Bought Venture 25- recommend motor size?

[CheapChris]

Hello, all! Just bought a 1977 Venture 25. It is in solid condition, but truly filthy- I'm getting her cleaned up now.

The boat was complete with a trailer, stove, VHS radio, and a tired bimini. I found a new 120 watt CD player new in the package under the cockpit. No head, cabin cushions, or motor. Main problem is a tree fell on the mast and bent it about 3' from the top. I think I got a good deal- $250!! Other than a good cleaning, it needs a piece of the plywood cabin roof reinstalled and the headliner carpet redone. There are two small repairs in the hull about 3" diameter that look kind of iffy, I'll rework them. The trailer needs new bunks, and I had to put a new coupler on it to get it home.

I see that MacG says a max of 10 HP on this boat. What is a good size? A 10 is pretty heavy, but I do want to make as much speed as she'll do. I figure at least 7.5 HP, will the 10 make much difference?

As indicated by my username, I am a bit of a cheapskate. I'll try to find a good used kicker for now- eventually I want a 4-stroke with an alternator/electric start, but no cash for that now...

Thanks!!

[Lloyd Franks]

Where you will be sailing is important. Lake? Bay? Ocean? I sail on Biscayne Bay and I have a 5HP Mercury that does fine on my Venture 24.

[CheapChris]

I'm in North Carolina, will be on lakes mostly but will cruise the ICW every once in a while. No ocean for me in this crate!

I've seen boats this size with 5 or even less, and I know it will push it. I also know that 10 HP won't go twice as fast as 5, at some point there are seriously diminishing returns. I just wonder how much difference in speed there is. I don't intend to run around at full throttle all the time, but sometimes weather pops up and you need to scoot...

Thanks again!

[ChockFullOnuts22]

Go with a 9.9hp engine if you can find an affordable one. A 6hp or 7.5hp with provide adequate thrust for nosing into the wind with some forward movement, but will feel slow if you end up trying to run back to shore from bad weather.

I have a V222 (22'), and am currently running a 6hp Johnson. I don't like it, and will be replacing it with a 9.5-9.9 the first chance I get. The boat used to have an older Evinrude/Johnson 9.5hp outboard, and the drop in power and speed was VERY noticeable when I had to downgrade to the 6hp engine (the 9.5's age finally caught up with it). I know a lot of sailors here are going to say that a 6 or 7.5 is perfectly adequate----but I'm going to say that if you want speed, you need to go with 9.5 to 9.9hp.

[CheapChris]

That's kind of what I was thinking. Knowing me, if I didn't get something close to 10 HP I would regret it. I will do a lot of motoring.

Seems to me a 6 HP running wide open and a 10 HP running 2/3 throttle would burn close to the same fuel. But with the 10, you have some reserve power.

So far, I'm seeing more long shaft 6's and 8's on Craigslist than long shaft 9.5 to 10's. I guess I'll just have to be patient.

Thanks!

[anthony]

Hi Chris
I too have a v25 and am using a 8hp 4 stroke honda ( came with the boat) am quite happy with both power and speed.
Plus the fact I don't have to mix gas and oil together.
It weighs about 97lbs and the boat handles it well.

Anthony

[Newell]

It's a displacement hull right? It's only going to go 6 knots under motor power. A 6hp will do this and also charge your battery. A 10hp is heavier, slows the sailing. It might drive it .5 knt faster and be better around the docks but considering the cost and weight concerns I would choose the smaller motor.

Newell
Fast Sunday 96X Windancer 89D

[johnnyonspot]

I had a Mac 25 and it was powered by a 15 horse Mariner and I got some pretty good speed out of it. I would go with nothing less than a 9.9. The additional weight's effect on sailing speed is de minimus imho.

[ChockFullOnuts22]

Yeah, I wouldn't be concerned about weight, either. The way I look at it, the difference in weight between a 6hp outboard and a 9.9hp outboard is still less than the weight of a crew member. And if you're not concerned about racing in clubs or anything, the slight extra weight of the 9.9 won't be a disadvantage to your boat. 22's do just fine with those motors, and the 25's obviously displace more weight.

I think there's a reason you're seeing more 6's and 8's on Craigslist than 9.5's-10's. Start saving your pocket change. The used Evinrude 4-stroke 9.9's I've seen have never been lower than $900-$1200. They become much more affordable if you go a little older and settle for a 2-stroke.

You do get to a point with these hulls where more horsepower no longer equals increased speed, but you're not going to hit that point with a 9.9---especially with your keel in the raised position.

[CheapChris]

Thanks, everybody! I appreciate all the different viewpoints.

I'm pretty cash-strapped right now, will have to look for a decent 8-10 HP 2-stroke to get me on the water. But my final destination is a 9.9 4-stroke, sure would like a new one. We'll have to see how my personal economic recovery progresses...

[johnnyonspot]

You do get to a point with these hulls where more horsepower no longer equals increased speed, but you're not going to hit that point with a 9.9---especially with your keel in the raised position.

This is generally true, but you have to remember there will be times when you may need that extra horsepower simply to get up to hull speed, e.g., when wind, waves and/or tide are against you. If doing coastal cruising I'd have a 15 hp. As far as wanting a 4-stroke, I guess I really don't get that. They are quieter, yes, but how often do you even run the motor? They also do not require 2 cycle mix, but again, how much fuel do you really plan to burn through in a season? Besides, they are significantly heavier and more expensive. As far as getting one with an alternator goes, the alternators on OB motors have pretty low outputs such that charging a battery from 50% depletion takes a fairly long time. IMHO your best bet is a 1980s or later 9.9hp or above 2 stroke OB. You could probably pick one up for $500 if you look long and hard enough. Maybe even less.

[MD Dunaway]

I always use a Honda 5HP. It's clean, relatively quiet and doesn't have the 2 cycle oil burning smell. Most of all it is just 62 pounds. I can lift it out of the truck and put it on the boat by myself without bustin a gut. The Admiral is not too much into lifting on boat motors. (my two 2 cycle Mercs are over 80lb and they are just 6 and 7.5HP) An obvious counter argument is that other than the weight there is no reason not to have the bigger motor. I've seen some calculations (I tried to find the reference unsuccessfully) suggesting that to maintain close to hull speed into a strong wind (seems like they were calculating about 15 knots and with a pocket cruiser type boat) it takes around 15HP. So maybe bigger is better; though the 9.9 probably won't maintain hull speed into that wind either (it will do better). Yet another reason not to take that boat out of protected waters. Current is entirely different. Because this is a movement of water it adds or subtracts from absolute velocity. i.e if you are going into a 1 knot current and your hull speed is 6 knots your actual velocity will max out at around 5 knots and unless you have enough power to plane nothing will change that. Bringing the keel up will speed you up a little maybe but also make the boat unstable.

[johnnyonspot]

Current is entirely different. Because this is a movement of water it adds or subtracts from absolute velocity. i.e if you are going into a 1 knot current and your hull speed is 6 knots your actual velocity will max out at around 5 knots and unless you have enough power to plane nothing will change that.

You are absolutely correct about this, as I realized after my my last post. It is speed through the water, including the current or tide vector.

[CheapChris]

Johnny, in my case I'll be running it a lot. I do like the low noise, less smell, straight gas. But they don't seem to pop up used very much so far, and not real cheap when they do. So, yes, for now I'll be looking a 2-stroke in exactly that price range, 7.5 to 10 HP. I don't think my bracket will take any more weight than that, and I'm not going to modify that yet.

Another factor on noise- at hull speed, a 5 HP may be running near wide open, while a 10 may be less than half throttle. Gotta be quieter.

As far as alternators, seems like it would have to help, but I have no experience cruising like this, so I'll have to live and learn. I do plan a second battery, and my first cruises will just be a weekend, so we'll see- I don't have much so far on the boat that uses power, but that will change over time too.

In looking at new motors (a man can dream...) I did see some variation in alternators. Most makes seem to have a 6-amp unit on a 9.9, but I saw Tohatsu has a 12-amp on theirs.

[Scott]

I have a 4 horse on my Cat 22 and we can get 8 knots, Thats not quite WOT.