I never heard of any problem with the mounting.
The forces are not so important you can imagine.
The all system swings left and right with the water stream, and never resist against it.
I have tested the W&S in heavy following seas, with 10 knots + average speed, surfing the swell at 15-18 knts, nothing failed !
The only point is to fit a very powerfull pulley block (4:1 at least)or you 'll have to stop the boat when hauling down.
Should be wise to fit a "fuse" on the cleat in case of any encointer with an unidentified floating object.

I just trimmed two heavy plastic (nylon) blocks to keep the mounting vertical, as transom is a nearly vertical classic.
Fitted with X 4 8 mm screws and bolts, with large washers
Lifted, the W&S stays vertically , under rear platform, well protected.
I never remove it.
I understand that in some cases, a special mount must be added to the transom, somehow like a wind vane, but smaller and lighter.
The manufacturer has many exemples of mountings on different transoms.

Have just heard from a very reliable friend that something chewed their towed generator off mid-Atlantic. They never did see what it was but did know there was a struggle.

Vice Commodore, OCC 

Thank you Frederic I had not heard of this piece of kit before. I have pasted below the link to their price list: http://www.wattandsea.com/sites/default/files/2013-2014_Price%20list_T6%20EXW%20GB_V2.pdf

Simon,
It was not a kit, I made it myself !
I suggest, if the transom is far away from vertical, to realize a special bracket (made of GRP, Aluminum or SS).Exemples here : http://www.wattandsea.com/sites/default/files/exemples%20de%20montages%20cruising.pdf

This bracket could stay on the transom, but you can remove easily the W&S, using this : http://www.wattandsea.com/en/content/removable-support

I am having a Discovery 58 built ( to replace our 55 destroyed in a fire last year) and have specified both Watt and Sea Hydrogen and hopefully 600 watts of solar panels on the davits to reduce dependence on the generator. Any other ideas about makes/types of solar panels?

Not sure about davit mounts but we are going for Solbian than zip into the Bimini or cockpit tent. http://www.barden-ukshop.com/solbianflex-sp100-l-flexible-solar-panel-2914-p.asp
Simon

Hi everyone,
In my experience, if you wander widely, there are 2 considerations that compel one to consider a genset: a large freezer and the wish to have aircon at anchor. If you can live without the former items (or just do not have them, most cruising boats can get along fine with solar and wind battery charging (and probably both are necessary).
If you go for a genset, I would suggest that one not complicate your cruising lives further by adding solar and/or wind. My reasoning is as follows: one, diesel generators (diesels in general) like to be used regularly and used hard. Having your batteries partially charged by solar/wind undermines that goal. Solar and wind are complicated installs, (physically and the electrics and the black boxes), expensive, are often in the way and need an eye kept on them: why not simplify by having just a genset and run the genset an extra short period of time (15 minutes might be enough) to make up the difference. The weight saved (and complications) can be put into extra battery capacity which will serve you better in the long run.
The most sensible genset is one that produces only DC and charges the batteries on a boat directly with AC coming from an inverter (hopefully one does not have AC refrigeration). Unfortunately, there are no reliable ones on the market. (I have one and have made it work for us for over a decade now, but it has been a struggle.) AC gensets are far more reliable, if the installation is impeccable and maintenance is good, but it often takes long run times if all they are doing is charging the batteries (modern chargers may have improved this function).
Enough for now,
Appreciate any thoughts,
Dick Stevenson, s/v Alchemy

Thank you Dick

we have been pondering this question for years, wishing to be greener. Wind generators all seem quite loud, and solar has up to now been tricky and iffy. The latest panels seem much better, and friends of ours charge batteries and run their refrigeration on theirs. However the overall cost does still seem quite high. My guesstimate is that an installed setup for our boat will cost in the region of 2,000 Euros.

We have an 8KW generator. It uses pretty close to a gallon an hour when under load. When living aboard we run it 45 mins a day to keep our freezer and refrigerator at temp, produce hot water and top up our batteries. If my sums are correct, we might get close to the price of a solar panel install if we live aboard full time for over 7 years.

bottom line: Solar Panels remain on the list, but there are other items higher up.

There is no easy or universal solution. A lot depends on where you are cruising, the type of sailing you are doing and the equipment you have on board, especially a freezer.

We found that in the Caribbean winter season we could easily exist with just an Airex wind charger for all our power needs; but they are noisy and anti-social in a crowded anchorage. In other areas where a good sustained wind is infrequent they are next to useless as a primary charging source.

On passage we use an Aquair towed generator which gives us 6 amps at 7 knots and that is sufficient for daily needs with a fridge but no freezer and LED lights, but obviously of no benefit when not sailing. Having wind vane steering cuts out the power requirement of an autopilot on longer passages.

Solar panels are attractive, if expensive, but the biggest problem is where to locate them where they are not in the way, not vulnerable and not in the shadow of sails, etc. Yes you can mount them on the guardrails on hinges but they are very vulnerable there when in a seaway and I have a personal dislike of gantries above the cockpit with all sorts of clutter up there. So, where to put them?

John