Inboard or outboard

[Miles]

Hi All,
I'm new to this site but have been a Top Hat admirer for years. I'm now in a position to buy my very own! Question - what are the advantages and disadvantages of an inboard vs outboard motor on a Top Hat? Would any of you have a view on this?
Thanks heaps
Miles

[rob.lovelace]

I have a outboard in a well,

I can replace it for $3500
It gives me more room inside
I can use it on a dinghy
It weighs a lot less

Its makes a horrid sound
It is highly inflammable
It makes a horrid sound
It costs more to run
It makes a horrid sound
Water enters cockpit
Oh did I mention, it makes a horrid sound.

but in the end its a sailboat and sail it does..... well.

[Shaun]

Welcome miles,

Its the age old question, & plenty of discussion on this site about it


I reckon it depends about the condition of the inboard that is in any TH you are considering, if your not a mechanic it will be a time consuming exercise to maintain & fix any problems with a problematic inboard.
If its a relatively new &/or a very well maintained inboard, I think its by far better to have an inboard.

But you cant beat the O/board for value & convenience(much less maintenance), the main problem with an outboard is....how you get it out of the well, when you are sailing & when you put the yacht to bed.

cheers

[bearmcnally]

Miles



See page 6 , Topic , Bear's pictorial inboard Vs outboard and all your questions solved ?

Arr then what Mark do you want ??

Cheers Bear

[storm petrel]

I agree with Shaun and Bear. Bottom line is that if you can get a boat with a good inboard it is probably preferable to an outboard. My 2QM15 Yanmar is 32 years old and still starts first time. I do the minor services myself for about $100 a year. I have a SS tank that holds 50 litres of diesel so I know that I can use the iron genoa to run for about 40 hours at cruising speed (5 knots) if I need to. That gives you quite a bit of 'peace of mind', while coastal cruising. Yes, the cost of replacing a diesel is expensive (about $10K)but averaged over 30 years that is still pretty cheap motoring.

[Miker]

I think I've chimed in on this before on other posts, but the others are right, but for one thing.

IF you find the perfect boat for you in all other respects, apart from having an inboard, then that alone shouldn't preclude you from purchasing the boat.

I looked at a few, and for what I wanted to spend, could only find reasonable condition boats with outboards. Our outboard, whilst a little noisy and ugly over the transom, is still very new and cheap to run and maintain, so made it more sense to take more notice of the overall picture of the condition of the boat. After all, it's not hard (although it is expensive) to retro-fit an inboard in any Top Hat, and this was something I considered until I experienced how little trouble a transom mounted outboard is.... and that includes motoring for 7 hours in a 2 - 3 meter swell on my Lake Macquarie return trip. Even the Swansea Bar only saw a couple of cavitations and it never felt dangerous at all.

Given the choice and the budget and all other things being equal however, I would go for inboard every time, but don't be dissuaded if the outboard is the ONLY thing you don't like.

[rob.lovelace]

sorry fella's couldn't help this, what was it 10 year cruise and all southern capes rounded? Oh and what's that hangin' off the stern?

[Miker]

sorry fella's couldn't help this, what was it 10 year cruise and all southern capes rounded? Oh and what's that hangin' off the stern?

Yes indeed Rob, another case where funds dictate the choice.....

There is footage around of some of Jamie's journey http://www.mysailing.com.au/archive/rem ... is-weekend

www.youtube.com/watch?v=FI-zwvO-NmA

Now, back to your usual programing!

[storm petrel]

Jamie Mitchell is not your average coastal cruising Tophat sailor and he had the patience(and good sense) to wait for good weather and seasons to make his passages. Have you ever seen the Horn calmer than the footage Jamie posted of his rounding on youtube? When his parents circumnavigated, did their Tophat have an inboard?

[Troppo]

Hi Miles, I just bought a Top Hat on the weekend and have thought a lot about the inboard vs outboard issue. Here's my limited experience: My previous boat, 27 footer, had a 10 hp diesel inboard. The motor looked good but, so I found after buying, had seriously been neglected and abused. Stupid abuse such as the bleed screw on the fuel filter being stripped then held in with loctite. With hidden problems like that emerging, costs escalated to the point where I sold the boat. If the motor had been good, the benefits to me would have been the easy start, a fuel I prefer instead of petrol[bit of farming background where everything had diesel motors except the chainsaw : )], works in any weather, and cockpit had plenty of space.

On the negative side, it was noisy in the cabin since it had no insulation and I could not hear the two-way radio, diesel fumes in cabin as little leaks in fuel system, space taken up inside by motor. Another disadvantage was that I found even a few barnacles on the propeller dropped the speed by at least half and I had to jump into croc-infested water to try and scrap them off. Speed went from 2.5 knts to 5.5 knts.

The negatives could have been overcome by more money but I was bleeding dry with the away-from home mooring fees and the repetitive costs of travel up to the boat only to have to do more repairs and come back later when ordered parts arrived.

The Top Hat I just bought has a almost new outboard. The benefit is that even if I wanted to replace it, it is so much cheaper than a diesel it is not funny. One of the costs of a new diesel motor is getting it fitted and having the shaft aligned properly. None of that with an outboard. For repairs, I can take the outboard to a mechanic which is more cost efficient than taking the mechanic to the boat.

My new Top Hat has the outboard motor in the cockpit. The benefit is that it is easy to reach and in rough weather there is less chance of the propeller coming out of the water. There is also a heap of useful space in the cabin behind the companionway ladder which I am glad to have. The disadvantage is that half the cockpit has gone and the motor is close to my ears. Another disadvantage is that petrol is more flammable and so I will need to be extra careful with it. Lifting the motor up when moored is a nuisance and despite chaining it, someone could steal it.

In short, from my experience, as far as motors go, I would prefer a well-looked after diesel to a petrol outboard but the choice is not just about a motor. I value the extra space in the cabin as I like cruising where I pack in drums of fresh rainwater etc. And outboards are pretty robust and may be a sound economical choice [I could have bought 2 new outboards for the cost of repairing the diesel in my previous boat.] I am happy my new boat has an outboard and I am keen to just sail the boat and use the motor as least as possible, after all, it is not a motor boat.