Here is a photo of George Nodalo – Philippines Goose #16 (28 Oz Geese now in the nation)Â trying out his new Torqueedo Electric outboard.
Low power is most suitable for these boats – 3hp max as more power won’t make them faster. Plus a small motor means only a tiny modification to the transom is required.
Some great discussion on the forum about what size of outboard. Gordo said
I’ve been in KevO’s with a 2.5hp and 2 guys…way overkill. One of these new super small aircooled, light models would be ideal. like 1 hp. Or whatever is lightest.
I’m planning to use an electric if I ever get back to sailing the Goose. A cheap trolling motor to be used only when leaving a lee shore or getting back to the dock if the wind dies. But if you feel you’d need a long motor run time, gas obviously is the only option. A torpedo would be ideal, but for the price I’d go gas.
I’d agree too. Problem with electric is the limitation in range for the weight (don’t forget to strap down the batteries too or they will go crashing through the side of the hull). This is the weakness of electric. Also the thing that happens is in good weather a small electric troller can be OK, but when the going gets tough – headwinds, rough water – they just don’t have it yet or the bigger electrics need serious battery power. One thing to be aware of is that smaller air cooled motors can be noisy. Ask to hear one running and see if you can bear it.
Seth added a price info and an overview …
It would appear that size is air cooled… and the exhaust is up there on the motor. Which means, using it is going to sound nearly identical to running a weedeater in your yard. I don’t think I could stand to listen to that for more than about 15 minutes.
If you ‘step up’ to the 2.5 horse water cooled listed there, it appears to be something which was designed to be an outboard rather than a cobbled together sort of setup. As it is water cooled, I would guess (hope) the noise is going to be more in line with what one would expect from an outboard (still noisy, but not so buzzy). The water jacket surrounding the cylinder will absorb and muffle more noise than the thin wall with fins of the air cooled model. It looks to be $625 whereas the weedeater is $535-580. So… a little less than a hundred more and from appearances alone, a ‘real’ outboard.