Best 4, 5hp outboard?

my neighbour

Seajet said:
Pete Cooper,

any chance of a profile photo of your Europa with a 4hp on the back illustrating the trim please ?

Dylan,

there's a lot of confusion between the Dolphin mammal - good old Flipper - and the fish of the same name; your neighbour could just eat mackeral or have pills from a health shop and he and the environment would be better ?

Just as there is confusion between early nasty twin cylinder outboards, large 8hp jobs with restricted carbs to produce 6 hp, and later efficient single cylinder 5hp jobs made for the purpose !

I had a 1970's Evinrude twin 4hp to begin with, it was a nasty, heavy, unreliable thing and a total ~~&%($%£ to work on so soon went to File 13...
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good point seajest

my environmentalist neighbours (will they never shut up with their self serving sanctimonious wining?) have pointed out to Kevin (the occasional dolphin and whale meat eater) that there are alternatives, that he should really accept that what he is doing is morally unjustifiable and that he is also part of the problem.

but he does not want to listen to them

he covers his ears and shouts yadda yadda yadda to drown out the ranting tokenistically green twaddle spouters

and who can blame him for that?

Dylan
 
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RIGHT THEN! 4 stroke it is. I couldn't stand the guilt, the vision of Dylan's frowning face, or the searing pain as another needle is thrust into my effigy when filling up with liquid planet killer every time and trailing a technicolour film in my wake.

I'll need the extra oomph from a 4hp.

I remember that it originally had a Tomos 4hp, I found a manual on-line & this apparently weighs in at 15.5kg. I also have an old Yamaha 4hp 2stroke, partly dismantled, from the same era, this weighs 22kg.

FWIW: I'll also be sailing single handed so my theory is that the Europa was possibly designed for 2 or more crew, therefore an average guy of 12st/76kg in the cockpit will be saved there, so the additional 10kg of a 4 stroke shouldn't be a problem.

Wa hoo more videos to watch, luv 'em, you wont find me moaning about lost time :D
 
good man

Simonpk said:
RIGHT THEN! 4 stroke it is. I couldn't stand the guilt, the vision of Dylan's frowning face, or the searing pain as another needle is thrust into my effigy when filling up with liquid planet killer every time and trailing a technicolour film in my wake.

I'll need the extra oomph from a 4hp.

I remember that it originally had a Tomos 4hp, I found a manual on-line & this apparently weighs in at 15.5kg. I also have an old Yamaha 4hp 2stroke, partly dismantled, from the same era, this weighs 22kg.

FWIW: I'll also be sailing single handed so my theory is that the Europa was possibly designed for 2 or more crew, therefore an average guy of 12st/76kg in the cockpit will be saved there, so the additional 10kg of a 4 stroke shouldn't be a problem.

Wa hoo more videos to watch, luv 'em, you wont find me moaning about lost time :D
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you are now officially on the side of the angels

was it the story of the dolphin sausages that convinced you?

before you finally decide, as a bbc hack I want you to know that I made that bit up

Dylan
 
never trust

Simonpk said:
Dolphin sausages?? Nah just can't be arsed mixing fuel.

Not fully on the side of the Angels:

This is what we get up to on our jolly boys outing each summer @ Le Mans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5i1GvsexDc

Wish you hadn't said you're a BBC hack, I wont know what to believe now.
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never trust a hack

the only people less trustworthy are - in no particular order

doctors

politicians

wives

estate agents

boat surveyors

boat brokers

coppers

add more as you see fit
 
The world moves on.
4 strokes are on average about 5 kg heavier than 2 strokes.
Hardly a great deal in the scheme of things.

That's less than a stone.
So are these boats designed for average, or slim or fat bastard helmsmen? That will have more effect on trim.
 
Lakesailor said:
The world moves on.
4 strokes are on average about 5 kg heavier than 2 strokes.
Hardly a great deal in the scheme of things.

That's less than a stone.
So are these boats designed for average, or slim or fat bastard helmsmen? That will have more effect on trim.
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Lakesailor,

as you know well boats like the Europa were designed for 1970's slim people, not the Macdonalds generation !

The engine on the transom was a true auxillary, spiffing to get one into a berth if no wind or sheltered from it, until one has to lift the thing with an already bad back and injured arm, and ghastly if one has even a vague idea of boat trim as I'm sure you know. :rolleyes:
 
But with ever more crowded moorings and marina berths that we have these days a motor with gears is all but essential. By gears I mean, to include Astern.

It's only at the pinnacle of sailing where weight-saving becomes obsessive


olympics-0.jpg
 
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Agreed, just coming in & out of the marina would only need a 2/2.5hp motor, but then, as Lakesailer says, I've got about a mile of narrow fairly busy channel, quite tightly packed swinging moorings either side, a tide of upto 3kts I'd soon become very, very unpopular tacking in or out with all the other boat users.
 
don't discount

Simonpk said:
Agreed, just coming in & out of the marina would only need a 2/2.5hp motor, but then, as Lakesailer says, I've got about a mile of narrow fairly busy channel, quite tightly packed swinging moorings either side, a tide of upto 3kts I'd soon become very, very unpopular tacking in or out with all the other boat users.
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don't discount the smaller four strokes

I was truly amazed at the way that it is able to shove both the slug and Katie L along

and your boat is lighter and more easily driven than either of them.

could you borrow a smaller engine to try it out first

I like the idea that the honda is air cooled

it makes it a bit noisier but no worries about it overheating if you walk forwards along the boat and the prop comes out of the water.

When it is in the well in Katie L it also heats the cockpit up

Dylan
 
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DOH, just when I thought I'd got it sussed. Unfortunately don't know anyone who's got one to try.

Off to check out the smaller ones now.
 
Lakesailor said:
But with ever more crowded moorings and marina berths that we have these days a motor with gears is all but essential. By gears I mean, to include Astern.

It's only at the pinnacle of sailing where weight-saving becomes obsessive


olympics-0.jpg
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Well apart from racing nuts, I've always regarded DECENT sailing speed as something to get me out of trouble, usually the weather sort.

As for a reverse gear on the engine, well that's an unnecessary luxury; I did my first few seasons with an engine which only had 'forward, off we go' gear, ( no spinning around for reverse or vectored thrust ) and it was both perfectly useful and a great training aid ! :rolleyes:
 
I agree

Seajet said:
Well apart from racing nuts, I've always regarded DECENT sailing speed as something to get me out of trouble, usually the weather sort.

As for a reverse gear on the engine, well that's an unnecessary luxury; I did my first few seasons with an engine which only had 'forward, off we go' gear, ( no spinning around for reverse or vectored thrust ) and it was both perfectly useful and a great training aid ! :rolleyes:
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I lived with the slug with no reverse for two years

not even neutral

I used the Honda for coming into pontoons etc

it has a centrifugal clutch so on tickover no forward drive

rotating it worked fine

we used it up the Nene through all sorts of locks

although on the slug a paddle is great for the last bit of the approach


Dylan
 
There's the other point that selecting reverse on a modern outboard with 'through prop' hub' exhaust gasses results in lots of cavitation, extremely small braking effect but lots of sideways 'paddlewheel effect' !

I used to have a sticker on the main sliding hatch in front of me with arrows ' P & S 'as an 'aide memoire' in times of stress reminding me of the paddlewheel effect, with arrows to port - slight effect in forward gear at low speed if using a handfull of throttle - and starboard, as much sideways as backwards !
 
I have used a mariner 3.3 on our Hunter Delta, 25 ft and in a well, it worked fine. You see lots of Sonata's with the 2.5 or 3.3 engine's mainly used for getting into and out of the marina, or if there is no wind. These small hunters all sail so well they dont need a heavy outboard.
A good friend cruised the south coast for 3 or 4 years with the Mariner 3.3 in his Jeaneau Sun 2000, including crossing Lyme bay with us in our Delta at the time with a Yamaha 8 2 stroke, he used 10 -15 L , we used 25-30L!
 
Simonpk said:
Agreed, just coming in & out of the marina would only need a 2/2.5hp motor, but then, as Lakesailer says, I've got about a mile of narrow fairly busy channel, quite tightly packed swinging moorings either side, a tide of upto 3kts I'd soon become very, very unpopular tacking in or out with all the other boat users.
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IMO Main up sheeted center or even to windward, 2.5hp you will still be doing fine...

Ideally 2 stroke 3.5, see what you can borrow and try it...
 
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