Hi Bruce,
I'm surprised that nobody in their replies to you has brought up the
subject
of gear ratio's. Unless things have changed in the past year or so, I
found it
was difficult to find a motor with a high gear ratio(close to 3.0), as
opposed to
the common 'egg beater' offerings (closer to 2.0 or less). Most
sailboats are
heavy displacement vessels (except for some catamarans, etc.), and will
not come
out of the water to plane. This translates into a requirement for a
'pusher' type
motor, where the propellor turns slower for any given engine speed, but
produces
more torque, or push. I almost bought the Honda two years ago, but when
I discovered
that it's gear ratio was close to 2.0, switched my decision to the
Yamaha 4 stroke
'high thrust' model with a gear ratio of 2.92. Some people may claim
that their
Honda's work fine on their boats, but I would guess that if they got
caught in a
strong on coming sea, they would have trouble pointing their boat into
the wind.
The only other engine I considered was a Mercury 4-stroke, but it
weighed about
20 pounds more than the equivalent Yamaha, but did have a decent gear
ratio.
The best pusher I ever owned was a British Seagull, with a gear ratio of
almost
4.0. That engine was shown in photos push huge barges around (only 6
hp). I have
the 9.9 hp Yamaha on my 22 foot sailboat, which weighs about 2 tons
unloaded. I
could have gone with their 8.0 hp high thrust engine, but for some
strange reason,
it actually weighed a few pounds more than the 9.9 and I felt the extra
horsepower
would give better performance. I don't know why there are not more
offerings of
high gear ratio engines. When I bought my Chrysler 'Sailor' model over
a decade
ago, there was a wider selection of these types. My only regret is that
the Yamaha
is not lighter, as I can no longer heft it's 99 pounds over the transom
into the
boat, as I could with my previous engines. Although 4-strokes are
inherently heavier
than their 2-stroke counterparts, eventually they will be able to get
the weights
down to more reasonable levels.

Sherwin Dubren

Bruce wrote:

I need to buy an outboard for my San Juan 21 and not quite sure about how
big to go. I would like a 4 stroke and I am thinking that about 5 HP would
be a good size. Any comments about the different brands would be
appreciated.
Also, do I really need a "long shaft" motor. With the motor mount currently
on the boat, it seems to me that any motor would easily bury the prop.

Regards,
Bruce