IanBBA
New member
Thanks to all who contributed to my posting seeking advise on using a 15HP L/S engine on a 3m RIB.
Pleased to say we had a safe and an exhilarating trip. I did find a steering handle courtesy of BHG Marine (thanks Carl). Rigged up battery with a spare control panel in an old plastic tool box; had to do this to get the damned 'kill' switch to work; still meant the electric start worked too, which is rather cool on a 3m boat!
Performance was a little poorer than had been suggested in the posts. With two good size adults (160Kg total), 25l fuel and the battery box, managed 32.2 KPH on the GPS. As somebody had predicted, the extra drag of the L/S engine would produce a great deal of spray, it did with some shipped aboard over the transom. The bow didn't rise alarmingly; this too had been predicted but the boat would probably have been unsafe without my extra crew member well forward.
So before my fellow club members hound me out as a speed-boating infiltrator, I'd better return the 15HP engine to the well of our First 24 and put something more sensible on the dinghy.
Thanks to all, Ian.
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Pleased to say we had a safe and an exhilarating trip. I did find a steering handle courtesy of BHG Marine (thanks Carl). Rigged up battery with a spare control panel in an old plastic tool box; had to do this to get the damned 'kill' switch to work; still meant the electric start worked too, which is rather cool on a 3m boat!
Performance was a little poorer than had been suggested in the posts. With two good size adults (160Kg total), 25l fuel and the battery box, managed 32.2 KPH on the GPS. As somebody had predicted, the extra drag of the L/S engine would produce a great deal of spray, it did with some shipped aboard over the transom. The bow didn't rise alarmingly; this too had been predicted but the boat would probably have been unsafe without my extra crew member well forward.
So before my fellow club members hound me out as a speed-boating infiltrator, I'd better return the 15HP engine to the well of our First 24 and put something more sensible on the dinghy.
Thanks to all, Ian.
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