On 2/6/22 15:22, Dave Scobie wrote:>
The Honda 2/2.3 will get the boat up to hull speed, but doesn't have enough extra power to push through a 1'+ sea or overcome the wind resistance in the rigging - above 12-15 knots.
Per my tests, in these conditions, I lost about half a knot of speed motoring into that wind and associated chop (vs. calm water/wind). Up to .7-.8 knot in gusts over 20. It's about a 15-20% loss of speed. And you'll burn more fuel too of course, for the same distance covered. My boat was lightly loaded also, not fully loaded for cruising a week or two. Probably a bit slower with a big load. But also more momentum when going thru chop. In line with what Dave says below, I was getting about 4.2 kt. at ~half-throttle in calm. The curve really steepens from there - going to ~ 3/4 throttle only gained me about .5 knot and that was pretty much hull speed in practice. Does mean there's a bit of throttle in reserve.
On a perfectly calm day - no wind and no waves and no chop from a tide rip - a Honda 2/2.3 will get you there at 4.75 knots over water at 3/4-ish to 4/5th throttle.
There is the Tohatsu 3.5HP with 20' shaft that has an advertised weight, dry, of 43#. The only issue with them, from what I hear, is they can have carb issues.
If I were going to power up from the Honda 2.3 I would get a Tohatsu 3.5 (also sold under Mercury brand). I have heard same about their carbs. Knew a guy who bought a brand new 3.5 Tohatsu and had carb problems right out of the box. Anecdotal though, don't know if it's more than the occasional one. We usually only hear the bad news, there could be 1000's of them that never had a problem. It was manageable to lift & mount etc. at the rated weight but more of a wrassle than the Honda for sure. And for sure easier than any of the 4/5/6 hp ones at 60+ lbs. minimum. Wish some others would make a true 3.5 or 4 at the low-40-lbs weight but probably not enough market to be worth it. cheers, John -- John Schinnerer - M.A., Whole Systems Design -------------------------------------------- - Eco-Living - Whole Systems Design Services People - Place - Learning - Integration john@eco-living.net - 510.982.1334 http://eco-living.net http://sociocracyconsulting.com