Fortuitous
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: Scenic NJ
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Re: Outboard Help
I have never understood how current could matter when evaluating engine power on a displacement hull. You're only going to go your hull speed through the water, regardless of how fast the water is moving.
Weight on/behind the transom is not good for sailing performance, and being overpowered just wastes fuel with little, if any, improvement in speed under power, so I'd get the lightest engine that serves your needs.
In small engines, there are often various horsepower ratings for what amounts to the same engine. For example, in modern Tohatsus/Mercurys/Nissans, the 4, 5, and 6hp models are all the same block and weigh exactly the same each other. They just slow down the max RPM of the 4's and 5's so that they can't make as much power. So the ideal engine, imo, would be the one with the most hp for lightest block that does the trick. If you step up to the 8hp, you're using the same block as the 9.9, so you might as well go with the 9.9 since there's no weight savings between the 8/9.9. But I think that 8/9.9 is probably too big...
If it were me and I was getting something new or recent, I'd get a Tohatsu 6 (specifically the sailpro with the extra long shaft and generator). That's what I had on my Catalina 22 and it was great. They weigh about 55 lbs. and I wouldn't have wanted to put anything heavier on it. 2-strokes are usually lighter, so that's probably already a heavier engine than your 70s Merc.
My Boat Log, or "blog" if you will:
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