What outboard should I buy?????

[Bulldog]

Hi
I need some help with powering a 5.4m cabin rib I don't know the make of the hull and am trying to get some pic up on Hear for some help with that .

The guy I got it from said he Had a 90 Suzuki and said it was way over powered but I have spoke to a few people some of them say 50hp some say 115hp what do I do the boat has new tubes and quite a shallow v hull so I'm thinking it won't need as much hp as a deep v ??????
I'm new to ribbing and need some help
Thanks

[NWDiver]

I have a 5.4m Avon Searider with a 90hp Yamaha on it. The 90hp works out great for this boat of the same hull size as yours. It'll do 44 mph empty on flat water and about 30-35mph fully loaded with four divers and their cold water gear. 90hp is the highest recommended hp outboard for this boat here in the US. It may be different in the UK.

[Polwart]

Firstly, you need to be aware that rib.net represents a subset of the total population which is biased towards "top performance". On "fibnet" top speed is important so people like max HP for any given hull. Many boats will handle perfectly well with less power, and for "plodding" or cruising might be more than adequate. E.g. many sailing club rescue boats would be considered "underpowered" by rib.net standards but are perfect for the job they do, and even for more adventurous stuff.

There is an ISO standard for max HP on ribs. As I understand it if a manufacturer uses the formula it is assumed it is safe, if he wants to rate the hull for bigger then he has to demonstrate it is safe. See here: Engine size for rib

[chewy]

As Polwart said it all depends what you want to use it for?

[Ruari 29]

I have a 5.4 searider with a 4 stroke 50hp, I get onto plane but thats it, a bit sluggish. Your cabin will add extra weight, I reckon 70hp +.
As everyone else says depends what you want out the boat.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S using Rib.net

[Bulldog]

Thank you for your all the help

I am planing to do a bit of fishing in the Solent and hopefully a bit of ski/wake boarding plus my mum&dad live in the highland and we were hoping to do some island hopping is the inner sound so I want 4 people in the boat with a bit of camping gear we don't want to be breaking any speed records though

But I have a jet ski and that's 750cc 2stroke 90hp and pull ringos and flys with three people on it but won't pull a wakeboard up ( maybe my bad wake boarding tech) I thing that the rib will have more torque being prop powered but 2/3 in the boat and pulling a wakeboard is what I would like ( loads of you saying buy a bigger boat) lol

But the last thing I want to do is buy a big o/b and it not be safe.

[Pikey Dave]

A 115 Etec should sit nicely on the back of that

[Polwart]

Originally Posted by Pikey Dave

A 115 Etec should sit nicely on the back of that

Thank goodness for that. I was starting to think Ribnetters were going soft!

Bulldog, perhaps you can get better pictures of the hull itself and any distinguishing features (if the tubes are original, even the type of valve or the way the seam is built might mean someone can identify it). It may of course be a one off / home built type affair, and certainly the cabin could be an afterthought.

Given its relatively shallow V I wonder if it might be something like a humber assault - which at 5.3 m they currently rate at 75HP and at 5.5m they allow up to 90 HP on.

[Ruari 29]

Come on bulldog, get some pictures on we want to see this beast.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S using Rib.net

[Alzi]

Originally Posted by Ruari 29

Come on bulldog, get some pictures on we want to see this beast.

Sent from my Samsung Galaxy S using Rib.net

Bulldogs Pics are located at the following Link

http://www.rib.net/forum/members/10087-albums.html


Alan.