Min hp for 11' Whaler

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Group9

As noted before, indestructability doesn't come without a price. But, you won't live in fear of a raised outboard motor at the dinghy dock, either. We started with a deflatable, and then moved to the whaler. The Whaler is a forever boat if you want it to be. Watching people trying to patch damaged deflatables (often unsuccessfully) on our last two cruises made us Whaler addicts.

For while you can put a deflatable out of business with a sharp rock, you can machine gun a Whaler and still use it.

Basically, the only thing deflatables have going for them is the weight factor. They are lighter, without a doubt. I won't argue against that point. If weight is a factor, go with the inflatable (when I get older, I admit, I might have to do the same thing).

I've had 3 inflatables over a 25 year period and sold the previous two with no holes or patches on them. My current RIB is doing just fine and we have an 80 lb dog frequently clambering over its side. I glued a big sheet of Treadmaster on the bow of our RIB because I worried about what the dog's toenails might do to it but the dog doesn't seem to understand that's where she's supposed to step and frequently steps on the unprotected sides rather than over the bow but in 3 years we've had no damage at all. During my 25 years of using inflatable dinghy's the only patches I've applied were where they contacted my davits to avoid chafe but this was a preventative measure rather than a repair. I've used all kinds of dinghy docks and have never spent a moment "living in fear" of raised outboards and my dinghy's have never suffered any damage, though I think most of us, whether we have a hard or inflatable dinghy, would prefer to avoid the topsides from being marred by raised outboards.
I agree that Whalers are great boats and are just about indestructible but you seem to have a misconception about how fragile Hypalon dinghy's are. My experience is that they (2 Avons and an Achilles) are very resilient. Also, as has been discussed in this thread (that I won't rehash), there are many other advantages to using one as a dinghy besides their lighter weight.

[Cheechako]

Yeah, I sold an Achilles Hypalon old inflatable a few years ago, No leaks, actually held air all winter, it was from the mid 90's! One of those blue hypalon ones.
My AB RIB used in Florida and the Caribe was about 10 years old when I sold it with the Catamaran.
Yes you do have to pay attention when dragging them ashore etc. But generally, they can be very reliable, comfortable and dry compared with hard dinks I've had.

[Group9]

I think at this point, the next question to ask, is what kind of anchor you need.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by Group9

Basically, the only thing deflatables have going for them is the weight factor. They are lighter, without a doubt. I won't argue against that point. If weight is a factor, go with the inflatable (when I get older, I admit, I might have to do the same thing).

I disagree, besides storing it, the real advantage to a RIB is stability in my opinion. I’m 250 lbs and can stand on the tube of my RIB and it not tip.
A drunk isn’t going to tip over a RIB getting in or out of it.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by a64pilot

I disagree, besides storing it, the real advantage to a RIB is stability in my opinion. I’m 250 lbs and can stand on the tube of my RIB and it not tip.
A drunk isn’t going to tip over a RIB getting in or out of it.

I'm 250 and I can stand on the gunnel of an 11 foot Whaler without even coming close to flipping it or tipping it (I think I only had to demonstrate that about 50 times to deflatable owners on our last two cruises). I think you are getting a Whaler mixed up with a Walker Bay.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Group9

I'm 250 and I can stand on the gunnel of an 11 foot Whaler without even coming close to flipping it or tipping it (I think I only had to demonstrate that about 50 times to deflatable owners on our last two cruises). I think you are getting a Whaler mixed up with a Walker Bay.

Yes, both Whalers and RIBs are very stable but if you had a RIB you could invite a couple buddies to join you without getting your feet wet because it has greater buoyancy directly beneath you and more freeboard.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

Yes, both Whalers and RIBs are very stable but if you had a RIB you could invite a couple buddies to join you without getting your feet wet because it has greater buoyancy directly beneath you and more freeboard.

Okay, I give. Why would your feet get wet in a Whaler?

[bdbcat]

Folks...

I have a Whaler 11' classic, wheel steered, as a tender for 50' motor cat. 15 HP 4-stroke planes 2+dog, no problem. Will not plane with 4 aboard.

Good Luck
Dave

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Group9

Okay, I give. Why would your feet get wet in a Whaler?

Because there is less freeboard and less buoyancy beneath the gunnels than a RIB has. 11’ Whalers are very low and have much less load carrying capacity than a similar length RIB. According to the Whaler website max capacity is only 560 lbs and its swamp capacity is 750 lbs compared with max capacity of a typical 11’ Achilles RIB of 1860 lbs. I’m sure that in actual practice you can fit in more than the advertised capacity if you keep weight well distributed but the same is true in a RIB, only using larger numbers.

Again, I love my 17’ Whaler so can understand your attachment to your 11’ one, but I realize that a 17’ RIB would have MUCH more capability to take on ugly seas and a MUCH greater weight carrying capacity than my Whaler does and that’s OK because I usually only have 3-5 people aboard and I don’t take it out in bad weather. But if I wanted to squeeze as many people and as much weight as possible into it and transport them across some lumpy seas, I know a 17’ RIB would be much more capable.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

Because there is less freeboard and less buoyancy beneath the gunnels than a RIB has. 11’ Whalers are very low and have much less load carrying capacity than a similar length RIB. According to the Whaler website max capacity is only 560 lbs and its swamp capacity is 750 lbs compared with max capacity of a typical 11’ Achilles RIB of 1860 lbs. I’m sure that in actual practice you can fit in more than the advertised capacity if you keep weight well distributed but the same is true in a RIB, only using larger numbers.

Again, I love my 17’ Whaler so can understand your attachment to your 11’ one, but I realize that a 17’ RIB would have MUCH more capability to take on ugly seas and a MUCH greater weight carrying capacity than my Whaler does and that’s OK because I usually only have 3-5 people aboard and I don’t take it out in bad weather. But if I wanted to squeeze as many people and as much weight as possible into it and transport them across some lumpy seas, I know a 17’ RIB would be much more capable.

My feet just neve really got wet in my whaler. (the 11 has a center deck drain you can pull and it drains itself with any forward motion, and resting, too, if there is not to much weight). Did your feet get wet a lot in your 17?

There is a reason you see so many cruisers with Whalers, and it's not because we just never figured out how wonderful inflatables are. The way I use my dinghy, I probably wouldn't get a year out of an inflatable (I didn't get a year out of the last one I had). You probably are different.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Group9

My feet just neve really got wet in my whaler. (the 11 has a center deck drain you can pull and it drains itself with any forward motion, and resting, too, if there is not to much weight). Did your feet get wet a lot in your 17?

There is a reason you see so many cruisers with Whalers, and it's not because we just never figured out how wonderful inflatables are. The way I use my dinghy, I probably wouldn't get a year out of an inflatable (I didn't get a year out of the last one I had). You probably are different.

You said you could stand on the gunnel of your Whaler and I replied that if you had a RIB you could invite a couple buddies to join you on the gunnel without getting your feet wet because there is more buoyancy directly beneath where you’d be standing on a RIB. 3 people of your size would exceed the maximum capacity of an 11’ Whaler even if their weight was evenly distributed according to the Boston Whaler website, but if you had a RIB you’d still have 1,000+ more lbs to go.

There’s also a reason why you see many, many times the number of cruisers using RIBs than you see in Whalers and its not because we haven’t figured out how wonderful Whalers are. I do think Whalers are great boats, but think I and others have pointed out their shortcomings compared with a RIB when used as a dinghy. I can’t imagine what you do with your dinghy that would cause a RIB to not last even a year, but the vast majority of cruisers don’t seem to have that problem or they wouldn’t be so popular. But if whatever you’re doing with your dinghy would really destroy a RIB in less than a year [emoji15], then undoubtedly you’ve made the right choice for you.

[Group9]

Originally Posted by jtsailjt

You said you could stand on the gunnel of your Whaler and I replied that if you had a RIB you could invite a couple buddies to join you on the gunnel without getting your feet wet because there is more buoyancy directly beneath where you’d be standing on a RIB. 3 people of your size would exceed the maximum capacity of an 11’ Whaler even if their weight was evenly distributed according to the Boston Whaler website, but if you had a RIB you’d still have 1,000+ more lbs to go.

There’s also a reason why you see many, many times the number of cruisers using RIBs than you see in Whalers and its not because we haven’t figured out how wonderful Whalers are. I do think Whalers are great boats, but think I and others have pointed out their shortcomings compared with a RIB when used as a dinghy. I can’t imagine what you do with your dinghy that would cause a RIB to not last even a year, but the vast majority of cruisers don’t seem to have that problem or they wouldn’t be so popular. But if whatever you’re doing with your dinghy would really destroy a RIB in less than a year [emoji15], then undoubtedly you’ve made the right choice for you.

But, you also have the A-1 scenario in threads here. The OP ask what the appropriate horsepower is for his 11 foot Boston Whaler. Some posters attempt to assist and answer that question. Others, for reasons known only to them, ignore the OP's question, and immediately start telling him their opinion of why his choice of dinghy is wrong and theirs is right.

If you can help me understand that mentality, that would be the most helpful thing you could do for me right now.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by Group9

But, you also have the A-1 scenario in threads here. The OP ask what the appropriate horsepower is for his 11 foot Boston Whaler. Some posters attempt to assist and answer that question. Others, for reasons known only to them, ignore the OP's question, and immediately start telling him their opinion of why his choice of dinghy is wrong and theirs is right.



If you can help me understand that mentality, that would be the most helpful thing you could do for me right now.

Actually, he didn’t simply ask what hp for “his” Boston Whaler because at this point he doesn’t own one and said he was only considering buying one and listed a few features that Whalers had that he thought would be desirable for him and then asked about what hp and lastly asked for discussion.

So, I (15hp or 20hp but since 20hp isn’t any heavier, why not go for the higher hp) and others DID give him our thoughts on what hp would be most appropriate (did you?) and also “discussed” some additional pros and cons that he hadn’t mentioned of small Whalers vs RIBs for use as a dinghy so that he could make the most informed choice possible. You’ve participated in that discussion by pointing out the extreme ruggedness and longevity of Whalers and I mentioned that they have more interior volume than a similar length RIB. On the other hand, a RIB has much more weight carrying capacity and handles chop better and weighs less and has more freeboard, and also has very good longevity for most owners, etc.

When I’m making a buying decision I attempt to gather ALL the pros and cons of each major option available and based on the OP original post, he seemed to be indicating he had a similar mindset and that’s why he ended his post by saying “discuss.”

[flyingfin]

An older 15hp two stroke would serve you best. More easy to remove the outboard since you should probably remove it before towing long distance.
Bigger motors, or newer four strokes are to heavy for one person.

[jtsailjt]

Originally Posted by flyingfin

An older 15hp two stroke would serve you best. More easy to remove the outboard since you should probably remove it before towing long distance.

Bigger motors, or newer four strokes are to heavy for one person.

You bring up an important step when towing any dinghy and that is to remove the motor. When doing that lighter is better because of the awkward position you tend to find yourself in and the consequences of dropping it. But I once learned the hard way that, at least with a RIB, you should also remove the gas tank and oars or Neptune might remove them for you! I was sailing from Gloucester Mass to Portland, Maine on a nice day when a quick squall kicked up and my RIB looked more like a kite than a boat and eventually landed upside down. [emoji20]