Fuel Efficiency

Sept. 23, 2003

Recently I found the website www.boatTEST.com and found some interesting comparisons in fuel efficiency when looking at larger V-8 4-stroke vessels compared to smaller outboard conventional 2-stroke powered craft.

I compared a SeaRay 225 weekender with I believe a 5.7L Mercruiser to a regular 19ft runabout with a 90hp 2-stroke outboard.

Turns out the SeaRay (a much larger vessel) got a best MPH of 3.29 and the runabout got a best of 2.94 mpg. Yes.... boats have shit gas mileage but it's to be expected with the friction of the water.

Never the less, it was surprising to see a much heavier, larger boat get better mileage than a smaller runabout.

So.... the moral of the story is:

don't discount a larger vessel without looking at fuel consumption data compared to a smaller boat.
think about investing in a 4-stroke fuel injected outboard motor if you really want to have a smaller boat and outboard power. A typical Yamaha 4-stroke 100hp motor runs about $11-12k cdn!

Re-powering an older boat with a newer engine may not be economical. You might be better off to sell your old jalopy and get into something a little newer.