INBOARD VS OUTBOARD SALTWATER PLUS

Many catamarans can motor reasonably fast on only one engine – which some owners do to save fuel and reduce engine hours – but two are nice to have for the redundancy and for pivoting easily in tight quarters. Two engines provide many advantages – redundancy in case one fails at sea and greater maneuverability in marinas. Twin Gas Outboards PDQ 36 Twin Outboard VersionĬatamarans have a unique advantage over monohulls in that they can have more than one engine. The downside is it may make maneuvering in a marina a bit trickier, and there’s no backup engine if the one outboard has an issue. The advantages are in the weight and cost savings of only having one engine instead of two, and only one engine to maintain. Smaller catamarans or lightweight ones can often get by with a single outboard. They’re also smaller and lighter, and take up less space inside the hull – freeing up storage or accommodation space. First and foremost, they’re significantly less expensive than a diesel engine – a 30hp outboard might be around $4,000 while a 30hp diesel could easily be $20,000. They offer several unique advantages over inboard diesel engines. However they’re now becoming popular with larger catamarans as well, up to about 40 or 45 feet. Outboards have always been common in smaller sailing boats (under about 30 feet) that don’t require a great deal of power to get them moving. And let’s not forget noise level and liveability – the choice between diesel inboards vs gas outboards can have a big impact on cabin storage areas and engine noise level.

INBOARD VS OUTBOARD SALTWATER PLUS

It affects how much power you have for motoring into strong winds or against current, fuel economy, reliability, maintenance needs, and purchase plus maintenance costs. The drive type has long lasting consequences for how you use and maintain a boat, so it’s an important factor.

When choosing an inboard engine, you then often have a decision to make in drive shaft configuration: traditional straight shaft, or a saildrive. The traditional twin diesel engines is a popular arrangement, and dual or single outboard configurations are also becoming popular.

Close Your Catamaran Fast (And Safely)!ĭid You Know That We Offer Contract to Closing Services? Click Here to Find Out More.Ĭatamarans these days have many options for their engine based propulsion, even more than monohulls due to the more diverse configurations of a catamaran.

Inboard vs outboard saltwater