Largest Etec?

[Anonymous]

Largest Etec?
, Wed May 12 2010, 11:01PM

Hi,

What is the largest evinrude etec engine that anyone has seen or heard of on a Mac 26M?

What are the problems when the hp gets too high?

Fastest speed hit?

Fastest with full ballast?

I plan to take the boat up around Nootka Island and the Brooks and would like to be able to get back to protected waters in a hurry if need be.

thanks!!

Andrew

Re: Largest Etec?
Sea Shell, Thu May 13 2010, 06:28AM

Hello Andrew!
I’m not sure if it was a Evinrude etec, but I have noticed that many of the US Mac’s (in craigslist) have a 70 horse engine on it. I don’t know what the handling charactoristics are like, but I’ve seen quite a few. I would think that they must handle well if there are this many. You could contact the manufacturer to see if they had any further suggestions. Hope this helps!

Glen Hodgkinson
Vice Commodore

Re: Largest Etec?
Seaworthy, Thu May 13 2010, 09:41AM

A few years ago at our Can-Am event in Salt Spring an American from California had a 90 HP motor on his 26M. He said that the 70 and 90 were the same engine and weighed the same. He had called the factory and they said that the transom could support the weight but that the hull wasn’t designed for the forces that travelling at high speed could produce. He put the 90 on anyway.
He came up from the San Juans for the event. In a smooth patch of water he said he got up to 26kts (yes, knots!) but that even ripples on the water made travelling that fast very hard on the boat (and the boater). He was a lake boater and general had smooth water at home. He was surprised that ocean waves forced him to slow down so dramatically (8-10kts)
I believe he also installed an internal fuel tank to carry all the gas that was required to keep an engine like that going.
My Honda 50 once pushed me at 17kts when the boat was new. Now that its fully laden for cruising and with bottom paint it is hard pressed to go over 13kts. That being said a I usually travel at 2500 RPM which translates to 6 kts. A 25l fuel tank lasts over 8 hours(about 50km per tank). At WOT that 90 would go through the same tank in 45 min. (about 25-30km per tank). Its also so noisy you’ll need muff hearing protection.

You need to be careful about thoughts of out running the weather. The moment the wind comes up, the waves start to build. Going fast over them quickly becomes impossible, you just get hammered to badly. So you end up having to slow down anyway. One of the good things about the Mac is that a small bit of sail stabilizes the boat (reduces roll) and makes a sea that would rock a powerboat around horribly into something more managable.
Good Luck with your purchase decision.

Re: Largest Etec?
, Thu May 13 2010, 10:05AM

Thanks for the input!!

I certainly don’t want to max it out and burn a ton of gas, but do want to take advantage of the fact that this boat can get up on a plane, even when fully loaded.

The Etecs sound pretty great; light and fuel efficent engines. 33% lighter than the equivenent 4 stroke I have read. And the most fuel efficent engine on the market….correct me if I am wrong here.

How does the boat handle chop with the ballast fully loaded and under full power??

Thanks!,

Re: Largest Etec?
Site Admin, Wed May 26 2010, 09:25AM

The boat tends to throw spray up when in heavy chop at speed. Without a wide dodger you can wear a lot of ocean.
We don’t have a dodger. Last weekend on the way to Gibsons we hit a couple of largish waves at 7-8 kts. I got splashed pretty good and had to change when we arrived.

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