Outboard Engine Size for a Hunter Duette

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quaver

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I have a Hunter Duette and after having yet more engine trouble last weekend I've decided to bite the bullett and treat her to a new outboard.

She has a Tohatsu 8hp 2 stroke at the moment and I'm looking to replace it with a Mariner or Mercury 4, 5 or 6 4 stroke Sail drive. But unsure which one..... On paper they all look very similar but the price varys greatly.

Does anyone have a Hunter Duette??? If so what does your have?

Any advise would be welcome.... thanks
 
quaver said:
I have a Hunter Duette and after having yet more engine trouble last weekend I've decided to bite the bullett and treat her to a new outboard.

She has a Tohatsu 8hp 2 stroke at the moment and I'm looking to replace it with a Mariner or Mercury 4, 5 or 6 4 stroke Sail drive. But unsure which one..... On paper they all look very similar but the price varys greatly.

Does anyone have a Hunter Duette??? If so what does your have?

Any advise would be welcome.... thanks
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look on the for sale section a nearly new long shaft one there

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230505
 
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I went through the same process recently with my Leisure 23. In the end I went for the Tohatsu 6HP (the same engine as the Mariner or Mercury). I wondered about saving money and going for the 5hp, but I knew there would be a time when I was plugging an adverse tide, and would regret not getting the extra 20% power.

Mine hasn't made it to the water, yet, so I can't report on performance.
 
but I knew there would be a time when I was plugging an adverse tide, and would regret not getting the extra 20% power.
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It not so much the tide because you cannot go faster than the hull speed and in calm conditions a 5 hp will get you there with ease. It's when you have a strong head wind and nasty chop as well as the foul tide that you need the extra power.

I agree I would not have less than a 6 hp ... (I have that on 19footer). Even consider anther 8 hp but keep an eye an the weight esp if you do not want to leave it permanently mounted. ( be warned they get heavier as the years go by... I can barely lift mine at all now!)
 
VicS said:
It not so much the tide because you cannot go faster than the hull speed and in calm conditions a 5 hp will get you there with ease. It's when you have a strong head wind and nasty chop as well as the foul tide that you need the extra power.

I agree I would not have less than a 6 hp ... (I have that on 19footer). Even consider anther 8 hp but keep an eye an the weight esp if you do not want to leave it permanently mounted. ( be warned they get heavier as the years go by... I can barely lift mine at all now!)
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I have a Honda 10hp (2007) on my 23 and it's a big heavy ol lump. Fine if you intend to keep it mounted for most of the time but it's certainly not practical for lifting off continually. (It's between 42 and 52kg's)
 
We have had a Yamaha 8 2 stroke on our Hunter Delta (Slightly bigger boat) and have replaced it with a Tohatsu 6 4 stroke, it works reasonaly well, no significant difference to the Yam 8, apart from a little quieter, more fuel efficent. They weigh nearly the same. IMHO outboards dont manage nearly as well as inboards in strong wind and waves and we plan accordingly.
Watch out for the shaft length as our boat and most of the Hunters are designed to work with a standard shaft length if the engines are in the port cockpit locker. Longer shafts have problems storing in the correct attitude.
 
Had a HUnter 26 ( which was either the Duette hull or the Sonata - cant remember which is which) and that ran OK on a Honda 8. If your boat is the 23ft hull then I would think that 6hp would be OK.
 
quaver said:
I have a Hunter Duette and after having yet more engine trouble last weekend I've decided to bite the bullett and treat her to a new outboard.

She has a Tohatsu 8hp 2 stroke at the moment and I'm looking to replace it with a Mariner or Mercury 4, 5 or 6 4 stroke Sail drive. But unsure which one..... On paper they all look very similar but the price varys greatly.

Does anyone have a Hunter Duette??? If so what does your have?
Click to expand...

I ave a Westerly Jouster (21', 1 tonne) on which for many years I used a Yamaha 4. That always seemed quite enough - the limit as wind increased was always wave action taking the prop out of the water rather than any lack of oomph against the wind.

When the Yamaha died I replaced it with a Silver Century, which does just as well, though with the exposed spark plug it is a wee bit sensitive to waves up the chuff.

It's worthwhile finding out what the prop options are. Standard outboards generally come with props which are far too coarse (high speed) for pushing sailing boats along, and you can waste an awful lot of power that way.

Were I buying a modern outboard again for the Jouster I would go for 4 or 5hp ... I certainly would stick to single cylinder, and I'd make sure it had a sailing prop.
 
It's worthwhile finding out what the prop options are. Standard outboards generally come with props which are far too coarse (high speed) for pushing sailing boats along, and you can waste an awful lot of power that way.

Were I buying a modern outboard again for the Jouster I would go for 4 or 5hp ... I certainly would stick to single cylinder, and I'd make sure it had a sailing prop
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I'd assume that the Sail drive versions being considered by the OP do in fact have a fine pitch prop. Not a lot of detail on the website about them .. I forget if the prop is specified.

I have an Evinrude Yachtwin that has several features making it ideal for a small sail-boat.

Prop with larger diameter, and smaller pitch than standard also Mickey Mouse ear blades.

It is a long shaft but it has an exhaust outlet higher than standard so it can actually be mounted as though it were a standard shaft, putting the prop 5" deeper without causing an increase in exhaust back pressure. Being away from the prop the exhaust is not drawn into the prop when going astern and so it also gives full thrust astern.

It also has battery charging as a standard feature.

Personally I deliberately choose a twin cylinder engine. After the experiences with its single cylinder predecessor I figured that with 2 plugs there was twice the chance of having an unfouled one .. not a relevant consideration with a 4 stroke though I guess.
 
VicS said:
Personally I deliberately choose a twin cylinder engine. After the experiences with its single cylinder predecessor I figured that with 2 plugs there was twice the chance of having an unfouled one .. not a relevant consideration with a 4 stroke though I guess.
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There's also twice the chance of having a fouled one. It's the old question: is it more important to have full power available (use as few cylinders and engines as you can) or to have some power available (use as many cylinders and engines as you can). Hence, for example, single engine fighters and multiple engine bombers.
 
I
t's the old question: is it more important to have full power available (use as few cylinders and engines as you can) or to have some power available (use as many cylinders and engines as you can)
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The old one used to foul its plug at slow speed at crucial times. At cruising speed no problems would run and run and run. Slow down to pick up a mooring, enter a lock etc etc and suddenly phut all.

I reckoned that with a second cylinder there was a chance it might keep going on one. Never put to the test 'cos the new engine never fouls its plugs.
 
VicS said:
It not so much the tide because you cannot go faster than the hull speed and in calm conditions a 5 hp will get you there with ease. It's when you have a strong head wind and nasty chop as well as the foul tide that you need the extra power.

I agree I would not have less than a 6 hp ... (I have that on 19footer). Even consider anther 8 hp but keep an eye an the weight esp if you do not want to leave it permanently mounted. ( be warned they get heavier as the years go by... I can barely lift mine at all now!)
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Very true. I have gone from a 9.9hp 2-stroke (albeit about 30 years old) which weighed 39kg. I have nearly been over the back of the boat when lowering it into the water! Hopefully the 25kg 6hp will last me a few years.
 
My Hunter Horizon 23 (same as your Duette except for deck moulding and internals) came with a Yamaha 5hp 2-stroke. This had adequate power but the high-pitched 2-stroke yowl was annoying and the prop took a long time to bite in astern when manoeuvring at close quarters. I replaced it with a 6hp Tohatsu 4-stroke with the saildrive prop. A great improvement: more than adequate power, better fuel economy, better stopping and reversing, quieter and the lower-pitched noise was less fatiguing on a long trip.
 
I used to have a Sonata with a Mariner 4 two stroke. That was perfectly adequate when used with a Saildrive style large blade fine pitch prop. I never used it at full revs because I could not stand the noise and anyway there was no need. I eventually replaced it with a Mariner 4 four stroke. That was quieter but I still never used it at full revs. The basic body of the Mariner 4, 5 and 6 HP models is the same, you just get bigger carburettors. As they have all have the same prop the only way to go faster with the bigger engines is to use more revs and as I never used full revs with the 4HP the extra power of the 5 and 6 would have been a waste of money.

Make sure you get the right prop and 4HP will be fine.
 
We used to have a Duette with a Honda 5hp (standard shaft). This was just able to push the boat in flat water very slowly against a F6. A finer pitched prop would probably have helped.

The space inside the housing is very tight so you may need to check the proposed engine fits and that you can lift it out (there is a bit of extra friction when freeing the unit which required a bit of effort with the weight of the Honda).

You are probably aware that there is a modification with a tube which I think was to stop the engine sucking in the exhaust fumes from the cooling water tell-tale. Not sure but I think this was exhausted out through the rubber fairing piece.
 
Bosun Higgs said:
Had a HUnter 26 ( which was either the Duette hull or the Sonata - cant remember which is which) and that ran OK on a Honda 8. If your boat is the 23ft hull then I would think that 6hp would be OK.
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The Duette is a twin-keel version of the Sonata. They are both 23ft, and share the same hull. The Hunter Horizon 26 is larger than both.
 
Too late I am sure, however I have a Hunter duette with a saildrive tohatsu 6hp 4 stroke and as i have the original prop too i can say with confidence that it is very good.
I sail from Gosprt Cruising club and have managed to enter portsmouth harbour at full ebb and also exit at full flood.
I had two tanks of fuel in july and had to ditch one in february as the engine used barely a tank in the busiest part of the season.
Fairweather marine advised that it was best to add the alternator package at purchase from new and that the exhaust mod was needed to run in the well.

In essence if you have not done it yet then go for it!

jamie
 
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