Hi David, Where do you sail the boat at and what do you want to do with it?
6HP will get you in and out of a slip. It might not move you very well if
you're trying to motor up a channel on on outgoing tide on a no wind day or
get home before the storm hits or any number of other reasons to have a
reliable engine. Lyric has been moved by a Nissan 3.5, Evinrude 6, Nissan
9.9, the origional 021 and finally by a Yanmar 2GM. Comments are: Origional
engines are heavy and costly to rebuild. Smaller outboards can also be used
on a dinghy and the dinghy can be side tied to the boat or used to push the
stern of the boat. The 9.9 would exceed hull speed but was a lot of weight
on the transom, consumed way to much fuel, would come out of the water in
choppy conditions and get soaked by following seas in heavy weather. The
Yanmar GM series are great but some people think the 1GM is abit
underpowered and it is essentially the same HP as the MD6 (Albin went to the
MD7 to get more power). The 2GM is rated at 18HP and moves my boat very well
in all conditions. The cost was high though and fuel consumption is around
1/2 gallon or 2 liters an hour. The factory designed it to run at 3200 rpm
which is a lot for a sailboat. All in all, an outboard can get the job done
in some circumstances but is going to be found lacking in others. It is a
lot easier to maintain, gas is available everywhere, and it can be used to
power the dinghy if it isn't to big. An inboard is a much more costly
installation but more reliable, uses less fuel, and charges batteries. Steve
sounds like he's a used car salesman when it comes to the Beta engines. But
he is right.
If I was going to do everything over again I'd use a 6 to 8HP outboard as a
temporary installation and maybe even go as low as a 5 depending on the
dinghy I was using. I would then install a Beta as quickly as my finances
would allow. It's lighter than the 2GM and uses less fuel. It has more HP
than the 1GM. It can also charge your batteries. I don't know what Steve is
getting for the Beta. The 2GM cost us $6000 on sale at a boat show in 1995
and we spent around $1500 more for controls, shaft, prop, fuel system, etc.
We installed it ourselves as the local yard wanted $6000 to do the job. Good
luck with whatever you do.
Walt Lyric #120
