Too much motor for a 17?

[sealover]

Through a series of circumstances I ended up with a 9.9 HP Merc long shaft, two stroke. The motor bracket on my Venture 17 doesn't give any ratings but looks up to the task. The transom of the boat it solid, but it's a 37 year old production boat so who knows.

I previously used a 4 HP yamaha that came with it. I just recently realized it's not a true longshaft. (about 17" from mount to anti-cavitation plate)

It's been great for local lakes and rivers and it's certainly light weight.

I'd like to spend more time on the Chesapeake and the 9.9 would give me more range and maybe more speed.

The 4 got me real close to hull speed at half throttle and a tiny bit closer at full throttle. Would the 9.9 only put me at hull speed or is it possible that it would be enough to get a 1200 lb (boat+me+gear) sailboat beyond hull speed?

Anyone have real world experience with these sort of matters? (sticking a 25 horse on a 22 footer maybe?)

[MarkCK]

I have six horse motor on my 20 foot boat. I can get up to hull speed pretty easily. I think the motor pushed me enough to get me up on plane to where I get better than hull speed. The extra thrust is only getting me marginally above hull speed though.

If you are looking to get from 5-15 mph that probably wont happen.

[LakeSuperiorGeezer]

I am thinking 9.9 hp would make the Venture 17 plane easily. My O'Day Day Sailor at almost 16' 9" feet length (16' waterline length) will plane with 8 hp at 1286 pounds sailing displacement, that is with 640 pounds of people and equipment. However, you may not have a propeller on that engine that will allow the boat to get up to speed.

[sealover]

Cool. If nothing else, I'm thinking it'll be less taxing on the motor (and my eardrums) crossing the shipping lanes or running back to port at 5 knots with a 9.9 2 cylinder at maybe 1/3 throttle than with a 4 HP single cylinder pretty well wound up.

[meteuz]

Another concern is the weight of the motor. Sailboats generally don't like weight near the ends, and when you hang a heavier motor than you need on the transom, your sailing performance may suffer.

[blt2ski]

The sailing performance, while true, one could balance this if you will be putting some weight forward too. BUT, weight ont he ends of the boat are not good.

A 9.9 on a boat of that size, while on the large size, will not be too big a concern. I am recalling my step-dad putting a 9.9 or maybe a 20HP on the back of a 21' trailer sailor we had, it would get up and go. And when we figured out the 2nd cylinder was not working.....it really got up an went!

marty

[serenespeed]

I'd be worried about wiping out! I just can't see a sailboat 'jumping a wake'...



We have a 9.9 on our 26ft, 4400lb displacement boat and she goes well!

[LakeSuperiorGeezer]

Is the outboard a ProKicker which has a 2.42:1 gearing or a Classic with 2.00:1 gearing? If this outboard (a ProKicker?) originally is setup for a large sailboat, the engine is probably going to rev too high when going faster on a planing hull. If it's a Classic, the prop is probably a good match.

[sailingdog]

Is the 9.9 HP engine a four-stroke or a two-stroke? A four stroke is probably going to be pretty heavy, say almost 100 lbs...and will make the boat squat pretty badly and may screw up its sailing ability.

[sealover]

It's a 2 stroke. mid-late 90's (not indicated to be a Bigfoot or ProKicker - just a plain ol' Mercury) It was off of a 14' aluminum fishing boat.

It's not much heavier than the 4 HP Yamaha that was on it. I'm able to lift it by it's handles and angle the prop out away from me (to slide it into the bed of a pickup, for example) the same as I was the Yamaha.

That's not counting the gas tank though.

The weight difference would still be less than having one extra person aboard. I single-hand more than half the time, and 2 on board at most. (although there's advertised seating for 6, comfortable for 4)

Looking forward to having two motors to choose from! The self-contained 4 for calmer days on the local lakes and the 9.9 for big water.