Brian Whatcott wrote:
To avoid the embarassment of paddling in, or sailing close hauled into
a narrow channel for a landing, we put together a Chrysler 3 HP
outboard from two nearly complete projects.

3 HP seemed like a frequent choice for sailboats at about the size
of boats we have - a SouthCoast 22ft.

But on a day with a stiff breeze (yesterday) I blew onto a lee shore
at launch, and could not hold the heading to windward when returning a
few hours later, on outboard alone.

So here's the dumb question: how many Horses does it take to be
steering a 22 ft sailboat into a brisk wind? 5HP, 7 HP 10 HP, more?

Thanks in advance


Brian Whatcott Altus OK
What is the displacement of the boat? The rule of thumb I have heard is
between 3 and 5 hp per ton. My Ranger 26 was 3 ton and had a 9.9 hp
Honda, my T33 is 7 ton and has a 22 hp Yanmar. My 102' was 90 ton and
had a 260 hp Detroit.

Seems to work......sorta.

Gary