As you may recall, before Christmas I was looking for the right motor for
our 10' Sorensen Dinghy. The hull is rated at 15hp and I wasn't sure
whether to get the short or long shaft, due to the unusual shape of the hull
(2 pontoons with another section hanging down in between).
I received 3 responses, and all were unanimous that the short shaft was
appropriate. 15hp was also the preferred choice. Santa brought a brand new
Mercury 15hp. 4-stroke. It has as good a warranty as Honda and Yamaha (3
years), and the general consensus I got was that Mercury has built upon
Honda's experience with 4-strokes and improved upon it.
I'm very happy with the choice. I didn't realize that a hull of this shape
could get up on a plane so well, but with this motor it's instantaneous. My
guess is it tops out at close to 30kts. with just me on board. With 2
adults and 2 children it wasn't much slower.
The one problem we had occurred when we had 3 large adults and 2 children.
I'm not sure what was happening, but the boat could never get up to speed
and the prop seemed to "spin its wheels." Maybe it had something to do with
the prop being too far down in the water/too much weight in the boat? It's
rated at 800 pounds, but the back of the boat at this point was quite low in
the water.
The only other drawback is the weight of the motor: 110 lbs. This is kind
of heavy for one person to mount on the dinghy, and the thought of it
falling overboard and sinking to the bottom makes me cringe (so I tie a
heavy rope to it). Nevertheless, we felt the added weight of the 4-stroke
was worth it for the quieter operation, ability to toodle around at low/idle
speeds for extended periods, greater fuel economy, and of course, the
environment!
Anyway, I thought I'd jot this down for the record in case anyone else finds
themselves in a similar search.
Thanks to BMihailov, Tom Sholseth, and Nick Fabrello your recommendations!
Matt Behrens (whose arms are no longer getting their workout)
M/V Prince of Tides
Napa, CA
As you may recall, before Christmas I was looking for the right motor for
our 10' Sorensen Dinghy. The hull is rated at 15hp and I wasn't sure
whether to get the short or long shaft, due to the unusual shape of the hull
(2 pontoons with another section hanging down in between).
I received 3 responses, and all were unanimous that the short shaft was
appropriate. 15hp was also the preferred choice. Santa brought a brand new
Mercury 15hp. 4-stroke. It has as good a warranty as Honda and Yamaha (3
years), and the general consensus I got was that Mercury has built upon
Honda's experience with 4-strokes and improved upon it.
I'm very happy with the choice. I didn't realize that a hull of this shape
could get up on a plane so well, but with this motor it's instantaneous. My
guess is it tops out at close to 30kts. with just me on board. With 2
adults and 2 children it wasn't much slower.
The one problem we had occurred when we had 3 large adults and 2 children.
I'm not sure what was happening, but the boat could never get up to speed
and the prop seemed to "spin its wheels." Maybe it had something to do with
the prop being too far down in the water/too much weight in the boat? It's
rated at 800 pounds, but the back of the boat at this point was quite low in
the water.
The only other drawback is the weight of the motor: 110 lbs. This is kind
of heavy for one person to mount on the dinghy, and the thought of it
falling overboard and sinking to the bottom makes me cringe (so I tie a
heavy rope to it). Nevertheless, we felt the added weight of the 4-stroke
was worth it for the quieter operation, ability to toodle around at low/idle
speeds for extended periods, greater fuel economy, and of course, the
environment!
Anyway, I thought I'd jot this down for the record in case anyone else finds
themselves in a similar search.
Thanks to BMihailov, Tom Sholseth, and Nick Fabrello your recommendations!
Matt Behrens (whose arms are no longer getting their workout)
M/V Prince of Tides
Napa, CA
