What size engine

CT_Ed

New Member
Would you recommend for use on Long Island sound? I am more concerned with having enough power than I am weight for racing. My gut tells me to get more but being new to the boat, I don't know what the appropriate range is in terms of horsepower.

Thanks
 
Would you recommend for use on Long Island sound? I am more concerned with having enough power than I am weight for racing. My gut tells me to get more but being new to the boat, I don't know what the appropriate range is in terms of horsepower.

Thanks
Three to four hp should be fine. Five at most. The bigger the engine, the tougher it is to get on and off when you are out on the water.
 
Thanks so much for the guidance. From my research there seems to be a big jump in weight to go from 3.5 HP to 4.0 and above so it sounds like a 3.5 might be the way to go. Thanks for your thoughts.
 
For future reference: I'd recommend 5 hp. A 5 hp. Mercury is about 20kg. At least one top guy suggested it to me. It may have been Terry Hutchinson, a really top sailor. You need 60kg. of additional stuff to put on your boat for racing, before sails, according to the rules. Some of it is required and of known weight, like an anchor weighing minimum 6kg. (oddly, only if it has a chain). But there's still quite a bit of extra weight that needs to be somehow brought on board. An engine makes for a nice lump of weight, concentrated low in the middle of the boat when not in use. A larger engine also helps you to get in when racing is over and your port is upwind, or you've had some breakdown on a breezy day. Also gets you to the lift faster than the guys with smaller engines. I never really regretted having the larger engine.
 
I have tied a few engines over the past few seasons. The boat came eith a 4 hp johnson , great power to weight ratio but too unreliable. Then a i tried a couple of tohatsu 4 strokes 4 hp and 6hp same motor diferent carbs. It was reliable but very heavy. Not so much being stored below but when you are hanging over the stern trying to put it back on or off is a pain in the ass if you have a small racing engine bracket as oppose to one that raises and lowers. I have dropped the motor in the drink a time or two. Always tie it off. Now i have a 3.5 tohatsu 2 stroke that ways next to nothing it seems to have plenty of power. I have noticed that Yamaha makes a sweet 4 hp 4 stroke that is a much lighter thah the Tohatsus.
 

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