by decurtis on Tue Aug 02, 2011 8:32 am
I sail on Lake Winnipeg, the 10th largest lake in the world, so it is kind of like an inland ocean but no tide currents. It is relatively shallow so can have very heavy chop but I haven't yet been out in higher winds as you have asked about. The 2.5 HP seemed to have lots of torque so my guess is it would be okay in the conditions you describe but the going could be a little slow. You could always step up to a 3.5 or 4 HP but of course then the weight of the motor doubles. When deciding on an outboard you should try to check what the produced pounds of thrust is and not just the overall horsepower. My 2.5 HP Suzuki has almost as much thrust as some other 3.5 and 4 HP outboards. The following is from an article I found online:
"To judge one engine against the another several tests were completed. A Bollard pull test showed that the Mercury 3.5hp and Tohatsu 3.5hp were the most powerful at 90lbs of thrust (These two engines along with the Mariner are virtually identical). The least effective was the Honda 2.3hp at 66lbs of thrust. In between were the Suzuki 2.5hp at 83lbs of thrust, the Yamaha 2.5hp at 78lbs of thrust and the Parsun 2.6hp at 70 lbs of thrust."