Testing the Honwave T38ie 2

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 10:34

Well it is a lovely day here in Suffolk so I thought I would test my new Honwave T38ie Sib.

I am taking 2 outboards to see how they perform on it.

First I have my Tohatsu 9.8 hp Two stroke and also my newly acquired Mercury 15 hp 2 stroke

I am also taking the sack barrow I made that will transport both the sib and motors.

I am trying to emulate what I would do if I had this outfit in Scotland or the Lake District with no trailer as we would have towed the caravan from Suffolk

Normally of course I would not have 2 engines and 2 fuel tanks (not good that merc and tohatsu have different connectors and one engine is 100:1 and the other 50:1)

A couple of pics of it all loaded up

Fenlander · 29 September 2018, 10:49

Look forward to the outing report.

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 18:03

Well the first outing test was a great success. I should have some decent drone footage to post in a day or so.

The new Honwave T38ie 2 went very well and I was more impressed than I thought I would be.

1) So with 2 up and a bag of stuff for the day the Tohatsu 9.8 2 stroke had no issues at all popping onto the plane. We managed to hit a max of 14.7 Knots going with the tide at wide open throttle. If I throttled back to what seemed like a nice speed for the engine we could cruise nicely at 13.2 knots. attached is a pic from Navionics on my phone showing 14.4 knots which was easily attained.

2) With 3 adults and 2 bags of stuff I could only manage 10 knots and that was a struggle and you felt that the engine was working very hard. You will see from the pic attached that I am a fat git but her indoors not so heavy.

3) I then tried the 15 hp Mercury 2 stroke 2 up etc and it would attain 16.7 knots with the tide which is only another 2 knots for the extra 5 hp. It did however pop onto the plane effortlessly and you felt it just had more staying power. It also sounded quieter.

Although I have the 15 hp I would say that my 9.8 Tohatsu is perfectly adequate for what we intend to use this sib for. and it actually gets onto the plane 2 up quicker than my 3.2 m ali floor sib

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 18:10

Here is a little video. This was with the 9.8 hp Tohatsu at 14.7 knots which was the best I could get which is fine for us

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ojI18a0vPS4

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 18:17

Here are a few pics from the day. The itiwit electric pump is amazing. At £39 I am buying a second one.

Also we had no issues with the floor and planning at all although it did sometimes feel odd when we hit a wave. If you are thinking of buying the Honwave T38IE Don't hesitate for the money you will not be disappointed

Here are a couple of pics from the day

jeffstevens763@g · 29 September 2018, 18:17

In my expeariance with Sib'S 5 hp seems to only give around 2 knots mare at WOT but that 5 horses comes in to its own when sea conditions require more throttle work to maintain the plane more beneficial if your going on long trips granted.good results though on both engines at least usable in the right conditions.

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 18:24

I would also say that a sack barrow, Electric Pump and a good sized car are essential for this sized SIB and you both have to get stuck in with the lifting and humping.

Our total travel distance there and back was about 8 Nautical miles and I used about 6 ltrs of petrol.

At 13 - 14 Knots you can certainly cover some ground in what seems like a short period of time

Also at that sort of speed in a SIB no one seems to mind and your wash is minimal

Chase drone footage coming soon

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 18:27

I also think I will move forward and build the demountable trailer for the caravan so that we can get to our destination in the Caravan for the week and put the trailer together and pump up the Sib once and tow it to the lakes or Lochs

If you are wondering who's fault this is Blame the Gurnard

Gazzago · 29 September 2018, 18:32

Successful day I'd say.

Looks like it'll fit in your Disco easily with one engine. Which one are you going to keep?....

Got yourself a nice setup there. See you in Scotland next year maybe?

Bigplumbs · 29 September 2018, 18:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gazzago

Successful day I'd say.

Looks like it'll fit in your Disco easily with one engine. Which one are you going to keep?....

Got yourself a nice setup there. See you in Scotland next year maybe?

I actually got both engines in the Disco. I will keep both of them as I hardly ever sell anything and they each have their own merits. There is a certain knack to rolling the T38IE back up but once you sus it it works well.

Yes I am certainly keen to do the Scotland thing. I might bring a larger rib however if that is allowed. If not the Sib

Bigplumbs · 30 September 2018, 08:20

Another Pic from a Mavic Pro

Fenlander · 30 September 2018, 10:06

BP great report and pleased to hear the Honwave suits you.

Re the Tohatsu 9.8 performance it almost exactly mirrors the results with our Mariner 9.9 on the Aerotec. With our Mercury 15 2-stroke on the Aerotec we did a little better with 18kts a reliable top speed and 19kts in favourable conditions. But I think with the same Aerotec/Mercury 15 2-stroke Max was nearer your figures.

Was that launching on the Orwell?

Bigplumbs · 30 September 2018, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

BP great report and pleased to hear the Honwave suits you.

Re the Tohatsu 9.8 performance it almost exactly mirrors the results with our Mariner 9.9 on the Aerotec. With our Mercury 15 2-stroke on the Aerotec we did a little better with 18kts a reliable top speed and 19kts in favourable conditions. But I think with the same Aerotec/Mercury 15 2-stroke Max was nearer your figures.

Was that launching on the Orwell?

Thanks Fenlander. That was launching on the River Deben which is a little nicer than the Orwell in my opinion

I am glad that you put me right in respect of Air Floors. I think I had the blinkers on prior to your intervention

Dennis

Bigplumbs · 30 September 2018, 14:01

Here is a Video of Yesterday skilfully filmed by a friend of mine flying his Mavic Pro. Getting this sort of video is not easy so many thanks John

As you will see I am no light weight and all this video is with the Tohatsu 9.8 2 stroke. Obviously you can see that we are 2 up and had an average bag of equipment and stuff for a day out. I only had 12 ltrs of fuel on board so no extra weight in this regard.

If you look at about 1min 30 seconds in you will see the transition from Displacement to on the plane

So my conclusion is a 10 hp motor is fine on this sib if you are only 2 up

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBV0IdZvG6I

Bigplumbs · 30 September 2018, 21:08

Problem with the video try this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdqC...are_video_user

Max... · 01 October 2018, 07:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

BP great report and pleased to hear the Honwave suits you.

Re the Tohatsu 9.8 performance it almost exactly mirrors the results with our Mariner 9.9 on the Aerotec. With our Mercury 15 2-stroke on the Aerotec we did a little better with 18kts a reliable top speed and 19kts in favourable conditions. But I think with the same Aerotec/Mercury 15 2-stroke Max was nearer your figures.

Was that launching on the Orwell?

Yes, similar - like others though the 9.8 will 'work' on the Aerotec but a 15 is essential for the real rough stuff to pop it up and get out of trouble. Remember though the BAT is a lot more draggy (than HW etc) and I think we have a lighter weight so I would expect our load on a HW with the 15 to fair a bit better than the same on the BAT, maybe not that much but 1-2 kts more at WOT?.

As I've said before when we had (David's old boat) our Zodiac 3.2 Fastroller with the 9.8 Twat WOT was around 17.5 kts - similar to the BAT with the Merc 15 where 17 is actually tops most of the time.

David goes faster (despite having the slow grey version) and has more weight maybe so I reckon his engine is better than ours!

Weight and distribution is everything in these outfits - on my own with just a tank up rear (rather than my son, fuel bladder, anchor/dry bag in bow, Pelicase midships = our normal load) then WOT hits maybe 19 kts.

Fenlander · 01 October 2018, 08:11

>>>Thanks Fenlander…. I am glad that you put me right in respect of Air Floors.

I think that Honwave 3.8ie is the "go to" SIB choice for so many folks and a total bargain at around £1000.

Bigplumbs · 01 October 2018, 18:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fenlander

>>>Thanks Fenlander…. I am glad that you put me right in respect of Air Floors.

I think that Honwave 3.8ie is the "go to" SIB choice for so many folks and a total bargain at around £1000.

The quality of it against several others I have looked at is excellent as well and with the Itiwit electric pump at £39.99 which comes with the correct adapter (unlike the double the price other one I also have) it is a breeze to pump up. I have ordered a second Itiwit so will run both at once

Dennis

Combat · 03 October 2018, 18:05

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigplumbs

The quality of it against several others I have looked at is excellent as well and with the Itiwit electric pump at £39.99 which comes with the correct adapter (unlike the double the price other one I also have) it is a breeze to pump up. I have ordered a second Itiwit so will run both at once

Dennis

Glad you like it, I was looking at Honwave before I chose excel 330, only reason I went for the excel was, if you get puncture on the floor, it has a removable floor and you can replace if needed, has a five year warranty, very well made, has two seats