Quote:
Anyone know if there is a problem with a used boat having an engine over the max rated HP for that boat?
|
JWB...
The Coast Guard & the NMMA are NOT interested in the HP alone, but instead are focussed on the weight that needs to be supported, should a vessel become swamped.
What they are trying to accomplish, is making it possible for survivors to have something to cling to, until help arrives, rather than having a swamped vessel, sink out of sight.
To that end, they set up a "standard weights" table, for the various OB's in use at the time the table was published. They did this by obtaining a range of weights for various size motors, and discovered it was easier to rate them based on HP, because it was something EVERYONE could readily see & relate to, without resorting to having the motors weighed...
With this informaiton in hand, Boat manufacturers knew how to properly rate thier vessel offerings in "HP ratings", to meet the CG's "swamped vessel" floation requirements.
Here's a link to the USCG Boatbuilders handbook "weight table for outboards", for use on craft OVER 20 ft in length... Those 20 ft & under have to play by different rules, (and those rules are... at least in my mind... WAY screwy...)
http://www.uscgboating.org/safety/bo...able4_pg61.htm
Hope this helps... It's a tad confusing at first, but after a while, you get used to "government speak", and then it finaly begins to make sense... (OMG... [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img] Somebody PLEASE tell me I did NOT just admit to understanding "government speak" ... [img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/crazy.gif[/img])
Good Luck, OB1