New sailor meets the omc saildrive

[bwons]

I am new to sailing and just bought a 1980 25 foot oday with an OMC sale drive. It took three days of sailing for the engine to begin to give me problems. One of the previous owners put an outboard transom mount on the boat. So I'm considering switching over to an outboard. Has anyone done this and if so what brand and size outboard you switch to?

 

[Chief RA]

8hp, electric start, 25" shaft, Tohatsu. At www.onlineoutboards.com Chief

 

[caguy]

I am new to sailing and just bought a 1980 25 foot oday with an OMC sale drive. It took three days of sailing for the engine to begin to give me problems. One of the previous owners put an outboard transom mount on the boat. So I'm considering switching over to an outboard. Has anyone done this and if so what brand and size outboard you switch to?

I did this on my Cat 27. The 15 hp 2 stroke Zephyr OMC saildrive was submerged for who knows how long. I pulled it out and plugged hole with a 1/2" aluminum plate. I now have all kinds of storage where the motor was. I replaced it with an 18 hp Tohatsu. I only went with that much hp because I got such a great deal on it.
7 - 10 hp should work for you. I had a 10 hp on my Mac25 and only needed to run it 1/4 throttle most of the time. Nice to have extra hp if you are in a windy area and need to fight off head winds.
I love the Tohatsu brand an parts are easy to find on line. If you can afford it get and electric start and add remote controls.

 

[Ward H]

Keep in mind the high freeboard on the O'day 25 will make for a long reach to touch the front mounted shifter on the Tohatsu models. Either go with the remote set up or look for one of the outboards with tiller mounted shifter or throttle grip shifter. 8 to 10 hp will be plenty for the 25. If the weight is the same I would choose a 10 over the 8 just so you have the power if needed. If you don't need it you will just run at a lower rpm which means less fuel burned and less noise.

 

[Chief RA]

Great point Ward as many times the 8 & 10 have the same block. Chief

 

[bwons]

Thank you all for the advice. I went with an 8 horse mercury. Its so quiet i can barely tell its running. It seems to have plenty of power in the harbor, which is all i need it for.