Outboard engine for 27ft yacht

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dufour27

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Evening All,

I'm looking into buying a small outboard motor for my 27ft yacht - only to be used if the main inboard engine packs up.

Which make of engine would be best - I've noticed that bigger yachts than mine have anything up to 5hp.

I take it that this is enough?

Any advice will be great.

Thanks!
 
dufour27 said:
Evening All,

I'm looking into buying a small outboard motor for my 27ft yacht - only to be used if the main inboard engine packs up.

Which make of engine would be best - I've noticed that bigger yachts than mine have anything up to 5hp.

I take it that this is enough?

Any advice will be great.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

She is a sail boat.
why not make the existing engine reliable first. An o/b on a 27 footer is a joke offshore, imho ;)
 
Assuming that you have an inflatable tender with an outboard, this would in calm conditions move your yacht very easily. In any other wind/sea state an o/b would struggle anyway.
 
a 5hp outboard would be a get you home in settled weather / sea conditions only. Any bad weather it would be useless.
Re sailorman's comments- Ken Endean who sails a sabre 27 (London Apprentice) has a 10hp outboard which he has sailed all over the place for 18 years. Having said that Ken is a first class sailor and SAILS his boat.
 
To be a serious mode of propulsion I would suggest for a 27 ft yacht you will need at least 10 hp.

5 hp will be more than adequate for manoeuvring, berthing mooring etc but not for covering large distances in any sort of bad weather conditions.

Little to choose when it comes to it between any of the established makes esp when you consider that many small outboards are now re-badged Tohatsus anyway.

To be effective in any sort or sea you will need a long-shaft if not an extra long-shaft engine. You should also be looking for a high thrust, low pitch prop that is suitable for a displacement hull.

Spend your money more wisely by making sure your inboard engine is reliable.
 
I have an outboard which i keep inside the boat (32ft 6 tonnes)just in case my Volvo engine packs up. Some time ago we were sailing with the whole family onboard (kids were 9 and 12) and the driveshaft sheared off.

If I was on my own it would not have been a problem, however, the wife and the kids were panicking a bit, since then i decided to carry a spare o/b, so i bought a long shaft Tohatsu 6 hp four stroke, with an external fuel tank and comes with a course propeller as standard which will power the boat even against tides; it will get me home. I now feel much more relax when the family is onboard and the wife is much happier knowing that whatever happens with the main engine, the spare is there to be used.

I also use it sometimes on my small tender when i need to go fast/on the plane. Very reliable, very economical, light, and always starts straight away.
 
Outboard bonus

We used to have a Macwester 26 with a very unreliable Stuart Turner. We fitted a 5hp outboard on a drop down braket as a safety measure, to get us back up the river if the Stuart refused to start at a critical moment.
We eventually worked out the problem with the Stuart but found that the outboard was great at getting the boat out of or into tight spaces by for example turning at 90 deg to the boat and pushing the stern out or in when tightly packed several boats deep on Weymouth Quay.

Changed the boat now but I still miss the extra manoverability that the outboard gave us.

Good luck
 
Generally a waste of time having a "spare" outboard on a boat that size. To be effective it needs to be 10hp long shaft which is useless for anything else. Better to spend the money on ensuring your inboard is in good condition and reliable. After all it is already your secondary means of propulsion and if well looked after should be totally reiable.

Different if your inboard packs up completely and you can't justify replacing it, then an outboard can be a viable alternative.
 
FWIW, I had a Westerly 25 with a Johnson 9.9 longshaft. It was excellent & easily reached hull speed & would even start to squat a bit. However, it was my main engine & was locked dead ahead & connected to remote controls. Nevertheless, I had to climb over the rear deck to start it & in short steep seas the prop would come clean out of the water & race wildly if I wasn't quick on the throttle.

I was very pleased to move up to Sea Rush with her electric start inboard & a prop that was always under the water!
 
dufour27 said:
Evening All,

I'm looking into buying a small outboard motor for my 27ft yacht - only to be used if the main inboard engine packs up.

Which make of engine would be best - I've noticed that bigger yachts than mine have anything up to 5hp.

I take it that this is enough?

Any advice will be great.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

If I was you I would get hold of a second hand Tohatsu 9.9HP. It is the lightest 9.9hp and will give you all the grunt you need.
 
try clyde wanderer

Try PM ing Clyde Wanderer, He has a bracket and outboard on his 30' yacht, as a wing engine, and will let you know how it works.

He is the king of duel redundancy and contingency planning

2 of everything
 
Last season I brought my 32ft boat about five miles home with the dinghy lashed alongside (as suggested above). Motor was a Tohatsu 2.5hp.
I found the motor never lifted as the dinghy articulated with the swell. It was interesting to watch and I may have done no better with a larger outboard, fixed right aft, on the boat itself. As the thrust was very steady it got me there. If there was wind I would have sailed of course.
It was not easy to launch and rig the dinghy and outboard though.
 
Thanks everyone some useful comments.

I'll only have the sails up whenever possible, will make sure the inboard is in good running order - and will probably end up with a spare outboard (belt and braces approach!).

Better safe than sorry I suppose....:)
 
I wonder how the weight, hanging on a transom, would be in a confused sea. After all the transom is not made to take an O.B. and up to 50kg's on a bracket could put some stress on the transom. Or would it?
 
Tillernut said:
I wonder how the weight, hanging on a transom, would be in a confused sea. After all the transom is not made to take an O.B. and up to 50kg's on a bracket could put some stress on the transom. Or would it?
Click to expand...

It would require reasonable reinforcement where the bracket was mounted, but I wouldn't be over worried - 50kg is only a teenager sitting at the back of the boat.
 
On our last boat 25 ft we had our dinghy outboard mounted on an up/down mounting. Mainly because it was much easier to move it nto the dinghy from the lowered psition than trying to lower it from the pushpit. It also did allow it to be used for standby propulsion and even though it was a mere 4 hp it was almost as effective as the Volvo MD5A.

At the end of the day some power beats the hell out of no power
 
We had a 4hp long shaft outboard as the only engine on a moderately heavy 27 footer. It was more than enough to get us home when the wind died. Motoring into any sort of chop was painfully slow because the shaft keeps coming out of the water - but why would you want to? Sailing would be much more comfortable.
 
We had a Seagull 4hp long shaft on a up/down bracket on our 25ft Itchen Ferry and that was used a few times when the old Yanmar YSB8 decided to be a git and not start it’s just nice to know that you have a backup even if you never need it.
 
Outboard engine for a 27ft yacht

I used to have a Sadler 25 with a 5HP Mariner longshaft outboard. There was a huge amount of space in the (empty) engine compartment. On longish passages I stowed the 5HP Mariner and the dinghy there - in your case it already has an engine in it! The comments about rough seas are all very valid - forget about using the outboard.

Another issue was that the outboard was on a bracket on the port side of the transom. Even with only a small amount of wind over the port beam when motoring "under bare poles" it was challenging to get the prop to stay in the water. You only need a small heel to starboard to raise the prop by a few inches. She "motored very well on starboard tack", though! I'm not sure whether your 27ft yacht has a transom hung rudder. Could you put an outboard bracket in the middle?

My Sadler 25 was a brilliant sailing boat. I used to keep her on a mooring, but when I got a marina berth on the Clyde it has in Largs Yacht Haven which was easy to enter/leave. Kip was out of the question - easy to enter but leaving under "power" in any amount of wind (on "port tack") or sea was out of the question. Clyde Scuttlebutters will appreciate why! First thing her new owners did was have in inboard engine fitted, with the outboard available as a backup if it and wind propulsion both failed...

So yes - hang an outboard on a bracket. If you have to put it on one or other side of the transom decide whether you enter your "harbour" with the wind over the port or starboard side of the yacht.
 
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