Around 8/26/2005 2:32 PM, louis wrote:

It's actually rated for 75 hp but thought why go up if the motor has
enough power. Lower fuel cost and easier to work on it but I do take
underpowered issue seriously as it happend to me before (another
story).

I dunno, a 15 just sounds too small for an 18' unless you're running
bare (with minimal to no gear, etc.). Only way to know for sure with
your boat is to give it a trial run.

Given a 75 max rating, I'd think a 25 would be the _absolute_ minimum
with gear and maybe a 40 or 50 as a compromise between my minimum and
the max.


Though I have no idea how the weight compares, my grandpa had a 12'
Sorenson with a 15, and it was an absolute dog, just barely able to get
two people up on a plane running bare. In comparison, my great uncle had
a 13.5' Livingston with a Merc 50, and that was just about right. (Well,
maybe a *trifle* overkill...)

If fuel costs are a concern remember that, even with a larger motor, you
don't /have to/ run at full throttle all the time.



--
~/Garth - 1966 Glastron V-142 Skiflite: "Blue-Boat"
"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing
as simply messing about in boats."
-Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows