Are there many sail boats that can plane under sail regularly? The Sunfish
would, on a broad reach with a stiff breeze and a light crew (I gave away
some 40 lbs to my competitors and did not profit from the conditions).
Position of the engine weight (OK, the total CG) would also be critical.

A few inches of daggerboard, or equivalent, are needed to give the rudder
something to work against. Popping the daggerboard out momentarily is a
useful trick on the Sunfish; you pivot about the rudder, but ...

Your last line is a show stopper to me. As a stunt, it might work, but as
an investment worth owning????

Roger

http://home.insightbb.com/~derbyrm

"bowgus" wrote in message
oups.com...

I would think that any small boat capable of planing under sail would
be capable of planing (with dagger board raised) propelled by an
outboard. The trick I would think would be to arrive at the minimum
requirements for the outboard i.e. have the required power and at the
required minimum weight ... not well put, but you know what I mean.

OT: I saw a few years back at a boat show, a self-propelled surf board.
It used a relatively powerful jet propulsion system. A bit bizarre but
one of those turbo engines would likely meet the power/weight
requirement ... not that I would want to be in the boat with one of
them ... noisy or what.