How Much Power

[pennel]

Need some help guys.
About to order a 26 ft aluminum boat from North West Aluminium Craft.
The dry weight of hull is 5500 and I have worked it out that fully loaded (engines,fuel,miscellaneous equipment, people) it would come in around 8500.
Would 300 hp be enough?
Have looked at a 350 Suzuki but it runs on premium fuel.
Twins( 175/200) would do it but then you are looking at double the maintenance bill.
Even thought of reducing the beam (9’6) to save on weight.
Any thoughts would be appreciated ( yes,I know ,buy a sailing boat).
Thanks

 

[ReelSlim]

There are lots of those hulls where I fish. Everything from single 300 or 350 to twin 150 and 200’s. I would not reduce the beam if you are having it built you will regret it imo. They will get pushed around more in a following sea with a single so I also would stick with twins....night and day in how it handles. As far as cost goes maintaining twins I guess that’s a personal decision. If your are pulling the trigger on a custom aluminum though it’s the last place to start being on a budget. Again just my opinion after doing my build a few years ago.

 

[fishin solo]

I know of a 27’ that was just built and they put a 350 single vrod on ran it a few times then switched it out to twin 250 mercs. You want atleast 400 hp hanging off the back minimum on that boat imo

 

[walleyes]

Yup no question I would go twins on a boat that size. Let’s be honest here,, if you can afford to get a boat of that stature built the extra couple hundred bucks a year on the extra engine maintenance shouldn’t be a big deal.

 

[Aces]

Twin 200's and keep the beam

 

[zurk]

just get a single 450R Merc. keep the beam.

 

[CBsqrd]

I know of a 27’ that was just built and they put a 350 single vrod on ran it a few times then switched it out to twin 250 mercs. You want atleast 400 hp hanging off the back minimum on that boat imo

I've seen the one you're talking about. Its a 27' with 10.5' beam so a bit bigger. I think the original motor was actually a 400 Verado with a 350 cowling and it sounded like it was adequately powered but the owner wanted to have power in reserve for going offshore for tuna and guiding.

For 26', 9.5' beam twin 200's (my choice would be mercs) would probably be the ticket. For a single you'd probably be ok with a 350 Verado - the 400 is a "Racing" model and only gets its extra power over the 350 when you are running near the redline, so not really any benefit for your intended use. I don't know what the deal is with the 450 as it is a "R" model, but I don't see many being hung on boats that are not crazy triple/quad/quint center consoles in Florida.

BUT... if you are leaning to the 350, then you might want to consider the new V8 300 Verado which is getting rave reviews. Or cross your fingers and hope that the V8 technology moves up to the 350/400 models by the time your build is done...

I'd still go with the twin 200's though - better handling and redundancy.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Minimum would be twin 200's but twin 225's or 250's would give you a comfortable power where you wouldn't be over working the motors and would have a cruise of around 30 kn at around 4000-4300 rpm. My boat is similar size to the one you are talking about at 5500 dry weight and around 8000 lbs full of fuel, twin 225 mercs and 2-3 people on board. I chose my boat with the 8' 6" beam so that I can tow it around the province without worrying about getting permits to tow or being too wide for certain areas. 9' 6 beam is a nice floor space but not necessary to accommodate a few guys on the deck fishing comfortably. If mooring it full time then you don't need to consider trailering issues with the wider beam. Smaller motor/motors= harder working motors, harder to get on step, slower cruise at higher rpm etc.. Once you start adding a full tank of fuel, fishing gear, food/drinks, coolers, ice, misc supplies and fishing buddies on a boat that size you will use up those horsepower really quickly.

 

[seabeyond]

I run the 26x8.6 on the west side. It has a single 300 yam. It is would be well suited to the east side with the single but it's running the 300 pretty hard in the weather. Those hulls like more weight on the transom too (ask doug). Tandem 150's is a much better option. Not much difference between 150s and the 200s if your going zuk or yam (same blocks). If you go with the 350 keep in mind they don't like crappy mid grade fuel which is a problem where we are and hence stayed away from that option. When it's time for a repower we will go with the zuk 300b (detuned 350) that is apparently is more tolerant of marginal fuel.... my 2 cents

 

[Corey_lax]

My buddy has a 2825 kingfisher and it boogies just fine with twin 150’s. yours might be heavier but I’m sure your fine with twin 150’s or 350+ single.

plus a 9.9-15 hp kicker would be fine and use the main if it’s windy

 

[Pineapple Express]

If you've got the cash for a brand new aluminum I'd keep the beam as wide as possible and put on twins in the 200hp/ea range. The new 3.4L Merc V6s look sweet....same engine is offered in 175/200/225 settings.

I've seen the one you're talking about. Its a 27' with 10.5' beam so a bit bigger. I think the original motor was actually a 400 Verado with a 350 cowling and it sounded like it was adequately powered but the owner wanted to have power in reserve for going offshore for tuna and guiding.

For 26', 9.5' beam twin 200's (my choice would be mercs) would probably be the ticket. For a single you'd probably be ok with a 350 Verado - the 400 is a "Racing" model and only gets its extra power over the 350 when you are running near the redline, so not really any benefit for your intended use. I don't know what the deal is with the 450 as it is a "R" model, but I don't see many being hung on boats that are not crazy triple/quad/quint center consoles in Florida.

BUT... if you are leaning to the 350, then you might want to consider the new V8 300 Verado which is getting rave reviews. Or cross your fingers and hope that the V8 technology moves up to the 350/400 models by the time your build is done...

I'd still go with the twin 200's though - better handling and redundancy.

Merc is offering the supercharged I6 in 350 & 400 flavours. The 350 and 400R were introduced at the same time and feature a watercooled supercharger which helped efficiency a fair bit. They now offer two versions of the supercharged I6 400hp: 400M is the regular line, and 400R is from the racing line. The 400R revs higher. For a heavy "slow" boat like what the OP is building there's no point to go to either 400 model since the 350 is mechanically the same and below 6000RPM there's no difference in performance. That said, guys are finding that the 300V8 performs very similarly to the 350I6 when pushing heavy boats, and has a fuel efficiency benefit. The member @BCI repowered his Whaler from 350I6 to 300V8 so maybe he could comment on local real-world differences.

The Merc 450R is outrageously priced at around $50k USD each so that doesn't make any sense for a boat like this.

I still think for a heavy boat like this you want twins for more bite in the water and some level of redundancy. You can also skip the kicker with this setup.

 

[Fins -n- Skins]

Go to Pacific Gateway in Port Renfrew as there are about 10 or so Northwest there with all different types of power. Like ReelSlim said some have a single but most have twins. Talk to a few of the guides.. Lots of info talking to those guys who use those boats day in day out.

 

[pennel]

Well,I would like to thank you all for your advice and stop me from making an expensive mistake. There is so much valuable info. to be had on these forums.
As twins seems to be unanimous I am going to stick on 2 200 Suzuki’s- only ever had Yammy s ,so something different.
My initial thought was a big single plus a bow thruster as space is tight in the marina and always wind in the afternoon.
Any thoughts on if I can now throw away the thruster or is it still worthwhile having?
Never driven twins before.

 

[Chasin' Dreams]

Well,I would like to thank you all for your advice and stop me from making an expensive mistake. There is so much valuable info. to be had on these forums.
As twins seems to be unanimous I am going to stick on 2 200 Suzuki’s- only ever had Yammy s ,so something different.
My initial thought was a big single plus a bow thruster as space is tight in the marina and always wind in the afternoon.
Any thoughts on if I can now throw away the thruster or is it still worthwhile having?
Never driven twins before.

I'm not sure if the Suzuki's have a "dock" mode on the throttle controller but if they do I suggest getting used to putting it in that mode as soon as you approach your docking. This mode will not allow the motors to throttle up too high if you accidentally bump the controllers or over throttle. Has come in handy for myself during a couple instances when we had very rough wind coming into dock and throttles got knocked up when my buddy fell into me on the back deck when he slipped. Could have been a big kerfuffle had the "dock" mode not been on, going full throttle into the dock. You might really like and benefit from a bow thruster if you are always going to be docking in tight spots in your marina and aren't covered well from the wind. I don't have one myself so can't comment on that too much. The hull shape/deadrise of the NWAC should keep you from blowing around too much. Now if you said it was a Kingfisher I would say you should put 4 thrusters on the bathtub.