Mac25 - Best Engine ??

[livingstone]

I want to take my 85 Mac25 to the Bahamas, and want to make sure I have enough HP to handle big waves, even if I am already to get to hullspeed with 8hp.

What do you all use?
How much engine can this boat handle?

Let me know! Thanks!

[James V]

I suggest that you get at least a 15 hp bigfoot. In cruising in 20 mph winds you may need the extra thrust to move around also the extra charging will help.

[Moe]

The Mac 25 is rated for 10HP max. It doesn't matter how much horsepower you have if big/steep waves have the prop out of the water much of the time. If you don't have one, a 25" extra-long shaft helps with that some. Just make sure you can tilt it up far enough to get it out of the water when it's on the leeward side when sailing.

[AWKIII]

A long shaft 9.9 will do the trick. Plenty of power to push the 25 along at a decent clip. I have had the opprtunity to test the Yamaha and Mercury 4-stroke models. The Merc really requires some pulling when cold but was fine after. The Yamaha started on the second pull and had an incredibly low idle speed. Almost thought she stopped a couple of times. Of course, the Merc dealer could have done a poor job of setting up the engine but given my experiences, the Yamaha won hands down.

[livingstone]

Cool I appreciate it. Do you think the 9.9 is much stronger than the 8? I apologize for this being a duplicate of my other post too... Operator error.

[beene]

I have a 7.5 Honda 4 stroke 2cyl on my other sailboat. It is the long shaft model that I can use with the kicker mount in the up or down position. When in the marina, I always use the full down position, but for open water it's always in the higher one.

I find the Honda to be an excellent motor. Starts first pull every year, she's and '86 I think, lots of power for a true sailboat. I have seen them on many sailboats up to 28' or so, before they seem to get into inboard engines.

I used to love how I could go all season on $20

G

[AWKIII]

There is a difference between 8 and 10 (9.9). Both will be fine on the 25. The deciding factor for me would probably be the price. If the 9.9 is pretty close in price, I would go for it. A new Merc or Yamaha 9.9 should run around $2500 to $2700. I also like the Honda. Would probably buy one but the dealers around here have disappeared.

[Robert]

I like the idea of a four blade prop and lots of torque and a long shaft, those are all things that Honda says it's BF20 delivers.
..
http://www.honda-marine.com/modelDetail ... Group=BF20
..
Maybe 20Hp won't make you go faster, but what if you want to go very quietly. I think a four bladed 20hp at half throttle would be very quiet and move the boat at a decent speed.
..
101 lb. dry though, more weight if you want electric start and power tilt.