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Thruster specs
Lewmar 250VRTT Vertical Retractable: specs, price and boat fit
The 250VRTT is Lewmar’s big retractable: a 250 mm unit that drops straight down out of the hull to push and rises back out of the water when you are done. It gives 353 lb of push on 24 V, and Lewmar’s chart puts it on yachts of about 56 to 65 ft that want strong bow control without a tube in the hull.
At $29,417 from Defender it is the most expensive Lewmar on this site by far; the RT185 MX retractable is $8,687. Its panel has raise, lower and power buttons, and the thrust joystick only works once the unit is fully down. It runs from two batteries in series; with cable and charging, about $739 to $800. See the specs.
If the power fails, the unit can be raised by hand by turning its lead screw. The lift controls need a 24 V supply of their own. Lewmar’s manual for it dates from 2007, so ask the dealer for the current one. Motors and controls get one year of warranty, the rest three.
Fitting it yourself? The installer section has every spec, and the Lewmar thruster review sets this model against the rest of the Lewmar range.
Where this summary comes from (6 sources, read 13 October 2026)
- Defender listing (the database’s price)
- Lewmar 250/300 VRTT manual, 2007 (24 V only; raise and lower panel; manual leadscrew)
- Lewmar Thruster Selection Guide (boat length by windage)
- Lewmar Gen 2 TT installation manual 559231 Iss.3 (three minutes one way, then fault mode; warranty one year on motors and controls)
- Lewmar, About (making boat hardware in Havant, England, since 1946)
- Lippert Components acquires Lewmar Marine Limited, 1 August 2019
Key facts
- DIY level 2 of 5 Wiring prep only
- Thrust 353 lb 160 kgf, Lewmar's rating
- Boat length 56 to 65 ft Lewmar's chart, by windage. See below
- Price $29,417 equipment only, defender.com, 13 October 2026
- Fitted by a yard $38,044 to $49,760 Our estimate at 60 ft, unit and job
- Voltage 24 V As sold
- Mounts Retractable Drops down, bow
- To fit it Haul-out The boat comes out of the water
- Run limit 3 min In one direction, then fault mode
Every figure here is the maker’s or a dealer’s, except the fitted cost, which is our estimate. The full spec sheet is further down.
How much of the install is yours
DIY levels
- Level 5: Owner install. No yard, no electrician.
- Level 4: You fit it, electrician connects. You mount and wire it; a marine electrician makes the final connections.
- Level 3: Split with the yard. The yard does the below-waterline part; you do the wiring.
- Level 2: Wiring prep only. The yard fits the unit and does the hull work; you do the wiring prep.
- Level 1: Yard job. A qualified professional does all of it.
You Yard Electrician. The bar is labor hours; a haul-out is a note.
How we rate DIYYou: 4 to 16 h Yard: 40 to 88 h Electrician: 2 to 4 h Plus a haul-out.
- Cut the hull and fit the housing and mechanism Yard 40 to 88 h Nobody publishes an hours figure. Fisheries Supply says installation is significantly more expensive than a tunnel, and that is too loose to turn into a number. So this is the tunnel’s own banded figure plus a quarter, which keeps it above a tunnel as the distributors describe it.
- Mount the battery box, switch and fuse holder; run and secure the cables You 4 to 16 h Our estimate. No maker times this step, and a first-time owner is slower than a yard, so the range is wide.
- Final connections at the battery and the motor, load test Electrician 2 to 4 h Our estimate. Nobody publishes a time for the final connections and test on their own.
Your part needs:Heavy battery cableCrimping big lugs
A qualified marine electrician should make the final connections and test them before first use. Hours are labor only.
Is it right for your boat?
Our figure is the longest boat one unit can steer in a 15 knot wind. It is a range because each kind of boat catches the wind differently. Here a houseboat gets full thrust to 47 ft, and a catamaran to 72 ft.
The table below tries the Lewmar 250VRTT Vertical Retractable on each kind of boat, at every length that kind of boat is built in. The wind is 15 knots and the rules are the finder’s own. A length counts as a fit when the unit gives the thrust that boat needs at the bow. The listing prints no boat length, so thrust alone decides. Lewmar's own figures are in the opening lines.
| Boat | Full thrust at 15 knots | Still a fit, in lighter wind | Lewmar’s chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pontoon & tritoon | Not listed. A retractable drops down inside the hull, and a pontoon has no hull depth to drop into. | ||
| Sailboat | 53 to 63 ft | 64 to 80 ftfull thrust to about 12 knots at 80 ft | 61 to 65 ftas the 250TT 8.0, class B |
| Houseboat | 39 to 47 ft | 48 to 70 ftfull thrust to about 10 knots at 70 ft | 56 to 60 ftas the 250TT 8.0, class C |
| Catamaran | 60 to 72 ft | 73 to 80 ftfull thrust to about 14 knots at 80 ft | 56 to 60 ftas the 250TT 8.0, class C |
| Trawler | 52 to 62 ft | 63 to 80 ftfull thrust to about 12 knots at 80 ft | 56 to 60 ftas the 250TT 8.0, class C |
| Motor yacht | 52 to 62 ft | 63 to 80 ftfull thrust to about 12 knots at 80 ft | 56 to 60 ftas the 250TT 8.0, class C |
| Bass & flats | Not listed. A retractable needs hull depth to drop into, and these planing hulls have almost none forward. | ||
| Wake & ski boats | Not listed. A retractable needs hull depth to drop into, and these planing hulls have almost none forward. | ||
| Express cruiser | No length. More thrust than the boat needs. | ||
| Center console | No length. More thrust than the boat needs. | ||
Reading the two length columns. The first column is where one unit gives all the thrust the boat needs in 15 knots. The second is where the finder still lists it: the unit falls short of what the boat needs by no more than 10 percent, and gives the whole figure only in the lighter wind named. On a boat shorter than the first column’s shortest length, the unit is more than the boat needs.
Reading Lewmar’s chart. Lewmar publishes a selection guide, checked 15 September 2026, on a dealer’s copy. It names a model by boat length, from 30 to 90 ft, for a The area of the boat the wind can push on: the hull sides, the cabin, the mast and rigging, or the canopy. A tall, boxy boat has a lot of it, and wind force does not care how slowly you are moving. class and a wind band. Our 15 knots falls in its lightest band, 11 to 16 knots.
The Lewmar 250VRTT Vertical Retractable is not on the chart by name. Lewmar rates it at the same 353 lb (160 kgf) as the 250TT 8.0. That tunnel unit is on the chart, so the column shows what the chart says for it. Which class a kind of boat falls in is our reading of its windage. The chart starts at 30 ft.
It is sized for five kinds of boat here. For your own boat, the finder gives an answer that also counts your drive and who does the fitting. The compare page sets this unit beside others.
What it costs fitted
These totals are our estimate of a yard job: the unit’s price, plus a yard’s hours at $160 to $180 an hour, plus the batteries, cable and charger, plus the other parts the box does not hold. A Lifting the boat out of the water on a travel lift or a trailer so work can be done below the waterline. It is billed separately from the job itself. adds $700 to $3,860 at these lengths, with 5 to 7 days out of the water, worked from eight yards’ own rate cards. The hours are our own estimate. Your own yard will have its own opinion. The cost page builds the same figures line by line.
| Boat length | The unit | Yard labor | Haul-out | Batteries, cable, charger | Other parts | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 39 ft | $29,417 | $6,400 to $10,08040 to 56 hours | $700 to $1,880 | $739 to $800 | $328 to $803 | $37,584 to $42,980 |
| 60 ft | $29,417 | $6,400 to $15,84040 to 88 hours | $1,160 to $2,900 | $739 to $800 | $328 to $803 | $38,044 to $49,760 |
| 80 ft | $29,417 | $6,400 to $15,84040 to 88 hours | $1,490 to $3,860 | $739 to $800 | $328 to $803 | $38,374 to $50,720 |
How the batteries, cable and charger add up. We price a battery bank close to the thruster, as the makers recommend, with 10 to 20 ft of cable out and back: red for the positive, black for the negative, cut to length. The low end is the cheapest battery that meets the figure and the shorter run; the high end is a sealed (AGM) battery and the longer run. The charger is a NOCO GEN5X2 two-bank shore charger.
Batteries and lugs are priced at Fisheries Supply and the cable and charger at Defender, read 12 October 2026.
- At 24 V: two 12 V batteries in series, at least 520 CCA each (Lewmar’s minimum), $513 for both; Lewmar’s cable table gives 2 AWG, priced on 1 AWG, the nearest size cut to length: $80 to $141 for the red and black cable and the lugs; a GEN5X2 charger, $146.
The sizing and the costs on this page are estimates, for guidance only and without warranty. They are no quote, and nobody has inspected your boat. Check them against the maker’s manual and your yard before you rely on them. Terms of use.
What else you buy
What follows comes from Lewmar’s Gen 2 TT installation manual 559231 and the RT manual 55110070, Iss.3 and Iss.4, read 30 September 2026. That manual is written for the tunnel units. A retractable unit brings its own housing, so there is no tunnel to buy.
- In the box
- The motor, the solenoid and its loom, the ICU control box, a 2 m motor loom, the saddle, gasket, hub, propeller, anode kit and fixings. The RT ships with its own housing and actuator.
- Bought separately
- Under Accessories: the control panels, the panel looms, the fuse holders and ANL fuses, the automatic battery switch. "The installation MUST have a battery switch".
- Charging
- The manual sizes the battery by cranking amps and says to "ensure batteries are fully charged before switching on the main power". It gives no rule on a charger, a feed or a bank of its own.
The manual’s words, page 12: “Battery crank capacity should be at least equal to the thruster current.”
The “other parts” line in the estimate above is the priced parts below, $328 to $803 at Fisheries Supply’s prices on 30 September 2026. The batteries, cable and charger have a line of their own.
| Part | What it is | What to ask for | Dealer price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control panel | The buttons or joystick at the helm. One helm, one panel: a second steering station needs a panel of its own. | 589268 single joystick, 589267 dual joystick, 589222 and 589223 pads | $219–$374Side-Power touch panel and single joystick, VETUS push-button panel, Lewmar single joystick, at Fisheries Supply. |
| Control cable, panel to motor | The thin cable from the helm to the motor. Sold by length. | Gen 2 AUX loom, 2 to 22 m | $29–$173Side-Power control cables, VETUS panel cables, Lewmar Gen 2 connecting cables, at Fisheries Supply. |
| Main fuse | A slow-blow fuse of the ANL type at the battery, in the size the maker prints for the model. | Lewmar ANL fuse, the rating in the yard table below | $18–$57Side-Power ANL fuses, Blue Sea ANL fuses, at Fisheries Supply, read 16 October 2026. |
| Fuse holder | The block the ANL fuse bolts into, with a cover. | 589006 (589010 for the T2 fuse) | $27–$93Egis and Blue Sea ANL fuse blocks, Side-Power ANL fuse holders, at Fisheries Supply, read 16 October 2026. |
| Main battery switch | The switch that cuts the thruster off from its battery when you leave the boat. | Gen 2 ABS 589810 (12 V) or 589830 (24 V), or any manual battery switch | $35–$107Egis m-Series 300 A, Blue Sea e-Series 350 A and HD-Series 600 A on/off switches, at Fisheries Supply, read 16 October 2026. |
| Battery cable and lugs | The two heavy cables from the battery to the motor, sized to the length of the run. The wiring calculator sizes them. | Lewmar names none | In the electrical line |
| Battery bank | A cranking-type bank near the motor, sized by the maker's cold cranking amps. The battery calculator checks it. | Lewmar names none | In the electrical line |
| Charger or charge feed | How the thruster bank gets charged: a shore charger of its own, a DC-to-DC charger or charging relay from the boat's system, or a charger built into the unit. | Lewmar names none | $146–$305NOCO GEN5X2 shore charger, Victron Orion-Tr Smart DC-DC charger, Blue Sea ML-ACR charging relay, at Fisheries Supply. |
| Glass, resin, filler and sealant | What bonds the tube or housing into the hull and seals the gear leg. | Lewmar names none | Not priced |
The cost page has the whole list with what every maker says about each part.
For the yard and the installer
The full spec sheet, grouped the way a yard reads it. Every figure is the maker’s or a dealer’s, with its source.
| Thrust and motor | |
|---|---|
| Thrust | 353 lb (160 kgf) As printed: 160 kgf max thrust |
| Voltage | 24 V |
| Fitting | |
| Type | Retractable, drops down |
| End of the boat | Bow |
| Tunnel diameter | 250 mm |
| What it does to the hull | Large hull opening below the waterline |
| Haul-out to fit it | Yes |
| Maker’s boat length | 56 to 65 ftLewmar's selection chart, by windage; the listing prints none |
| Price and ordering | |
| Price | $29,417 equipment only, a dealer's price, defender.com, 13 October 2026 |
| Part number | 5912710024 V |
| Documents | |
| Manual | Installation manual (PDF)on the maker's site |
| Warranty | Lewmar gives 3 years, but 1 on electric motors and their electrical equipment and on electronic controls. Service by anyone but an authorized Lewmar representative can void it. Removal, transport and installation costs are not covered. Lewmar's Gen 2 installation manual |
| The site’s review | Lewmar thruster review |
Draw, cable, fuse and battery, at each voltage
These are the maker’s own figures, at each voltage it is sold at. The cable is the size for the shortest run in the maker’s table. A longer run may need heavier cable, and the wiring calculator works that out for your own boat.
| Voltage | Draw | Maker’s cable | Fuse | Battery | Run limit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 V | 520 Anominal draw | 2 AWG, the one size Lewmar gives for this model, for any run up to 105 ft of cable counted out and back250/300 VRTT manual (2007) | 400 A250/300 VRTT manual | Crank capacity at least the 520 A draw, Lewmar's ruleLewmar 250/300 VRTT manual | 3 min in one direction, then fault modeGen 2 installation manual |
- At 24 V: size the cable for your run, or check the battery you have.
What to weigh
Each point names the fact it rests on.
What to weigh
- The boat comes out of the water to fit it: it needs a large hull opening below the waterline.The mounting: a bore through the hull, or a housing recessed into it
- Lewmar prints no single length band for it. Its selection chart gives one by windage: 56 to 65 ft at 15 knots, across the kinds of boat in the table. The boat table is our sizing alone.Lewmar's Thruster Selection Guide, checked 15 September 2026
What the manual and listings say
This is the note we keep on the Lewmar 250VRTT Vertical Retractable, written from the maker’s manual, its product pages and the dealer’s listing.
In the box: The solenoid, the ICU control box and a 2 m motor loom are in the box. The panel, its loom, the fuse and holder are bought.
Our note
A retractable: the unit lives in a housing let into the hull and drops when used. It is a bigger yard job than a tunnel and a mechanism to keep working. Every Lewmar goes on with the boat out of the water. This is a vertical retractable for the bow, in a 250 mm housing, 24 V only.
Defender publishes 160 kgf and no pound figure, so the pounds here are our conversion. Its own manual is Lewmar's 250 and 300 VRTT manual of 2007, found only as a dealer's copy. That manual says to fit the unit as far forward as possible, and it never names the stern. The most expensive Lewmar on the site by a wide margin.
Three years' warranty on paper, but one year on electric motors, associated electrical equipment and electronic controls. Service by anyone but an authorized Lewmar representative voids the warranty, and removal and refitting are not covered. Lewmar publishes no boat length for any unit.
Videos
One of Lewmar’s own videos, from its YouTube channel: its older swing-down retractable docking a small cruiser, the nearest thing Lewmar has filmed to this model. It is the maker’s pitch. Watch it for what the unit looks like and how it goes in, and take any claim back to the figures above.
Other sizes and close alternatives
These are Lewmar’s nearest sizes by thrust, in any of its lines.
- One size down: Lewmar RT185 MX Gen 2, 214 lb, $8,687 to $9,034.
These are other makers’ units of the same style, for the same end, within a quarter of its published thrust. Each is that maker’s nearest match.
- Sleipner SRV130, 353 lb, $22,730.
Every model with a page here is listed, maker by maker, on the thruster index.