Does anyone use an electric outboard on a Catalina 22

[joetompkins]

Does anyone use an electric outboard on a Catalina 22?

 

[jssailem]

Typically Catalina 22 owners look for outboards in the 6-10HP range. The boat has a 2300-2500 displacement and can be moved at 4-6kts. You will want to find the an electric outboard with equivalent power range. The Torqeedo Cruise 3.0 or 6.0 fits in that range. As does the ePropulsion Navy 3.0 or 6.0 EVO. The 6.0 units provide the additional reserve power needed to punch through foul seas.

You will want to have adequate battery storage and power regeneration to meet the needs of extended cruising if that is in your plans.

 

[pgandw]

I'm pretty sure you can get 4 kts from 3hp on a Catalina 22. I get 5.5 kts from a 3hp Epropulsion equivalent on my 19ft Mariner (1400 lb displacement). Mariner sailors with 4hp outboards get the full 5.6 kts hull speed. However, if you use an electric, you do NOT want to run at hull speed or even close - you waste your battery too quickly. Power vs speed is NOT a linear curve. On my Mariner, I did 1 mile trials in both directions using GPS:
- 1000 watts (full power) = 5.5 kts
- 400 watts = 4.1 kts
- 300 watts = 3.5 kts

So the correct answer depends on what you want the motor to do. 6hp if you want to power at hull speed with the big wake, gas if you want the noise and vibration (electric gets pretty costly above 3-4hp). If you are just looking to get away from the dock, go through bridges, back to the dock, anchor, etc., the 3-4 hp is sufficient. Electric will put a smile on your face and a higher initial cost. Electric will be more reliable, and your shoulders and back will thank you. Gas will have a lot more range with even a 3 gal tank. Solar can help with electric range, but space for solar panels is very limited on smaller boats.

I traded starting anxiety with a 30+ mile range (5hp Honda) for 12 mile range but no starting or maintenance worries.

My ODay 25 (4500 lbs) had a 9.9hp Chrysler 2 stroke. That was overkill for that boat.

Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P

 

[High Current]

I built my own from an old 6HP mercury and used it on my 1983 Hunter 25. At 6HP actual electrical power (60A at 72V) I was able to reach hull speed (6kt) and had plenty of power to maneuver or battle a storm. Most of the time I cruised at about 1.5-2HP (15-20A) and 3-4 kt to maximize range.

EDIT: I should also note that I usually towed a dinghy that I kept a 55lb car battery in since it was powered by a trolling motor. This reduced maximum speed to 5.5kt but was included in the 3-4 kt cruising speed.

I don’t really buy the “equivalent HP” marketing except perhaps for having the starting torque to get a dinghy on a plane.

 

[pgandw]

I don’t really buy the “equivalent HP” marketing except perhaps for having the starting torque to get a dinghy on a plane.

I find the Epropulsion equivalents are pretty accurate. The Mariner fleet uses a variety of outboards - everything from trolling motors to racers with the 2-3 hp lightweight gas to 4-6 hp for the more conservative cruisers. I've been on 3 day cruises with 18 other Mariners so got to personally observe how the different motors do and don't do, as well as read their owner reports.

The Epropulsion Spirit 1.0, rated as 3 hp equivalent, can't push a Mariner quite up to hull speed (a tenth of a knot slower). The 4-6 hp gas outboards can. Mine is faster than those using the Honda 2.3 hp gas outboard. So that's how I reckon the claimed 3 hp equivalent is pretty accurate.

The Spirit in various tests cannot get a dinghy up on plane, where a 3hp gas might. The problem has been the prop rotates too slow on the electrics to get a dinghy up on plane. Even the Spirit 2.0 can only plane a dinghy using the temporary 2000 watt setting. The best use case for the small electric outboards is as trailerable sailboat auxiliaries, where planing is not needed, and slower than hull speed is tolerable to conserve battery.

Fred W
Stuart (ODay) Mariner 19 Sweet P

 

[AaronD]

Moving a C-22 out from a slip to a race-course on electric? Easy.

Cruising on electric? That takes a little more math, and depends a lot on wind in your area and your own cruising habits

I'm in the middle of an electric conversion on our slightly larger Classic Yachts 26 (~4400 lbs empty), and tracked our C-22 cruising for several years while thinking about it.

• Our C-22 displaced ~3300-3500 lbs fully loaded with crew
• We normally ran our Torqueedo 6 at well under full throttle to reduce noise, and I estimated output power based on normal fuel burn rates. 1 gal/hr gas ~= 10 hp - we ran at ~1/4 - 1/3 gal/hr, so 2-3 hp, or ~1.5-2.2 kW.
• That gave us about 4.5-5 knots while towing our 8ft Walker Bay dinghy.

That matches the OceanVolt configurator pretty well (input 3400 lbs on 19' waterline and it says ~1.04-2.06 kW at 4.7-5.3 knots). Other electric-drive calculations I found were similar.

So yes, a 3 or 6 kW motor should drive your C-22 just fine, as long as you don't feel the need to push right up to hull speed. You can calculate range and usable battery needed from there - e.g. 4 hrs @2 kW should give you ~20 nm range on 8 kWh usable (~9-10 kWh total in LifePO4 which run happily down to ~10%). Drop speed a little and you'll probably get 25-30 nm.

But that hypothetical 10 kWh is ~170 lbs and quite a lot of space, so be sure you have a plan for where to mount the batteries and how you'll get them into that space (e.g. 2x Victron 24v x 200 Ah batts would give you 10 kWh, but they are 25.6" long and I don't think you could get them into the C-22 companionway step space - you might need to run smaller batteries in series instead).

 

[LydieBP]

Yes , I have the epropulsion Spirit on my Catalina 22. It's good for getting in and out of marinas and in light air light chop

 

[JBP-PA]

Sam Holmes, one of the popular YouTube cruisers, used a Torqeedo on his Ranger 23 including his Pacific crossing to Hawaii.