Outboard Options for Classic 20

[Windrider]

Thank you so much, Frank! Excellent info and just what I need.

A little more info on the boat just came in from a Marine Bio professor who said he logged hundreds of hours on her for research. Yes, they got her new and she came with a 90hp Johnson. I guess someone thought that was too small, because a decade later they got the 130 Yamaha, but the prof admitted he always thought it was too heavy for the boat.

I had already mentioned to the refurb crew that raising the transom would be a good thing, since I can't imagine that the whole transom won't need rebuilding anyway. Hadn't thought about raising the deck, but will talk to the Shipyard about it. She did get hauled out today! Work has started on the bottom, which has a zillion student-applied layers of bottom paint (with something that looks bizarrely like primer in between the layers).

Okay, I have been racking my brain about how to put a samson post on this boat and couldn't figure out how to. Can you give me an idea, Frank? I have only ever seen Samson posts on boats with inboards. If put on a boat with an outboard, how do you keep the towline from rubbing on and interfering with the outboard?

I don't think we need the full 130 HP. I hope we will never again have to tow 8 sailboats at once, more usual is one and rarely two at a time! The boats we tow, while heavy, tend to be easy towers. Once up to speed, they stay there with little help and track very well. I will have to look into which of the two-strokes mentioned are actually available in California (with our strict CARB regs).

McGillicuddy, it isn't just our SeaCraft that is a Classic! Our keelboat fleet is actually quite a bit older. We have five 30' Shields, which are a motor-less inshore racer/knock-about, basically just a scaled down version of the meter class America's Cup boats. They were made by ChrisCraft. We are Fleet #20, Cal. State Long Beach. It has been a long project, but we have been restoring these sailing classics to their former glory as well.

Shields hull #10 (yes, 10!) with the Seacraft in the background:

[BigLew]

McGillicuddy, it isn't just our SeaCraft that is a Classic! Our keelboat fleet is actually quite a bit older. We have five 30' Shields, which are a motor-less inshore racer/knock-about, basically just a scaled down version of the meter class America's Cup boats. They were made by ChrisCraft. We are Fleet #20, Cal. State Long Beach. It has been a long project, but we have been restoring these sailing classics to their former glory as well.

Shields hull #10 (yes, 10!) with the Seacraft in the background:

OK,OK, I'm going back to school to San Diego State and joining the sailing team. Those are beautiful boats and certainly deserve the refurb efforts.

I don't know about your Conference's boats, but I STRONGLY suspect that your fleet is the most classic of the bunch! I crewed for Ann Boyd, past National Jr. Champ in Y-Flyers. We sailed 505's when I was in school with her.

[eggsuckindog]

I think a 90 is too small a 115 might work OK but not sure you save any weight. The Etec is a the cleanest greenest of them all with latest tech out there, no problem in CA unless they ban outboards which is possible. The 130 is really perfect on the boat, all new ones were rigged with 150 Mercs at my shop and we were big, that 130 I'm sure would equal.

[McGillicuddy]

Fantastic picture! Those Shields are beautiful boats. I was guessing you were up at CA Maritime Academy...Sorry...
The Merc and Evinrude - Optimax and the E-tec, respectively, are both CARB 3 compliant direct fuel injection 2-strokes. They are clean, quiet, strong and efficient, often exceeding the 4-strokes rivals in their hp class in all categories. Tohatsu also has DFI strong, reliable motor but I believe they are only CARB 2 compliant. They sell quite a few 2-strokes down in SD and I'm sure it is so in the south bay.

Good luck with your selection. And welcome aboard!

[Fr. Frank]

Okay, I have been racking my brain about how to put a samson post on this boat and couldn't figure out how to. Can you give me an idea, Frank? I have only ever seen Samson posts on boats with inboards. If put on a boat with an outboard, how do you keep the towline from rubbing on and interfering with the outboard?

If you're going to tow, a Samson post is much better than a bridle. While having the post fixed to the keelson is best, there are two common types of Samson posts in usage that are not anchored to the keelson.

The first is called a tow pylon, and is nothing more than an extra heavy-duty ski pylon, bolted to the deck in front of the motor, with two load bearing arms traveling backwards to the transom. The bitt of the towing pylon is usually high enough above the deck that the tow line passes above the OB motor cowling under strain. This one is at SeaTow in Boston, and also has a protective hoop to keep towlines out of the props:


The second type of unsecured Samson post is for use on full transoms and is often used for securing anchor rodes on the bow of a boat, but has a more limited capacity. With a good backing plate and the cap securely fastened to the hull, it would easily pull at the limit of force a 130 OB motor could apply:


I highly recommend the first of these.

[castalot]

to add to the vote for the e-tec they are running a sale with a 5 year warrenty

[countshock]

We're holding our Annual Regatta here in Edgartown, at the EYC.
We have 6-8 Shields racing right now!

[Windrider]

Thanks for that first Samson post pic, Frank. We always thought it would be great to have one, but this really helps visualizing how it can be done. We could have something like that made quite easily by the shop on campus.

Anyway, after much discussion amongst the program's coaches and the Shipyard maintenance guys, we have decided to go with the 90hp Etec. Now I expect some to say this is going to be an underpowered boat, but if I list what this boat's "job" is, you can see why we chose it.

This is a coach boat, a safety boat and support boat for sailboats that almost all the time are able to get themselves around just fine, thank you very much. Towing is the most heavy-duty job this Seacraft has, but it is a very rare job. We had to remind ourselves that before we were fortunate enough to score a free Seacraft we managed to tow the Shields around okay (but not pretty) with a 16' Whaler with a 25hp.

This Seacraft's job:

1. Coach Boat. Follow several Shields - or sometimes our whole huge fleet of Lasers (130lbs each) - out of the Bay into the ocean (average speed, 8 knots) and then provide a stable platform so the coach can yell at, er... I mean coach, the students.

2. Committee Boat. Same as above except the Seacraft might actually have to get up to planing speed for a mile or so while running upwind to reposition a race mark.

3. Safety Boat. If for any reason, students are in the water and need to be fished out, the Seacraft comes to the rescue. We have more often had to rescue members of the general public who were NOT in our classes. But the fact remains that this boat very often has too many people aboard (also when coaching and being race committee boat). This is the main reason we went with the lighter outboard, there have been many times with this 130 when the deck was slightly awash due to water coming in the scuppers.

4. Tow Boat. If a sailboat breaks down (uncommon), the Seacraft will have to tow it home, no more than three or four miles. She also tows if the wind dies completely while a class is out. If the heavier sailboats (like the Shields) get caught out in extreme Santa Ana winds and need to come in, they will need to be side tied one at a time to the Seacraft in order to be eased down on what in those conditions becomes the windward side of the dock - without scratching that expensive shiny new black paint we've put on them. This is also uncommon. On rare occasions we've had to tow the sailboats to race locations due to lack of wind - this can be a fairly good distance down the coast - but usually the sailboats can get themselves there with windpower and the Seacraft is just the escort.

5. Escort Boat. A few times a year, we do sail the Shields to Catalina Island (23+ miles) and the Seacraft is the escort. This is one of the few occasions when that boat is powered on a plane (unless whoever is driving wants to troll while being escort).

6. Multipurpose Boat. Okay, I'll admit we do sometimes use this boat in ways not in accordance with her stated purpose in our program. We have been known to have covert wakeboarding sessions (loved the nasty looks we got from the ski boat owners showing up with what is obviously a fishing boat). We have actually been known to FISH from this poor boat. She is also an excellent dive boat, but again, too much weight aboard has been a problem for this in the past.

So you see, we need safe and steady rather than fast and powerful - even for towing. We've been advised that if we find the 90hp needs more "guts" for towing, we can always change out the prop for more low-speed power.

Thanks for all your input, guys! I appreciate it!

[Fr. Frank]

You really need to begin by propping for "max of max at max" with the new motor, once through the break-in period.

Propping for "Max of Max at Max" means you can turn the maximum of the Maximum range at maximum load. The Max RPM range for the 90 Etec is 4500-5500 rpms. Since the Maximum load of that hull is 1508 lbs including the motor, "Max of Max at Max" means you want to be able to turn 5500 rpms with 1200 lbs of people and gear in the boat.

If you prop it so that it just turns, say 5000 rpms running light with only one person, when you load it up, you might be really bogging the motor, and seriously shorten your motor life. Since, like the Optimax, the Etec has over-rev protection, over-revving really isn't an issue when running light. A good operator won't over-rev anyway.

[Windrider]

Hi all, I'm reviving this old thread to give an update on the restoration of our Seacraft coach boat.

We had some serious delays getting started; this is a state university and our restoration grant was from a state agency. You know how quick the government is about getting things done or getting funds to those to whom it is promised.

Anyway, we've got the old Seacraft hauled out and mostly restored. I've got some "before" pictures for you now and I'll get some "after" pictures later this week. I missed getting pictures of the "during" process due to my teaching schedule, the holidays and abnormal torrential rains we've been getting (I know, most of you guys have snow to complain about).

Here is our poor, neglected (but free!) Seacraft 20CC just hauled out.


I have supervised the restoration of many of our school's sailboats, but this is by far the worst bottom I've seen! Sometime when she was in the Marine Bio Dept, someone thought it was a good idea to put layers of primer between the layers of bottom paint. It was coming off in sheets everywhere (note the ground under the boat in the pic). The white you see here between the blue is not the bottom of the boat - it is primer with another layer of blue under it - and another primer and paint layer under that.



Cockpit shot. Notice the red portable gas tank. Yeah.... this boat's permanent 40 gal tank had about an inch of sludge in it when we got the boat. We've been running her off of three 7 gallon tanks and just swapping the line around as we drained each one. The 40 gal tank has since been removed, cleaned, and inspected and is good to go again.

Stern shot with the old 130 Yamaha - to be replaced with a new E-Tec 90. The lift has never worked for us (also to be replaced), so the Yammie is looking a little beat here. Also note that the cheap plastic vents are crushed. Yeah.... we are sailboaters and none of us can seem to get the hang of how powerboats make turns, and we keep bumping the corners against our slip. I am looking for some hefty flush stainless steel ones that can hold up to some bumping.

The rail on this boat has been just barely hanging on since before we got it and very little glass under it to reattach it, one of the many things to be repaired. Can anyone tell me where to get this type of replacement rub rail for a Seacraft? It is nice and soft black rubber instead of this hard plastic everyone is using now days. For a tow boat, the soft stuff would be much better

Thanks!