28' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

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KeithH

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28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

I am thinking about buying a 28 foot sailing boat - and am currently considering a First 285. I have looked at some ads, and there seem to be a range of inboard engine sizes and types. For the First 285, some are fitted with a Volvo 18hp 2002, fresh water cooled, and some with a Volvo 2001 9 hp, sea water cooled.

Some questions:

Does a 9hp engine seem rather small for a 28ft boat? I am based in the Solent, and am interested mainly in cruising rather than racing.

I know that the fresh water cooled 2002 has fresh water circulating round the engine, and has a heat exchanger which is cooled by sea water. But does the 2001 actually circulate sea water round the engine block? If so, does that not cause corrosion in the block?
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

I've got a 9m boat (<30') & c. 3.5 tons with a 20 bhp Bukh & 3 blade prop &find that is absloutely fine set up, so feel 18hp would be more than adequate, but certainly would not be too keen on 9hp. The Bukh is raw (sea) water cooled & is 25 yo & still going strong, so no probs on that score, tho freshwater cooled does allow higher operating temps & this also advantageous if running a divert to a calorifier.

Edit- pot galvanic corrosion issues d/w by engine pencil anode in Bukh- prob same with Volvos, but am sure someone will confirm.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

My 28 footer gets by with 10 ponies, but a few more in the stable would be welcome occasionally, esp when punching the tide in an entrance.

OTOH, they say a small engine worked hard is better for longevity than a big engine worked easy.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

I had a Beta10 in my 26 Snapdragon and it struggled when pushing the tide and a strongish headwind. I would go for 18hp.

Volvo 2002 and 2003 can be either fresh or raw water cooled. Don't know about the 2001. I don't think that raw water cooling is a huge corrosion problem or there wouldn't be so many about.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

My MGC 27 (28ft) has a Volvo 2001 9hp and will cruse at 5 kn and max is 6. Punching a strong tide is always interesting and a bit more power would not go amiss but the installation is tight and a bigger (longer) engine would cause other problems. The MGC however does have a pretty slippy hull however.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

For punching the tide in the Solent harbours, I wouldnt go under 10hp, mines 13 on a 26ft boat, and at times she feels stationary when going all out against the tide, 18 would be perfect
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

Its worth bearing in mind that horsepower on its own does not tell you much - what is important is how it is applied to the propeller.

For example, a 10 hp slow revving diesel engine producing a lot of torque could be more effective at punching into a foul tide or head wind than say a 15 hp (or even 20 hp) faster revving petrol engine.

Basically, the slower the engine revs, and the larger the propeller diameter, the more efficient it will be for a given horse (or pony!) power.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

I've got a Kingscruiser 29 witha Beta BZ482 which is rated at 13.5 HP at 3300 revs. The water line length is about 24.5 so I guess the hull max speed is about 5.9 kts. I can achieve this with rpm of 2750. The underwater shape is long fin with the rudder on a short skeg. Unless the hull will plane I dont see the need for any more horses.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

My GK29 had an old Yanmar 12 single cylinder engine. We cruised extensively all over Irish Sea and beyond, from Scotland to Brittany. Although the engine was always adequate it would not have done any harm to have had a few more horses. Other club members often left us behind on long motoring sessions.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

[ QUOTE ]
Just a quick note. the Beta 10 is actually the Beta 13.5hp restricted to 3000 rpm. All you need to do is adjust the max rpm screw (easily done).

[/ QUOTE ]

I wish I'd known that when I had one!

My old 10HP petrol engine cruised at 800 revs and seemed as powerful as the Beta revving away. At least the Beta started everytime and didn't conk out at inopportune moments.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

I would go for the larger engine, also fresh water cooled, should you ever desire a clorifier for hot water, the raw water cooled unit will be unlikely to power it.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

If you are on the Solent, you need to do the Hurst Point race test, or failing that the Pompey harbour spring tide test.
I think others have covered the point but you should have enough grunt to be able to push over the tide. When in Yarmouth (IOW) we often walk down to Fort Victoria, to watch on calmish days the boats going backwards!
In my experience a bigger engine uses the same or even less fuel than an overstressed small one. If a choice of 18 or 9 hp - it would be 18 every time
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

--- should you ever desire a calorifier for hot water, the raw water cooled unit will be unlikely to power it. ---

This old chestnut again!! Every Sadler 34 made until about 1987 was fitted with a raw-water cooled 20HP Bukh. Every one had a hot/cold water system that worked extremely well. A calorifier will work with any raw-water cooled engine provided it is installed properly. Ours provided hot water within 20 minutes of starting the engine.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

The Yanmar 1GM 10 (actually 9hp) coupled to a 2 bladed Autoprop, pushes my Parker 275 (about 3.5 tons in cruising mode) at 6.3 Knots flat out and at 5.8knots at about 3/4 throttle (no rev counter). At full throttle the boat is dragging stern down, so I couldn’t use much more power. At 5.8knots I get about 1L/hr. Pushing 30knots of true wind on the nose I get about 4.5 knots at 3/4. But it gets too uncomfortable if I try and push any faster. So I’d say 10hp is about right, if it’s coupled to a good prop, the engine is working hard but not pushing black smoke. It’s raw seawater cooled and has run 11 years with a problem, except for the water pump(s), but that’s another story.
Hope that helps
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

My Halcyon 27' came with a 10 hp bukh.

Motored well enough with that.

I replaced the old knackered Bukh with a 13.5 hp Betamarine, and whilst she motored better.

But the real prize wa reliablity rather than power.

Good luck
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

The post of about the transmission of the power is important. It is of no use to have a large engine if you can not swing a big enough prop to transmit that power into useful energy.

However for the boat you describe I would be surprised if you could not do this, so the larger engine to me would seem like the way to go.

The point about Beta 10's and 13.5's - the power curves on the sales literature do not indicate that the only difference is the limiting of the rpm. The sales information may of course be incorrect, and I bow to greater experiance, but take care with this comment before buying a new engine.

Re. raw water v's fresh water - my preferance would have to be for fresh water cooled.
 
Re: 28\' sailing boat - inboard engine size and type?

the power to weight ratio used to be approx 2and1/2hp per ton, now most boat builders use an approx of around 5hp per ton...

i have a (28ft) 4.5 ton boat and it has a 13 hp engine, which averages around 4.5 to 5.5 knots per hour on an average passage..
 
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