With more room (Lake Powell was pretty narrow right there) and more motivation, we may have sailed. Easier and probably better for us in this case, just to find a good spot and wait it out. On Thursday, May 21, 2020, 1:43:59 PM PDT, casioqv@usermail.com <casioqv@usermail.com> wrote: The M15 sails to windward in pretty strong winds with the right sail setup, but 45mph is probably too much. I have made slow progress to windward in wind that was gusting to I think about 30 knots in SF Bay, under a double reefed main and small jib. I wouldn't have been able to keep the prop in the water for motoring with the shaft length on my Yamaha 2hp. Sincerely, Tyler '81 M15 #157 Defiant ----- Original Message ----- From: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com> To: "For and about Montgomery Sailboats" <montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com>, john@eco-living.net Sent: Thursday, May 21, 2020 12:54:34 PM Subject: M_Boats: Test results - Honda 2.3 and M17 Another bit of data concerning motoring that I was reminded of this morning was when trying to motor our Montgomery 15 into strong winds on Lake Powell. The winds were forecast to gust to 45 miles per hour and, based on the amount of spray, the forecast may have been right. There wasn't a lot of fetch to get waves big so the main concern was the wind. Our Honda 2 horsepower wide open or close to that setting was able to push the boat slowly forward in these conditions but the main issue we faced was steering. If the bow fell off the wind, the rudder did not have enough authority to turn it back into the wind and, when we steered with the motor in addition, our progress forward slowed significantly because the thrust was diverted from forward progress to turning the boat. So instead of motoring into the wind we went downwind to a sheltered spot and stayed there overnight. I realized later the centerboard was up at the time and I have wondered if having it down would make a difference as far as ability to steer and therefore our ability to motor into a strong wind. Anyway, although we are sticking with our 2 horsepower motor for our Montgomery 15, there is something to be said for a little extra horsepower. David GrahBishop California