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gas engine for weekender


jsalamon

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My dad gave me his Weekender which he built just a few years ago.  However, I have very little experience sailing and plan to take classes soon.  Meanwhile I was wondering what size gas engine I could put on it, and could I use the wooden motor mount it already has?

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   Welcome to the forum!  There are a lot of helpful people here, so you've come to the right place.

   Since your weekender has a motor mount you should be able to put a small outboard with something like 2 hp on it.  Lots of companies make motors in about that size and I have a Honda, which I like.  It's a bit noisy but it runs well and it's simple (there are a number of companies that make good low power motors).  Small outboards come in short-shaft and long-shaft versions and you can tell which one you need by measuring from the top of the motor mount to the bottom of the transom. If that measurement is about 15 inches you will want a short shaft motor and if it is about 20 inches you'll want a long shaft motor.  If you get a wildly different measurement let us know and we'll figure it out.

   With a boat the size of a Weekender I would resist the urge to put a significantly bigger motor on the transom.  A 5hp motor may have more power but it is much heavier and hanging a heavy motor on that transom will not be a good thing because it will upset the boat's balance.

   We're well overdue for a disclaimer so I should mention that I know the Weekender only through this forum.  I haven't owned or even sailed one so if anyone says "My 9.9 hp motor works great on my weekender" you should listen to their advice instead of mine.  I look forward to reading the input from people who actually know what they're talking about. :)

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Thanks, Ken.  I have seen from posts in the BYYB forums that  4 and 5hp motors have been used on weekenders, but it seems that all have either mounted a bracket, or built a well.  I like the well idea, but my time and skills are limited.  My dad had the skills, but maybe I'll attempt it this fall.  I was hoping to buy such a motor and use the boat's wooden mount for now, when not sailing it.  Any further advice, anyone?

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Take it for a sail, it's not hard. Maybe bring along someone that knows how to sail and make their day too. You'll have all the skills you need in an hour or two of fooling around under sail. Well okay, you're not going to win the next America's Cup, but you'll be sailing with mother nature doing the work, in just in a few minutes.

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I don't know anyone who could take me out and teach me.  I plan to take lessons at the UW Wisconsin Hoofers club soon.  My dad built the boat but is in a nursing home now.  I took it out once, on it's maiden voyage, and it rolled over.  Luckily he wasn't in it at the time.  Later I learned that the weekender is not for the novice.  It then sat for about two years, because of my dad's failing health.  I sort-of rescued it before it wasted away, no one else wanted it.  I will sail this boat!  But I also want a motor for a little cruising without sail.  What's the biggest I should get that can be put on the wooden mount?   

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Again, 2 HP is all you need. If you put a 5 HP on it, she's just over powered and you're not really going any faster, just beating the water to a froth. The shape of Weekender limits her speed to about 6 MPH, so a bigger motor is just tossing more fuel into the tank, little else. The Weekender is a novice sailors boat. Why you managed to capsize her, I don't know, but you have to screw up pretty bad to do this. Typically, it's because you went out in way too much wind strength, for your skill level. On your first few sails, 5 to 8 knots, no more. It's damn hard to screw up bad enough to have anything more than a puff increase your heel angle in these wind strengths. Think of it as taking a race car out for the first time. If you start thinking about 200 MPH, you'll quickly find yourself in a world of hurt, but if you lazy around the track at 70 MPH, the worst that'll happen is you can bend a fender, as you get a feel for the car. As you gain confidence (this is what sailing is about BTW) you can considering pushing over 100 MPH or more appropriately, bigger wind strengths. Next time, take someone with you, so some positives can occur and your confidence can build. Light winds, until you have a clue about what to do, how to steer, which strings to pull, etc. In fact, learning to sail in very light wind strengths will make you a much better sailor, eventually.

 

Instead of lessons, just stop down at the local sailing club and volunteer to be "crew" on someone's boat. They're always looking for victims, I mean additional crew. You'll learn very quickly how the boat is handled. Let them know you're a novice and a bit scared and hopefully you'll not get a Capt. Bligh for your first skipper. They'll show you what's up, how to steer, set and trim sails, etc., all for free too. Ask questions, just to remind them you're a novice and with some luck, you find an old fart that likes the idea of getting yet another hooked on the sport, maybe in his image.

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I appreciate your comments very much, PAR.  Being a designer you should know your stuff, and you seem familiar with the weekender.  Therefore, I'll probably get a 2HP engine.  As for my mishap, it's still a mystery to me.  I think the biggest culprit might be the rudder.  The line slipped on the cleat and it wasn't down all the way.  We (me and two of my brothers) were in light winds, in a river, and a gust of wind caught us.  I turned up into it but as the boat heeled over the boom dug into the water and seemed to pull us over.  We were barely moving to begin with and it's my understanding that Weekender, because of its design, needs momentum to work properly.  I know how to sail, but have little experience.  My dad and I had it out briefly that day and all went well (can't remember if the rudder was down or not, but that line and cleat design wasn't working well for us that day.)   

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I'm with PAR-- just get out there and do some sailing.  When you can, watch some youtube videos.   Learn your boat.    All of my daysailing so far has been done without a motor.  Have fun!  Us B&B boys like the Suzuki 2.5.  They even use them on the 20 footers.   It's light and relatively cheap.  You'll see a whole thread on it, if you pop into the B&B forum.  

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Thanks Thrillsbe.  About that B&B forum.  Do you mean BYYB?  I've browsed it and saw those threads you mentioned.  I also signed up but it still says it's waiting for activation.  I've tried twice but have gotten no email notification.

 

Also, my boat doesn't have a cockpit drain installed yet, but a quarter inch hole was drilled into the bottom near the transom after its last use.  What's the best way to fix this, or can a drain be installed there?

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He's talking in technical boat-building jargon.  He means thickened epoxy.  There are also threads on that subject on the B & B Yacht Forum.  I'd suggest fumed silica, but there are others.  Fumed silica (or Cabo-sil) is the typical thickener used.  Click on his "tips" link.

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The B&B forum that Don (Thrillsbe) has mentioned is one of the forums (fora?) on this site.  This discussion that we're having now is on the "Main Forum".  The B&B forum is for discussions relating to B & B Yacht designs and there has been a lot of talk there about motors and other subjects that relate well to small boats in general.  The particular engine discussion that Don mentioned is about five pages long and it can be found here:
http://messing-about.com/forums/topic/9869-25-hp-suzuki/

 

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