Cruising World - May 2016

HANDS-ON SAILOR

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much heavier. Depending
on the specifi c tender you’re
powering, as well as how
you intend to store it on
the mothership, weight can
make a big dif erence in
your choice. The dif erence
between the 8-horsepower
four-stroke engine I had on
my 8-foot hard-bottomed
infl atable and my three-year-
old 3-horsepower four-stroke
is quite noticeable; I can easily
pull my dinghy up onto the
dock at my yacht club now.
Though now the dinghy won’t
get up on a plane, I really don’t
care, because I use it only in
harbors, where the universal
speed limit is 5 mph, to access
my larger, moored boat.
The exceptions to the
general rule of two-stroke
engines being lighter than
four-strokes in the same
horsepower range are the
new Evinrude E-TEC small
engines. These motors are
actually much heavier than
their four-stroke counterparts,
though still rated as

appropriate for boats in the

100- to 300-pound weight

range. Apparently, the fuel-

injection system and all its

trappings make a signifi cant

dif erence in weight, which is

a dii cult trade-of. I would

prefer the fuel injection,

but the weight dif erence is

important, and for me creates

somewhat of a dilemma.

WHAT ABOUT PRICE?

Price may well be a deciding

factor in your choice of a small

outboard engine; I know it

was for me. I really wanted to

go electric on my dinghy, but

the price of the Torqeedo was

just a bit more than I wanted

to spend. The Travel 1003,

which would have worked fi ne

on my tender, sells for just

under $2,000. The closest

thing I could fi nd in a Lehr

unit was the 2.5-horsepower

model, which sells for $1,260,

still a little rich for my taste.

The Mercury 3-horsepower I

purchased cost approximately

$900. Of course, I ended

up with several carburetor

rebuilds and fi nally replaced

it for about $300. That got me

pretty close to the Lehr, but

still out of reach of my electric-

motor dream machine.

In the slightly larger motors,

we see an almost $1,000 spread

in price when we compare 20-

to 25-horsepower motors.

The Torqeedo product line

is out of the mix here, as

nothing it of ers fi ts into

this category. Lehr does

of er the alternative to

gasoline for fuel, but ranges

in price from about $4,800

to $5,700, depending on

specifi c equipment. The

25-horsepower Evinrude

To give you some numbers

to work with, let’s compare

the weights of a few of the

choices available.

5-Horsepower or

Equivalent:

• Lehr: 52 lb.


• Tohatsu Four-Stroke:
  55 lb.


• Torqeedo Cruise 2.0
  (with tiller and self-
  contained battery): 40 lb.

15-Horsepower:

• Evinrude Four-Stroke:
  114 lb.


• Evinrude Two-Stroke
  Fuel-Injected: About 184
  lb., depending on model


• Honda: 104 lb.


• Lehr: 110 lb.


• Mercury Four-Stroke:
  115-135 lb., depending on
  model


• Suzuki Four-Stroke
  Fuel-Injected: 108 lb.


• Yamaha: 111 lb.

WEIGHT

COMPARISONS

ED’S TIP

No matter which engine you

decide is best for your dinghy,

purchasing it at a full-service

dealer for the brand you

select ensures that there will

be factory-trained personnel

on sta to o er qualifi ed help

when you need it.