I put a Mercury 5hp Sail Power outboard on my 26S last year and had no problems with it. It's a 20 inch shaft. Works fine moving the boat around comfortably. A little slower than the 10 hp, now dead 1996 Evinrude but still okay. If you're in a big hurry get a 26x or m. https://onlineoutboards.com/pr...

Pitchpole... said "My 2 cents is get on the water sail and have fun then make a list of things to try and clean up." This is the best advice ever. What I've learned in my two years owning a 26S is exactly that. There will be a never ending list of things to do, but as long as you can safel...

I purchased mine in Jan 2020 for $6500, it was advertised at $7000. It is/was in pretty good shape, motor was fine at the time, though it's gone kaput since, and had a grill and some other extras. In California (northern). At the time I saw some advertised up in Portland, OR area for $5500 but wasn'...

I have a 26S and replaced the single cleat with a fold down cleat like this: https://www.amazon.com/Whitecap-4-1-Folding-Cleat-Stainless/dp/B00SG41IOE/ref=asc_df_B00SG41IOE?tag=bngsmtphsnus-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=80745502895070&hvnetw=&hvqmt=e&hvbmt=be&hvdev=c&hvlocint=&a...

The Merc I bought was about $1800, I think it was called the "Sail Power" or something like that. It's a 20 inch shaft and has a 50W alternator for charging on, which is pretty low power but I don't need much and have a solar panel to help, too.

I have a 26S and just switched from the 1996 9.9 Evinrude to a 5 hp Mercury (both 4 stroke). So far the Merc works great, I can get to 5 kts easily enough without going full throttle, but comfortable light load will get me 3-3.5 kts and minimal throttle (just above the "restart" setting). ...

I was at their shop in person around Christmas and recall they were going to be doing some extended cruising this year.

FWIW We live up in NorCal sailing mainly on lakes or the delta and are relatively new. We decided pretty quickly to put the genoa away and learn with the jib. It's easier to handle for us newbies, even with light winds we do alright with it. Our plan is to move up to the genoa once we're proficient ...

I have a 1991 26S and the foam looks like chunks of cheap icechest/cooler styrofoam. On mine it's between the liner and deck in the overhead area. It was a one owner boat before I bought it and have no reason to think the previous owner reduced the amount of foam in it.
FWIW

Cheers

With a 26S, a 9.9 hp Evinrude.
I use both and have the scars on the rudder to prove it.

Great report, thanks for sharing it. Also, good photos. That's something I need to work at.

I'll make this the final update. So, the original problem turned out to be flooding, I believe. I learned somewhere that if you crank the throttle to full on, it will overcome the flooding (I think it opens things up to allow more air in). However, I then experienced a situation where it was becomin...

Thanks for the motor repair suggestions, I appreciate them all. I rebuilt the fuel pump, but it wouldn't start except when I sprayed choke cleaner in it, and I ran out of time before I could thoroughly figure it out. Once I was able to get back to it, a week later, I pulled the line off the in side ...

I've been working on the motor not starting over the summer and had felt I got it figured out; flooding was the issue. So we packed up the boat, the boy and headed to the Sacramento River Delta and launched at the county park near Rio Vista around 3 pm. Launching went well, the motor started right u...

I have a 1996 9.9 hp Evinrude on my 1991 26S. On the Evinrude (& Johnson - OMC's) my understanding is the difference between the 9.9 and 15 hp's is the carburetor and they should be very similar in weight. Not sure with other brands. I don't think 20 lbs would make much difference, plenty of fat...