Inboard or Outboard ???

[Aquillaguy]

Hi there I'm about to drop a fair amount of money on a new boat ,the same model is available in Mercury 200hp outboard or 5.5l Mercruiser inboard.

Can anybody please advise me which to go for?

Boat is fairly deep hull and about 20ft.

I will be living on a lake side would like to do some skiing /wakeboarding and just cruising. Lake is not vastly huge ,maybe 2/3 miles across

I dont trust salespeople advice!

Would really appreciate some thoughts

Thanks



Andreas

[tom28571]

My opinion is that a deep V is neither needed nor appropriate for a small lake, whether outboard or inboard. They are good for larger water with waves where the deep V shape can make the ride better but suffer in performance and efficiency in other respects. Unless you will be happy to always be going less than 6mph or more than about 20mph, a deep V is not the best kind of boat.

[KCook]

Deep V means different things to different people, so it would be helpful to know just what boat this is. In theory the OB will be better for skiing and the inboard better for wakeboarding. Is this OB 2-stroke or 4-stroke? Any of these will get the job done, but most folks have a strong personal preference for one or another. If at all possible get demos of these motors (even if they are not on the same type boat) so you can experience the differences for yourself.

Kelly Cook

[marshmat]

Kelly's right, you really need to test both before you can decide. Used to be that outboards accelerated better and sterndrives had better top end and efficiency; that's no longer the case. Depends very much on which of the many Merc 200 OBs you're looking at.

[Willallison]

I would dispute your performance summary somewhat Marshmat. Outboards (of equivalent power) have generally had the edge as far as top end goes too... it's just that you could always buy much bigger inboards....
As a former tournament skier, I would also suggest that outboards are not necessarily the best for skiing either. I've had both inboard and outboard and the wake tends to be better with an inboard.

But back to the original question...
Andreas, is this a fresh water lake?
When you say inboard, do you actually mean a sterndrive (inboard-outboard)?
When you say the boat is relatively deep - do you mean it has deep sides, or it's a deep-V hull shape?
Will you be keeping the boat in or out of the water?

[KCook]

Good to hear Will. But the barefoot guys are also wake sensitive? And I've heard that they usually prefer OB?

Kelly

[Willallison]

I've done a little barefooting, but I'm by no means an expert. Most of the footers I know run inboards (we're talking shafts here, not sterndrives...)

Wake shape and type is dictated as much by boat shape as it is by propulsion type. I've been behing both good and bad boats of either type.

Wakeboarding is a whole other issue. You either have run with one of those ridiculous bladders or foils that shove the boat deeper into the water, or you have to run a fairly heavy deep-V, which as Tom suggests isn't the ideal lake boat

[KCook]

Wake shape and type is dictated as much by boat shape as it is by propulsion type.

Agreed. If anything I would say hull shape is more important than motor type

[Aquillaguy]

To All of You....Thanks for the great response...and advice..

If I left out some info I've contacted the dealer and specs are as follows Hull is a MonoHull,which would be classified as a Deep V although he says it's not a very deep V.(Very well balanced)It's a wetdeck boat.

Powerplant option is either Mercruiser 5.0 MPI Sterndrive or an outboard Mercury 200EFI both on same Hull.

I am looking at using boat for Wake/B ,Skiing and Towing Inflatables...

Over the two Power options wich is alround better ie. Fuel Consumption ,Services ,Power,and of course the funfactor!

Thanks ONCE again to ALL for your input.....

Andreas

[Raggi_Thor]

You could ask for exact numbers :-)
How many degrees deadrise midship and at the transom?
What is the beam at the waterline?
What is the light weight of the boat (empty)?
What will the displacement (total weight) be with fuel, people, gear, food, drinks etc?

[Willallison]

make it simple - what's the brand and model name of the boat?
My current ski boat is a 19 footer with about 10 degrees deadrise at the transom. It has a 200hp efi merc on the back. I'm very happy with it - but then I don't do any wakeboarding.
I would suggest that if you're only going to use the boat for skiing etc., that you look at buying a ski boat.... there are plenty of good ones to choose from. If you're after a more general purpose runabout, then either of the boats you're looking at are (probably) fine.
As far as sterndrive vs outboards go... ask 10 people and you'll get 10 different opinions. I will say this though - if it's a sterndrive, and you plan on using it salt water, it's well worth the extra few hundred bucks for a fresh-water cooled engine. You'll save that and more down the track...

[KCook]

Of course this is a frequent topic on all the boating sites. Just happens it is now being discussed on another 'board - BoatingABC.com » ... » I/O or Outboard?

Kelly