What Dinghy Outboard to Buy

[Ryban]

I think there are good arguments against electric outboards -- I don't know if long-distance travel is one of them though.

There weren't any places in the Caribbean or Pacific coast of Panama where I felt like I needed a dinghy that could plane. I do think though that once you have a dinghy that planes, it's hard to go back.

Probably the one exception would be St Martin, going from the bay on the French side to the Dutch side of the lagoon, which was about 3.5nm. That was a long trip with a 2.5hp outboard in a flat-bottomed dinghy. But even then, I wasn't in a hurry and enjoyed the trips. In San Blas, going to far away sections of outer reefs were a lot easier in someone else's dinghy, but we managed in ours, too. Otherwise, 99% of our dinghy travel was fine without being able to plane.

That all said -- I am also in the process of deciding on the dinghy and outboard to get for our current boat, and I am torn between slow, collapsible, and electric, or rigid, fast, and ICE.

[Mickeyrouse]

One thing constantly overlooked in dinghy kicker discussions is weight. If you’re going to tote the dinghy on davits it’s not a critical matter. But if you plan to carry the dinghy on deck or tow it, you’ll be rigging and un-rigging the motor pretty frequently. We carry the motor when traveling on a rail mounting board. That means lifting the motor off the dinghy transom and raising it to the stern rail (or vice versa), which is about eye level on me. I’m a tad over six feet tall. My 5 HP Merc two-stroke (23 yrs old and running fine) weighs 38 lbs. It’s at the max for something I have to raise that high standing unsupported in a dinghy in a chop, which it always seems to be in an anchorage or mooring field. A filled internal tank, which I don’t use, just adds more weight.
Four stroke engines of comparable power are heavier. A smaller engine won’t get two adults and a dog and groceries on a plane.

[Ryban]

^^ Agreed.

After we upgraded to a 5HP 2-stroke we got from friends, there were some sketchy moments of bringing the engine down off the pushpit and into the dinghy. Definitely couldn't have gone any larger without rigging something to lower it into the dinghy safely.

I think that is one benefit to the electric outboards -- they separate into components (tiller/controller, main shaft unit, battery), so they can be stowed below pretty easily if needed, and definitely brought into a dinghy a lot easier.

[SailFastTri]

There’s no choice without compromise.
You can have it light, portable and slow. Or heavy and fast. And middle choices would be 8hp or 9.8hp 2-stroke engines now unavailable in the US.
I like my Torqeedo, and also like my 2-stroke 9.8 Tohatsu. I hate the lack of field repairability for the Torqeedo. I hate the stink of the Tohatsu, but it can be repaired by any decent outboard repair shop and it can get us on plane.

[SailFastTri]

The things I love most about the electric OB:
- quiet and no fumes
- you can carry on your conversation without raising your voices
- never buy fuel (charges from boat systems)
- portable