have a question, will be this 2,5 HP four stroke motor enough for fx one and 2 adults+ 4 yo child onboard ?

yamaha motor

I want to put an electric outboard on my Blade F16 when it is done. Why would you want a petrol engine? Silent, efficient, clean and low maintenance electric outboards seems like a much better option unless you are going long distances.

Depending on what you want, I think a 2.5HP should be enough to get respectable speed out of your boat under motor. The 5HP I had on my lapstrake 16 foot launch when growing up was a good choice and a FX1 is far easier driven and much lighter.

i was looking for electric , but you need a big batery ,and they are kind of weak, or am wrong?

Why on earth would you put an outboard on a high performance cat?

Why on earth would you want a motor on a 16ft beach cat? I can understand putting a motor on a 27-30ft cat, but not on a F16.

How about a couple of decent paddles?

Maybe a sculling oar? Works back and forth from the transom.

Not sure why you need any motor on a sailing cat...with just over a knot or two of breeze the motor will be dead weight!

But, that size motor is more than enough for pottering around a harbor. We've got a special project craft made out of a SuperCat 19 platform with over 600 lbs of weight on it that we power using a 2 Hp fourstroke Honda. Runs around the harbor very nicely. And we don't have boards/rudders...motor mounted off of one transom...yet the craft still steers quite well just by turning the outboard.

sorry if i ofendet any one.i dont like the idea of motor on sailing boat (this size)
but have a son is 3 1/2 years old and must think safty over everythink else. on the see i must first take my wife and son to a mile distant shore (sand and wather 20 -150 cm of deph) and then i can go sailing all day <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Some people have to traverse a long, narrow channel to get to the open water, and a small motor can be a big help.

We used to live on a canal, and with a Laser I could tack up or down the channel, but it would have been difficult with a cat. Paddling or sculling would be preferable, but probably not doable for me with a stiff headwind.

My PT had paddle friendly dagger boards. Steering with my foot and paddling at a sustainable rate I would travel about as fast as a kayak.

This is an image of a man out on an old boat of mine.
He is with his young son.
He was traveling substantial distance and the outboard was effective and little problem.

This image is of an old boat of mine I ran into out in the isalands.
The guy had a 3/4 year old son with him and was covering long distance.
This boat was designed 30 years ago by some German dude and home built.
He and his partner did big miles in the med for weeks at a time. It has big hatches.
This young man said the motor was a great addition and he had no trouble with it.

Also, here is another image of the boat showing the alli outboard bracket. A simple weld and hey presto.

BTW. I would not want the hassle of batteries out in the wet.

I can understand Mary needing a motor to get out of a narrow channel, but Igor, a small electric motor isnt going to do squat if the weather comes up and you've got a 3 year old on board. I've got a 6 year old and a wife that prefers the beach, and we dont go out as a family unless its perfect, flat water, under 10 knots, tide going the right way. If you get the 3 year old and wife in some weather, they wont want to sail with you no matter how big a motor you put on the cat.

Bill

Still can't quite equate having a motor with making the cat safer.

If it is rough enough to need to drop the sails fully and motor...then it is too rough to even be on the boat in the first place. A motor will not help in those conditions.

If having no wind is the concern, then take a paddle or two. Cat's more quite well while paddled. Also take a marine radio for emergency calls.

Ok, I fess up. On my old H21se I had an outboard on it for going to the islands (Catalina and such). When you are coming back accross through shipping lanes, it really helps when you have no wind. I had to leave Catalina once at 5 am to get to Marina Del Ray with no wind we made 6-7 knots the whole way on the motor alone. It was a 2hp Honda.

Lee

The 2 HP Honda's are a great little motor. Very simple design and easy to rebuild if a friend gets flipped going over the reef and lets it sit for two months before asking why it's seized up.

He gave it to me and $150 later I've got a great motor to use with the junior sailors.

i never dare to go out with my son if the weather is not PERFECT !
i need a motor because the wind is dead in the evening and i dont want to padle after all day sailing , call me lazzy, but whean am on vacation with fammily this little trip is priority (if i want peace) and then i can do what ever i want.

That is exactly the thing Igorn. I want an outboard on the boat to be able to use it as a regular motorboat. In my case I want to take the family over to some small islands just outside the club on quiet summer days. Paddling with the wife onboard is simply not an option and neither is relying on wind. The days we are going to do this will be days with no or very little winds. Less than 1m/s.
With a small outboard the platform can be used for a lot more than "only" sailing.

I would also call your attention to this attachment. Check in front of the port main beam.
That is a hatch cover...hinged..part of the boat. About the size of an average chilly bin.

This boat went like stink on a reach and was good enough on all points of sail yet it had heaps of buoyancy and easy storage etc etc.

The fact is we don't give enough though to multi-use in cats.