Outboard for a Widgeon?

[BVLew]

I'm the proud new owner of a 1982 (or so) Widgeon. Though sailing is the point, I've had a couple of unfortunate "wind died down" incidents (a few years ago, I had to kick-paddle my Laser for about an hour to get home). So I'm thinking about a small outboard, at least to get from the boat ramp to the lake house. (1) Is this even possible? I think I've seen pictures of Widgeons with outboards. (2) If possible, what size motor? (3) I've never used an electric trolling motor. Is that an option? What size? How fast would it push the Widgeon?

Thanks.

 

[Rick Webb]

I sailed Widgeons in Hawaii for years. Wind dying out altogether was an extremely rare occurrence.

I think a paddle or oars might be a better solution I'd be concerned about capsizing and dunking the motor.

My experience was sailing them as a teenager and maybe perhaps we sailed them a bit more aggressively than an adult might. We had 10 to 15 kt winds from the same direction nearly every day and would get them up on plane routinely.

If capsizing is not an issue for you, I think a 2 or 3 horsepower outboard would get you home as quickly as your sails would.

 

[Project_Mayhem]

A trolling motor would work well with this boat. I had a 36lbs on my 1800lbs (loaded) Starwind 19. While It probably won't a get a boat out of a storm, it was faster than expected. I still use that same motor with a 10A gel cell on my dinghy. The motor is definitely water resistant as it was left on the boat as a backup for an entire season

 

[terry_buda]

I have thought about doing this with my Widgeon for years. I know my trolling motor would push the boat well - it does great on my 12 foot rowboat. The capsizing issue could be a detail worthy of careful consideration. The other problem is my Widgeon does not have a good place to store the motor when the boat is sailing. Messing up my beautiful old transom with motor bracket hardware does not appeal to me. My trolling motor has it's own clamp, but it interferes with the rudder if I just put it on with no bracket. An auxiliary motor would definitely be nice for going out/coming in to the dock, and for becalmed moments. Having a battery onboard would just be a bonus.

 

[BVLew]

Thanks for the feedback, very helpful.

 

[Sunbird22358]

I used a 1984 2hp Johnson on my 1970 WIDGEON, I did have to watch the mainsheet when tacking, but it worked OK clamped onto the transom even while sailing. I offset the outboard to Port side, and it did not seem to create a problem with the rudder. I later used a 1992 2.3hp Johnson which was a little tighter fit, but still worked and since it had 2 clamp screws, I could lock it on if I left it on boat overnight (the 2hp only had one clamp-screw, so it fit a little better, but no good way to lock onto boat) With both motors I did need to be careful when turning to port, as the rudder could hit the outboard prop, but the plastic props couldn't really damage the aluminum rudder blade! The 2.3 did have an anti-ventilation plate above the prop and I added a plastic "fin" to that on the side towards the rudder that was sized to stick out just slightly more than the prop so that fin hit the rudder before the prop could.