Re: motors

Posted by Charlie on Jun 4, 2006

When you're sailing you're a sailor first and an environmentalist second. The one thing you do not want to do is load your transom down so that it becomes partly submerged. That could cause a lot of drag and give the boat bad trim both of which can effect the overall sailing ability of the boat. If you go the gas route a very small 2-stroke. Your boat could easily approach displacement speed with 1-1� hp. The electric route has the advantage of a lightweight propulsion unit and a power source that can be moved around to keep the boat in trim. But marine applications demand an expensive deep cyle battery and a compatible battery charger. And thnose batteries sure are heavy. Having said all that you should be aware that most small sailboats row quite well. You can probably row your boat almost as fast as a small motor will push it. All you need are a set of suitably long oars, some well fixed oarlocks and a short training period to get your muscles in shape. Oars won't overburden your boat and they won't go to the bottom if you capsize.

In Response to: motors by Taylor vanderbilt on Jun 4, 2006

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