Min hp for 11' Whaler

[Clipper4730]

Needing to replace our dingy and am considering an 11' Boston Whaler. About the same price as a new inflatable and thought it might be a bit more comfy for long rides and increase our range, also it has some lockable storage as well as not needing to be inflated and should last a good long time. We have a 15hp Yamaha and was curious from anyone in the know if that is enough to get it going with two adults and a dog. There are two I'm interested in one with a 25hp Yamaha the other with nothing.
Discuss? Thanks!

Will

[fishsail18]

We just bought a 13 Whaler we will tow behind. We just got her so I don’t have any real info other than we cruised her around when we bought her and it is awesome. Zoomed all over the place so much fun we pull right up on the beach and never worry about popping the thing. I’m not a fan of inflatables, I do understand the rational of those I’m just not a fan, just MO

[a64pilot]

Usually a hard boat will go faster on less HP than a RIB will, less drag.

I’d guess a 15 will make it fly, and maybe you will need to use a little judgement with it, as well it ought to fly.

I had a little 14’ fishing boat with a 25 HP old Mariner, it would run almost as fast as our Center Console, about 35 kts.

[David M]

The maximum allowable horsepower for an 11 foot Whaler is 10 Hp with a tiller and 20 Hp with remote steering.

[Group9]

We originally had a tiller steered 2 stroke 25 hp Mercury on our 11 whaler. It had power to burn and would plane it with four adults aboard. With one person, it would go around 30 knots the two times I had the guts to open it up.

But, it was heavy, and I like not having a bad back, so we replaced it with a 2stroke Nissan 9.8. It would only plane with one person aboard but would move it smartly with two or three. But, I think now, that we had it overpropped.

A 15 hp would probably be just about right.

We loved our Whaler. We could run it places inflatables feared to go with only the risk of cosmetic scratches. Ours was a 1989 model (how many 1989 inflatables do you see in use). And, we sold her for more than we paid for her, eight years later. They are heavy, but indestructability has a price.

[Group9]

And, as for towing, we brought it back from one trip to the Bahamas and towed it continuously from Georgetown to Pensacola, sailing through a February cold front on a straight run from Clearwater to Pensacola. I was at a funeral a week ago and ran into one of the guys who sailed back with me and he said he would have bet money that the Whaler wasn't going to make it. We usually stored it on the fore deck, upside down , for offshore passages, but I just didn't feel like doing it that trip.

I regret selling it every other day.

[pelicanme]

I have an 11' whaler with tiller steering. I installed a 20 HP Suzuki 4 stroke with fuel injection. i think it is the perfect boat. If your Yamaha is a 2 stroke, it will be fine - the 4 stroke is a bit heavy.

[Mikado]

Originally Posted by Clipper4730

Needing to replace our dingy and am considering an 11' Boston Whaler. About the same price as a new inflatable and thought it might be a bit more comfy for long rides and increase our range, also it has some lockable storage as well as not needing to be inflated and should last a good long time. We have a 15hp Yamaha and was curious from anyone in the know if that is enough to get it going with two adults and a dog. There are two I'm interested in one with a 25hp Yamaha the other with nothing.
Discuss? Thanks!

Will

I have a 9' Whaler with console steering and a Mercury 18hp 2 stroke. Rarely run it at over 1/2 throttle, so 9hp would probably be enough for me. I'd love to have a newer 4 stroke but the weight difference is a huge negative since I hang the dinghy on davits while sailing.

[Cadence]

I believe 15 would suit you just fine.

Keep in mind you will want to remove the engine at times. I that's a two stroke 15 hang onto it.

[jtsailjt]

I'd want a 15 or 20hp engine but since their weights are the same, you might as well get the 20.

Someone already correctly pointed out that the Whaler will hold its value much better than a RIB, but hopefully that's a secondary consideration and more practical considerations will come first.

The Whaler will be heavier, 250-300 lbs vs about 200 lbs for a RIB before you add an engine and fuel, etc. to either, and that's important whether you are trying to pull it up on a beach or on your davits or on your foredeck.

Whalers have lots of surface area for carrying stuff but the small ones (11'-12') have very little freeboard so their capacity is about 4 adults and after that you are at serious risk of being swamped be even a very small wave. No, you won't sink but you'll be very wet and it won't do your outboard any good either. I have an 11' RIB with a heavy 20hp 4 stroke on it and recently had 7 adults with a cooler and a few duffel bags aboard and still had freeboard to spare. So a similar sized RIB, even though it has less floor area, effectively has a greater capacity to carry heavy people and things back and forth to your boat.

No doubt the Whaler will outlast a RIB because eventually the sun will take its toll on the Hypalon fabric, but as far as pulling them up on beaches, the part of the RIB that bears the weight is made of the same material as the Whaler, fiberglass, or you could get an aluminum hulled RIB and have even more resistance to chafe. The additional hundred pounds or so that the Whaler weighs will mean deeper gouges in the fiberglass hull from sharp objects like barnacles. Of course if you manage to drag the fabric part of a RIB over a sharp object you can hole it, but since the fiberglass (or aluminum) part of a V hull RIB sticks down several inches beneath where the fabric starts, that's not difficult to avoid with a little care.

While on plane, the Whaler hulls give an awful ride compared with an hull that has any sort of deep V, and RIBs are now available that have enough V to yield a decent ride in pretty good size waves. Lest you think I don't appreciate Boston Whalers, I have a 17 Montauk that I keep in excellent condition and I love that boat and will never sell it. I think it's the perfect all around boat for water skiing, fishing, and sunset cruises on the lake. But even at 17', in any more than a slight chop it's painful to ride into the waves even at it's lowest planning speed so I only take it out when there's almost no wind or chop, unless I'm going fishing so don't need to be up on plane. I think Whalers are great boats, but not very good dinghy's compared with a good RIB. If I needed to get somewhere up on plane in waves more than about one foot, I'd rather be in my 11' RIB than my 17' Whaler.

Before you buy, try to get a ride in both a 11'-12' Whaler and a similar sized deep V RIB and see what you think.

[Cheechako]

No Way... Whalers are very heavy. You probably need 25 HP if not more. Also, not sure how you will store that boat too much for davits and hard to manhandle. Maybe look them up, I'm guessing 250# boat.?
Later:

L.O.A.:
11’ 4” (3.4 M)
BEAM:
5’ 6” (1.7 M)
DRAFT:
7” (0.18 M)
WEIGHT (DRY, NO ENGINE):
460 LBS (208 KG)

[SteveSadler]

We had a 13' whaler with 25hp as a tender for a 82' yacht. It was very nice, it would plane7 people. In rough water, it was quite wet, and very hard riding compared to a rib. It was also very heavy, getting it up a beach took 6 guys and fenders to
roll it, (or just drive it up at 20 mph) One problem was keeping it off the topsides. Its square bow was brutal to all but the very skilled, fenders would get out of place, and it would get under the transom if kept astern. Getting it on deck required the windlass, turning it upside down very difficult.
In summary, RIBs are MUCH more user friendly, and with a cover, very durable.

[Madehn]

i had an 11 foot whaler and it would get up on a plane with a 15 hp 2 stroke with myself wife and an 122 lbs of dog-- i weigh about 250- wife 1/2 that. had power to spare. it was not particularly dry in any kind of waves but would fly-- downside was the weight to hoist in and out-- i think boat and motor was close to 450 lbs without gas and nothing else in the boat.

[Eleuthera 2014]

Originally Posted by Madehn

i had an 11 foot whaler and it would get up on a plane with a 15 hp 2 stroke with myself wife and an 122 lbs of dog-- i weigh about 250- wife 1/2 that. had power to spare. it was not particularly dry in any kind of waves but would fly-- downside was the weight to hoist in and out-- i think boat and motor was close to 450 lbs without gas and nothing else in the boat.

You will get tired of the weight... I have an AB 9.5 Alu RIB with 15 HP Yamaha 2 ST. For certain dryer than a Whaler and certainly much faster... deft hand on the tiller... killer line always in place too. :-)

[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).