What's the best engine for a 60ft sailboat?

Question

What would be the best if you wanted something really awesome that could outrun pirates and make fellow boat owners say, Holy ship, you have one of those?!!!!!

Wow. You usual and unusual suspects are the greatest. I love to ask boat questins because I always get the info I need and answers to questions I didn't know enough to ask. Thanks all!

Answer 1

Doesn't really matter. Sailboat is a displacement hull. Mathematically, there is only so fast that it will go. (length waterline times the square root of the co-efficient of drag). After that, you're pushing water, but not the boat.

You want enough "speed" to get you up to hull speed, but you want enough control to maneuver in close quarters at slow speed around a crowded marina and anchorage.

More importantly, you want something dependable. For a cruising boat, you want diesel. Gasoline is too volatile and may cause an explosion. You want something that you can get parts in foreign ports. It would be horrible to try and change the oil in Fiji and cant get an oil filter and you are out of spares.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

I see a number of the Regular Suspects have gotten here first....so to repeat some of their answers.........

a 60 boat's max speed is the square root of the waterline times,say, 1.23.....so no matter how big an engine you wont get over maybe 8 knots. As was said after that all you're doing is pushing water

To be able to do 8 knots even into a head sea and foul wind you are looking at 75-100 hp max.

Engine space on a sailboat is limited, even a 60 footer; so dont put in something so big that you dont have sapce to get to all sides and maintain the thing.

Dont even spend a second considering a gasoline engine.

Good reliable engines that size? Yanmars are finicky and awfully expensive to fix; Cat doesn't, I don't think, make anything that small.....if you're staying in the US a GM diesel is a good bet; even better is Perkins/Westerbeake

Answer 3

A small yacht or a small frigate shape both have the facility.
Meaning a kitchen or stay over, this generally requires a solid
stronger response to travel out of storm, out of current or out
of some channels. I would say equivalent to at least 300.
I use a twin 160 johnson, or a twin honda 175. These will work
for general travel. If you are load only and stay in a lovely
harbor you can trim down to two 90 horse mercuries. Though
get going when you hear of a tide or wind shift and rocky weather. http://www.aquamarine.org

Answer 4

You need a Plaining hull for speed, a sail boat does not move very fast but, it moves easily through the water. That's why they have small engines doing only about 3-6 knots. The design of the hull lets it do 3-6 knots through just about ANY sea.

Answer 5

All your info so far is good. I prefer a diesel to gasoline. A 60 footer should have about a 75 horse.

You will not achieve over hull speed in a displacement boat.
Cat or trimaran are faster.

Answer 6

sailboats can be planing or displacement hulls, Most monohulls are displacement hulls, but some small sailing dinks as well as windsurfers (technically fall into the relm of sailboat) are planing hulls. They dont have engines so you dont have to worry about trying to get one.

On a large sailboat that is 60 feet, definitely a displacement hull and there is no way to push it hard enough to get over the bow wave, so you're limited to mathematical hull speed (+/- a few%)

Answer 7

The best engine is a strong wind and a good "Spinnaker". The best way to out run pirates is to use Radar. As you see they on an intercept course and they not answer you on the radio you make your run. As they get close you should get a visual with Binoculars and see if they armed. When they within a reasonable strike distance fire two rear (Stern) torpedoes then you can head back on course.