Patent ID: 8740660

Claim:
A pod drive installation for mounting a pod drive unit to a hull of a vessel having a keel, the pod drive installation comprising: a horizontally disposed planar pod drive platform for supporting a rotational pod drive mount for mounting the pod drive unit so that the pod drive unit has a generally vertically oriented steering axis, the pod drive platform having a width, extending generally perpendicular to the keel that is either equal to or greater than a width dimension of the rotational pod drive mount, and having a length, extending generally parallel to the keel, that is either equal to or greater than a length dimension of the rotational pod drive mount, being mounted to the hull, spaced outward from the keel, so that a plane defined by a bottom hull surface tilted from the horizontal intersecting the pod drive platform along a contour of intersection, between an outboard boundary of the pod drive platform and an inboard boundary of the pod drive platform, and being connected to the bottom hull surface by at least one of an outboard sidewall and an inboard sidewall.