I have a 15 foot Spindrift with centerboard. Will use mostly in saltwater bays for light cruising. What are your thoughts on electric outboards? Any recommendations is appreciated
Electric Outboard motors
- Thread starter PConti2025
- Start date
Trolling motor all the way! Bring your own battery - LiFePO4 is pretty cheap + available these days and much nicer to lug around than lead.
I have had good luck so far with Newport Vessels, which makes a saltwater-rated motor. I used to push my O'day daysailer 17' around the lake with Minn Kota's smallest (30lb I think), but it died after two seasons even in fresh water (leaked into the motor). Now I run a NV 55lb with a 50Ah LiFePO4 on my dinghy. It's a little slow (3kt) but plenty capable even in strong winds.
The "electric outboards" get you a more elegant motor/battery package and, if it's powerful enough relative to the size of your boat, a prop that can get you moving a little faster. These niceties come at a significant cost premium. For example, the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 has similar power (1000W) to a NV 86lb thrust trolling motor (48A x 24V = 1150W) but costs 3-4x as much depending what you do for a battery.
I have had good luck so far with Newport Vessels, which makes a saltwater-rated motor. I used to push my O'day daysailer 17' around the lake with Minn Kota's smallest (30lb I think), but it died after two seasons even in fresh water (leaked into the motor). Now I run a NV 55lb with a 50Ah LiFePO4 on my dinghy. It's a little slow (3kt) but plenty capable even in strong winds.
The "electric outboards" get you a more elegant motor/battery package and, if it's powerful enough relative to the size of your boat, a prop that can get you moving a little faster. These niceties come at a significant cost premium. For example, the ePropulsion Spirit 1.0 has similar power (1000W) to a NV 86lb thrust trolling motor (48A x 24V = 1150W) but costs 3-4x as much depending what you do for a battery.
Thank you. But what is the difference between a electric trolling motor and electric outboard motor?
Mostly power. An electric trolling motor is designed to sit on the bow of a Bass Boat and move the boat around a fairly small fishing hole. An electric outboard is designed to power a boat in the same manner as a small gas outboard of 2-4 HP. The electric outboards tend to be self-contained, i.e, the battery is proprietary and is integral with the propulsion unit (shaft, motor, and prop). Trolling motors have separate batteries stored on the boat. An electric outboard typically comes with its own charger, while a trolling motor will need a charger suitable for the battery chemistry being used.
We have a Torqeedo for our dinghy. It has good information on the batteries state of charge, speed, and battery time remaining. All good information to have to avoid ending up somewhere with a dead battery and a long row or slow sail home. Wide open the motor will push our dinghy at about 4 knots, but only for a relatively short time, IIRC about 2 hours. At half speed, cruising time significantly increases.
Either option may work for your situation. The big question is how you use the boat and the sailing grounds. Are you likely to become becalmed far away from dock? Is the dock or ramp far up a creek requiring a lot of motoring or tacking up a narrow channel? How are the tidal currents in the area? Lastly, what's your budget?
I had a 36lbs trolling motor on a 19' boat. It worked better than expected. I had a friend that had a more powerful one on his 22' boat on Lake Michigan. They work but don't expect them to get you through a strong headwind or current. For day sailing on a 15' boat, I think it'd be perfect. Far less maintenance, noise and vibrations. How far do you need to travel?
Thank you for take the time to review and reply to my post. I am relatively new to sailing I will sail in a large lake as well as Great South Bay and other inlet. I will always have shore lines in sight and sail in mild wind conditions
Dave mentioned power - but that's really a gray area because the smallest "outboards" actually have less power than the largest "trolling motors." His Torqueedo gets him 4kt vs my 3 kt - but my motor is ~1/2 the power.
I would say the main differences are:
* Propeller: higher pitch on the outboard = higher top speed, lower thrust at low speed. No matter how much thrust a trolling motor has, it won't go much over 3kt.
* Controller: the motor controller in the outboard is more efficient at low throttle than the resistive speed controls used on most trolling motors
* Creature comforts: most outboards have batteries, fuel gauge, etc. integrated with the unit so there's less to DIY
* Cost - as previously mentioned, the outboard will run you 3-4x the cost for equivalent power
I saw Flowstar outboards on display at the Toronto boat show in January. They are a cheaper electric outboard, less than half the price of a Torquedo. There are 1kW and 1.5kW models. The batteries seemed a little small, but they are not too expensive so you could carry a spare. I have no idea if anyone is selling them in the US.
www.wolong-electric.com
Flowstar outboard motor-Electric boat drive system-Wolong
Electric boat drive system
www.wolong-electric.com
I use an Epropulsion Spirit electric outboard (3hp gas equivalent) on my 19ft Mariner. Replaced a Honda 5hp that had reluctant starting. Love it, it's as small as I would want to go for the open waters/significant winds I encounter on NC sounds. It was good enough to buck the 4+kt tidal currents in the Niantic R on Long Island Sound. At normal cruise (4 kts, 400 watts), I have a 12+ nm range (measured performance with GPS).
The Spirit is probably overkill for a 15ft boat, but there are smaller models now. Since I have no electrical system at present, having the detachable battery mounted on the motor is nice.
My shoulders, back, and ears have thanked me ever since I switched to the electric. I actually enjoy motoring now, and motor more than I used to with the gas outboard. And no gas tank to get in the way.
Fred W
Mariner 19 Sweet P
The Spirit is probably overkill for a 15ft boat, but there are smaller models now. Since I have no electrical system at present, having the detachable battery mounted on the motor is nice.
My shoulders, back, and ears have thanked me ever since I switched to the electric. I actually enjoy motoring now, and motor more than I used to with the gas outboard. And no gas tank to get in the way.
Fred W
Mariner 19 Sweet P
You cannot convert Pound of Thrust figures to Horsepower. The components of the mathematical formulas are not relatable. At best you have a subjective comparison of performance as rated by the manufacturer.
Mathematically, you can't make an accurate comparison. But your boat doesn't care what the math says. In actual trials on my Mariner, I got a top speed of 5.5kts. Hull speed (with a big wake and a squatting transom) is 5.7kts, achievable with the typical 5-6hp gas outboards. Others with Mariners use the 2 and 2.5hp outboards, and don't worry about achieving hull speed. So I find the 3hp equivalent to be accurate for the Epropulsion Spirit.
New OP is talking about a 15ft boat which weighs 1/2 of what a Mariner does, and has a lower hull speed, does not need 3hp or equivalent (1000 watt motor). So a smaller electric motor - 500-750 watts - would probably be sufficient for hull speed.
Fred W
Thank you. But what is the difference between a electric trolling motor and electric outboard motor?
Depends upon whether you're speaking fisherman or pirate. Because sailors need an auxiliary language.
Depends upon whether you're speaking fisherman or pirate. Because sailors need an auxiliary language.
Does it really matter? Both trolling motors and electric outboard motors have been used as auxiliary motors on sailboats. Auxiliary motors on sailboats can be big enough to take them to hull speed against the wind and waves (anything more is a waste), or small and just powerful enough to get a sailboat away from the dock or launching ramp. What you want depends on how you feel about motoring on your sailboat, and the circumstances under which you would use an auxiliary motor. Manufacturers seem to have little problem with classifying their electric offerings as one or the other, although the overlap of the bigger trolling motors and the smaller electric outboards is growing. The smaller electric outboards generally have an attached battery, trolling motors do not.
As my use of my 19ft sailboat has changed from all daysailing to a mixture of daysailing and camp cruising, my reasons for motoring have changed. Daysailing - I just wanted enough power to get me away from the dock or launching ramp, and enough range to return if I got becalmed while daysailing. Camp cruising may involve multiple days of motoring depending on how tight a schedule I need to keep.
What doesn't make sense anymore (except for cost) is the small gas outboard with the self contained tank. The self contained tank limits the range, with range being the key operational advantage of a small gas outboard over an electric.
Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P
Based on this, I would recommend a trolling motor. 36lbs would be my recommendation. Battery size depends on how much motoring you plan on doing. I used 10A gel cells to get to my mooring as they were small but I could get a few short trips out of them
Same thing as when you run out of gas, or more likely, the gas outboard won't start.
Planning for fuel - gas or battery - is part of trip planning. Most electric outboards can go further on a charge than a gas outboard with the integral fuel tank can. Which is why I consider the gas outboards with integral fuel tanks as useless as a battery that won't power an electric outboard at full throttle for an hour, and 3 hours at reduced throttle.
Fred W
Mariner 19 with Epropulsion Spirit electric outboard
Electric outboards with integral batteries generally have instruments that display remaining battery capacity and distance/time left at the current throttle setting.