smaller engines

[waternwaves]

as far as (or as short as) limited horsepower......

I know that the Nissan 50D carbureated.......after the electronics fail, is limited to 2500-2800 rpm..... about 12 hp.... which is why the change to the 90 etec.....lol

and that will not drain the ballast.....Terrible thing to find out 85 miles from home on a not very windy day......

I also found out the admiral will not wait for tides,
Or anchor on the lee of an oil refinery......

she will threaten to call the coast guard tho.....

lets see how that call goes.......

(Sailboat) CG Seattle CG seattle......... The is the sailboat XXXXXXXXXX, becalmed , the wind died, engine unable go over 2500 rpm.... reporting we cannot get where the admiral wants to be when she wants.....the ........the starter rope on the dinghy engine tore off.......

(Coast Guard) Go ahead sailboat XXXXXXXX on 16, this is CG seattle

(saiboat) CG seattle CG seattle......do you copy.......

(COast Guard) GO AHEAD SAILBOAT XXXXXXX WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?

(Sailboat)CG Seattlle.........CG seattle.....the admiral is threatening to scuttle the boat in a navigable waterway........We cant make the boat go fast enough to get her where she wants.

(Sailboat) CG seattle.... CG seattle...........our engine wont go over 2500 RPM and the tach says it will go to 6000, The wind died, we only have a case of beer and a bottle of rum, some sandwiches, a couple of steaks, and the tide wont change for 6 hours.........and it is getting dark, and we had to turn the cabin lights on......and throw an anchor down to hold our position.........are you there CG seattle....?

(sailboat) CG seattle..... are you listening to me.......... There is a beautiful menopausal woman on board this 26 ft sailboat...and it is not going fast.........I wont survive till morning........

(Coast Guard) Sailing vessel XXXXXXXX are you in need of assistance.....we do not understand your problem....
you are anchored, a beautiful woman on board, the weather is nice, you have a sailboat, there is beer and food, and the boat is floating? WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM?

(Sailboat)(Last transmission.......scrambled, possible due to static discharge on antenna from high speed the boat was encountered as master jumps in dinghy, grabs oars starts paddling dragging sailboat in homeward direction with the faltering motor sputtering........ boat pulls up to dock 4 hours later......

the story above is entirely fiction and does not depict the cruise events of any persons real or otherwise...........mostly.

Moral of the story..... you margins are much much smaller when you have a small engine on a motorsailor. 20% of 90 hp is far more useful than 20% of 50 hp or 20 % of 10 hp.

JMTC

[MadMacX]

Way to go waternwaves.....way too funny.

I will vouch for the fact that a small engine will not get the job done. I have a very good 25HP Yamaha and it will not allow me to empty water ballast, which is why I decided to put my boat in a slip at the marina rather than try to take it out when full of water. Also, at 7.5 KPH (GPS) I feel that I am not realizing the full benefits of having a motorsailor. The admiral no longer wishes to go motoring around the lake, as even the butterflies pass us by. Size does matter....and bigger is better!

Pat

[Moe]

I didn't have a problem loading the 26X on the trailer with full ballast (and the ballast valve open). Once I started cranking the bow up on the trailer, the water would drain out of the forward end of the tank. Just don't try to crank it on too fast. Give it time to drain aft and get easier. On pullout, once the transom is out of the water, stop the tow vehicle and let the tank completely empty. Get the trailer on level ground, slack the winch line to the bow eye (critical) and do the MacGregor bump.

[R Rae]

Recently decided to pull the boat and on a flat calm morning at 5000 prm on my 20 hp Honda (4 str.) recorded 8.9 knots as we were dumping the ballast. I had never paid too much attention before down at the dump valve, this time however we seemed to be up on plane as the dump pipe was clearly above the water and while the Admiral steered I was able to witness the full flood of ballast water eventually (maybe 4 mins. or so) reduce down to an acceptable trickle.
Should add, the boat was carrying 2- people, plus 2-group 24 type batteries, but little else.

[MadMacX]

I didn't have a problem loading the 26X on the trailer with full ballast (and the ballast valve open). Once I started cranking the bow up on the trailer, the water would drain out of the forward end of the tank. Just don't try to crank it on too fast. Give it time to drain aft and get easier. On pullout, once the transom is out of the water, stop the tow vehicle and let the tank completely empty. Get the trailer on level ground, slack the winch line to the bow eye (critical) and do the MacGregor bump.

Moe, I wish I could do that. The location I used to put in was one of the few boat ramps left open on our lake (drought and politics in the Southeast has our lake down 14.7' ) so it was quite busy. So when it came time to take the boat out of the water, I first had to get the front up so it would clear the two front bunks (water ballast would not let it rise), then winch it up to the bumper. I'm doing all of this by myself so time is getting long and the other boaters are get rather impatient. Then I pull the boat part of the way up the ramp and water comes rushing out of the back of the boat (now nasty stares and pointed comments). I move the boat out of the way to tie it down and the water continues to flow out the back and onto the ground. Well, let's just say that in a drought, you don't make any friends when you pull that stunt. If I could have purged the ballast under power I would not have had these problems. My little 25HP just can't get up enough speed to drain the water ballast...no matter how hard I try. That is why my boat is now in a slip.

BTW, when you have bottom paint, the "bump" doesn't work too well. If your on a sandy road from the boat ramp and try the "bump" it will activate your ABS, though.

Pat

[Moe]

I've gotten to the point I only launch and retrieve on weekdays... much less stressful. That's not as hard to do now that we keep the boat in a slip and only do it twice a year. The year with the 26X convinced us we aren't trailer sailors.

If anyone stared when I was emptying the ballast on the 26X, I just told them I was emptying my holding tank.

[MadMacX]

I've gotten to the point I only launch and retrieve on weekdays... much less stressful. That's not as hard to do now that we keep the boat in a slip and only do it twice a year. The year with the 26X convinced us we aren't trailer sailors.

Moe, That's why mine is also in a slip. Rigging, launching, retrieving and de-rigging defeated the enjoyable part of sailing.

Regards,
Pat

[carriacou]

Had a 9hp on mine when I got it........ almost made me hate the boat.
upgraded to a 50 and would not want to go smaller.

The 50 gives me ok speed for the gas used and though they say you should go 20 my best is 16.
But that's still enough to pull the tube with an adult on it and give them something to smile about.

I wouldn't go smaller than the 50, you can always pull back on the lever and slow down but with a small motor you can't just push forward to get out of trouble. And YES that’s the voice of experience.

don

[ALX357]

This info leads to another question, of course. If you have 200 lbs, or 25 gallons, that remains undrained because of insufficient power/speed to siphon it all out, is that enough moving weight to cause the prohibited partial ballast condition that should be avoided. That is about 15% of the total normal ballast load, maybe a significant hazard ??

Note, I am talking about partial ballast while using the outboard motor underway, as it's assumed / given that you would be able to fill-full the tank for sailing.

[James V]

You will only gain about 10% speed with an empty ballest. the boat is so much more stable with full ballest.

Try not to run with partial ballest.

[ronacarme]

Performance this season (loaded with full cruising gear, water ballast in) 2001 X and 9.9 Honda 4 str with 4 blade 6.5 pitch ("pontoon boat") prop.

WOT 7.2-7.3 mph GPS.....theoretical hull speed for 23 ft waterline length is 7.4 mph.

Can dump ballast water only going up the ramp...have not tried dumping on the water using a low pressure air pump....but no reason to dump ballast on the water in that the 9.9 is not going to push the boat any faster(beyond hull speed) with ballast out anyway, and we slip he boat for the summer, using the ramp only twice a season, on a weekday when its not busy.

101 miles GPS, motoring at 4-5.5 mph cruise, 7.0 gallons of gas, average 14.42mpg, includes a little motorsailing (last year motored 122 miles and averaged 12.5 mpg without motorsailing).

Have run the X for 8 summers with a 9.9 4 str ( 5 years with an Evinrude and the last 3 with the Honda) and it suits our needs perfectly.....economical to buy and run, light in weight to minimize the immersed area of that wide, deep X transom and its resultant turbulance drag while sailing.

[Kelly Hanson East]

...and that 9.9 will hold its value for years to come, so little exposure financially. Since you can mount and demount this motor yourself, you dont incur install costs and can sell it separately. There is always a market for a 9.9 kicker that has been well maintained and starts and runs well.