Ted: I have a Motorguide 52lb. thrust I use on another boat. I used it on the M17 one summer when my gas motor was in the shop. On a fully charged battery, it would get me up to about 3 knots plus. Quiet, and has plenty enough power and speed to get me off the dock or to snuggle up to a raftup. The rest of the time my sails are up. I can get one knot out of almost any wind at all. One knot with wind or 3 knots with a motor? Wind it is. I was considering switching over full time until late in the season when I was trying to get back to the dock motoring into the teeth of 25 knot winds on a dying battery. (A dead beat into 25 knots and short tacking inside 100' between docks and shore was more than I could handle by myself). A bit disconcerting to glance sideways at the shore and realize you are going backwards. So I toss out an anchor to maintain position, then switch from the motor battery to the house battery, which still had enough charge to make something happen, sheltered myself from as much wind as I could by hugging the docks and got her home. Such a motor would do fine on an M15 (surprised more people don't use them), but make sure your battery is good and fully charged. Monitor your use cause when it's dead, it's dead. Weight savings isn't as big an issue as you might think. The motor weigh almost nothing, but the battery does. At least as much as a small motor. Howard On Mar 29, 2011, at 12:05 AM, Ted Weidenbach wrote:
Hello all,
I believe this is my first e-mail question I have.
I bought an M-15 in December and can't wait to get it out on the MN lakes this summer.
I live in Minneapolis and have a strong desire to sail the boat on the lakes right in the city, one hang up is you an only use electric motors on the lakes. I am a good sailor, but not good enough to not need a motor.
My question is, what is a good electric motor that I could buy that will not be that expensive (I would only use on these few lakes).
Thanks in advance for your insight!
-Ted _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
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