Outboard

Many Corribees have 4 – 6 hp outboard motors. Newbridge reportedly recommended 4-9 hp engines.

Statistics

The Corribee Owners Association Boat Register reports the following distribution of engine types installed on Corribees:

4hp o/b: 7 (3.5%)

5hp o/b: 5 (2.5%)

6hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

BMW D7 i/b: 5 (2.5%)

BMW i/b: 2 (1%)

Dolphin MK7 i/b: 1 (0.5%)

Evinrude 4hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Evinrude 4hp: 1 (0.5%)

Evinrude 5hp o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Evinrude 5hp: 1 (0.5%)

Evinrude 6hp o/b: 6 (3%)

Farymann i/b: 1 (0.5%)

Honda 4hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Honda 5 hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Honda 5hp o/b : 1 (0.5%)

Honda 5hp o/b: 9 (4.5%)

Johnson 5hp o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Johnson 6hp o/b: 5 (2.5%)

Johnson 8hp o/b: 4 (2%)

Johnson o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Marina 5hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mariner 4 hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Mariner 4hp o/b: 7 (3.5%)

Mariner 4hp: 1 (0.5%)

Mariner 5 hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Mariner 5hp o/b: 11 (5.6%)

Mariner 6hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mariner 8: 1 (0.5%)

Mariner 8hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Mariner 8hp: 2 (1%)

Mariner 9hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mariner o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury 3hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury 4 o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury 4.5hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury 4hp o/b: 6 (3%)

Mercury 4hp s/p: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury 5hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Mercury 6hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury 7.5hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Mercury o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Mercury Sailpower 4hp o/b: 2 (1%)

Mini-Sole 12cv: 1 (0.5%)

None: 1 (0.5%)

o/b: 15 (7.6%)

OMC 5hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Petter Mini 6hp : 1 (0.5%)

Seagull 4.5hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Seagull 90: 1 (0.5%)

Seagull i/b: 1 (0.5%)

Seagull o/b: 11 (5.6%)

Seagull SD110: 1 (0.5%)

Shrimp i/b: 1 (0.5%)

Suzuki 4hp o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Suzuki 4hp o/d: 1 (0.5%)

Suzuki 8 hp o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Suzuki 8hp o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Suzuki o/b: 2 (1%)

Suzuki: 1 (0.5%)

Tohatsu 5hp o/b: 4 (2%)

Tohatsu 5hp: 1 (0.5%)

Tomas o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Vetus M2.05 D: 1 (0.5%)

Vire i/b: 2 (1%)

Volvo Penta 7.5hp: 1 (0.5%)

Watermota i/b: 1 (0.5%)

Watermota Shrimp: 1 (0.5%)

Yamaha 4hp o/b: 7 (3.5%)

Yamaha 5hp o/b: 6 (3%)

Yamaha 5hp: 1 (0.5%)

Yamaha 6hp o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Yamaha 8hp o/b: 3 (1.5%)

Yamaha o/b: 1 (0.5%)

Yanmar 1GM i/b: 3 (1.5%)

Yanmar 1GM10 i/b: 1 (0.5%)

Yanmar i/b: 1 (0.5%)

and the following distribution for Coromandels:

BMW D7 i/b: 1 (7.1%)

Honda 5hp: 1 (7.1%)

Honda 5hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Honda BF10 4-stroke 10hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Mariner 6 hp: 1 (7.1%)

Mariner 8hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Mariner o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Mercury 5hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Mercury 6hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Mercury Sailpower 4: 1 (7.1%)

Suzuki 6hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Tohatsu 8hp o/b: 1 (7.1%)

Yamaha 5: 2 (14.2%)

Reviews

Jonny Moore has kindly allowed us to reproduce this article:

20090724_Outboards_1_JonnyMoore

A problem that keeps cropping up on various small boat web forums is outboard engines and outboard engine mounts. I am sure that our solution will not suit everyone but it does have an awful lot going for it. To start with we use a Seagull Century Plus longshaft engine, not everybody’s first choice but consider the pros and cons.

For:

  • Cheap to purchase
  • No recoil starter to get broken.
  • Very simple to maintain (fuel system can be completely striped, cleaned & rebuilt in under 5mins, spark plug & lead in about 2mins.)
  • These engines were built to move displacement boats, unlike modern 4 stroke or 2 stroke engines, ours has a 9” prop and will happily move Casulen II along at a steady 4.5knots.
  • They were designed to run for prolonged periods under this load, again we have motored for over 12 hours non stop once in order to get home one weekend.
  • The longshaft fitted to our outboard mount very rarely ever lifts out of the water.
  • Overall weight of the engine about 18kg compared to about 26kg for a 5hp longshaft 4 stroke.

Against

  • 10:1 fuel/oil mix although you can modify them to run at 16:1, 20:1 or even 25:1 on later engines.(ours runs on 16:1)
  • No charging coil like on a sail drive
  • No recoil starter (may bother many people)
  • No reverse gear
  • More noisy than a 4 stroke

20090724_Outboards_2_JonnyMoore

I’m not going to argue for or against this choice only to say it seems to work for us. Our engine is a 1964 model so it is nearly 3 times as old as I am and it is still running reliably!

20090724_Outboards_3_JonnyMoore

Our outboard bracket design would suit any outboard, not just Seagulls and has no pivot mechanism but slides up and down on two parallel tubes. It was made up out of 316 stainless tube and rail fitting, (easily obtainable from marine suppliers) and our old outboard mount.

To start with it was bolted together, but we have now had all the joints welded having proved that the idea works. Its main advantages are that all the weight is kept as close to the transom as possible and the engine stays in a upright position even with the prop fully clear of the water.

Due to the range of height adjustment the prop can be dropped deeply into the water so does not lift out in big seas. Our adjustment is a simple bracket with a length of cord knotted at various lengths.

20090724_Outboards_4_JonnyMoore

In order to give us long range we use a 25ltr tank mounted in the cockpit and simply attach a tube via an outboard tank fitting and pump the fuel through by hand via a priming bulb. As I said this arrangement is simple and has enabled us to cover over 2800nm in two seasons through some quite interesting tidal waters on the West and North coasts of Scotland and also in the Irish Sea and around both the North and South Cornish Coast.

Contribute

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5 Responses to “Outboard”

  1. Rhys Says:

    My old 2hp outboard engine finally gave up the ghost last weekend and I need to replace it. I only use it to push the boat to and from a swinging mooring out on a lake. I’m considering going for a greener and quieter electric motor but have concerns about whether there will be enough power to push the Corribee.. Does anyone have any experience with these electric outboard motors?
    Thanks!

    • Kurt Says:

      Hi Rhys,
      Any progress towards electric drive? I’m raising the topic too, on the Corribee/Coromandel Yahoo group. We have a larger electric sailboat, and have just bought a Coromandel. Keen to drive it with electric. Best of luck.

  2. Hedley Says:

    Jonny Moor,
    Last season I came to the same conclusion as Jonny regarding the outboard bracket on my corribee (Still to implement). The main advantage of this design is that you can lift the engine and get to a fouled prop without having to put ones life at risk by hanging over back in rough seas. My prototype is currently in 22mm copper pipe but would love to have a copy of the BOM and drawings.

    Hedley

  3. Anthony Kerr Says:

    I have just got my first boat of my own which is a Corribee Mk2 and I intentionally sougt out a seagull as in all my time mucking around in boats (about 13 years now) I have yet to come across a more reliable or robust engine.
    One thing I would say though is that in my experience the shear pin in the prop hub is more likely to break then I have found in other engines. This is only in my experience though.

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