They did have torque!
I am told that it takes 1 horsepower to push my Nor'Sea Guenevere 1 knot in still water with no wind. I once had to move my Guen some distance. My small BS was a 2.5 HP and it pushed my boat at 2.5 knots!
The down side was was that it seemed to me that it would push my dink at about the same speed, NO MATTER what speed I ran the BS! Full open or ΒΌ open, I was moving about the same.
Greg