Inexpensive power boat with NO wake?

What is the best bet for a shoreline boat for two adults, capable of extended operation at 4-16 knots with less than 15 HP, and producing no wake?
Frequent docking suggests that a multihull is not the best choice. Wheel-steering is desirable.

Square-sterned canoe about 22 feet with a 10 HP 4-stroke?

Light 3 x 21-foot flat-bottomed skiff with an outboard in a bow well?

 

Dont know about..no wake.

but One of those" freighter "canoes. Would do the trick as a low power skiff. Google it, might be some designs on the net.

I like the looks of this D,Hylan point comfort design skiff...low power, elegant shape.

http://www.dhylanboats.com/pointcomfort18.html

Boatdesign net contributor PAR has a nice simple low power skiff called the Digger...google it


15hp sounds like the smallest power to achive good performance...

Keep your eye out for a used, late model 2 stroke 20 hp yamaha. Very light weight, durable and it packs a punch.

 

I like the boat Michael pointed to a lot. You can always fiddle with the details. I think if you want it real light, you have to pony up the cash for better quality ply. Light is less wake. I think I could get it out the door at about 315 pounds if I spent the cash. Or 350 pounds at half the material budget. A three hundred pound boat can be strong, durable, efficient, and pretty for two people, but that is pushing the craftsmanship and materials pretty hard. The photos on the study plans page show an okume ply build. I bet that one weighs less than #350. I'd probably mount the motor 18" forward in an open well if I were going light. Ditto Michael's motor comment - 20 hp Yamaha 2 stroke. I'd go long shaft to get the tiller higher and be able to sit up and see where you're going. That's kind of important for near shore work.

 

If you want those speeds and no wake, Digger will not do. In order to have no wake at speed, you need a very shallow , lightly loaded bottom, type of hull, preferably also quite narrow. For example, if you made a dead flat bottom 21'x3' skiff, with just a touch of rocker forward, you'd get close, but the outboard in the bow would be the worst place for it. In fact, an outboard wouldn't be the right choice, as it's designed to beat the water to a froth, pushing a boat. What you want is a Bolger Sneakeasy, with a slow spinning (or geared) inboard, swinging a big, but shallow wheel. This will produce very little wake at 16 knots. I wouldn't consider a deadrise boat as particularly wake free, in comparison. At 16 knots it will be throwing spray and wake pretty good, for the semi displacement hull that they are. You want a hull that doesn't move nearly as much water as a deadrise hull form, especially to the sides, if you don't want a wake.

 

sounds like a cat not a mono

 

For a given capacity, low wake means light weight, long and low deadrise. Inexpensive means heavier materials, short, flat and wide. What are your compromises between these two contrary physical characteristics? Can't have both as the number one objective.

 

Is there an small outboard that swings a bigger wheel slower than most outboards?
(Unfortunately the electric motors require too much battery weight for extended operation.)

I regard glassed okoume plywood as light, and inexpensive enough for such a slim boat.

 

Is there an small outboard that swings a bigger wheel slower than most outboards?

These are usually small and are great power for displacement sail boats , that can use a harder push , but not more speed.

Many are 9.9hp , tho deep gears can now be found to 60hp to push barges and work boats .

 

To get "no wake" deadrise needs to be all but eliminated, as would flare at the LWL. The next thing on the list would be a very light and shallow hull, so the water moved down is minimal. Prop wash will be an issue, but this can be mitigated to a degree with placement, gearing and wheel used. A long, lean hull form with just a few inches of draft and a really clean straight run, will make the least dent in the wake.

 

PAR: I agree with all you have said.
What outboard (about 10 HP) would give the least wash?

 

They'll all produce the same wash, given similar gear ratios and wheel dimensions. High thrust models will be better, but these still swing a pretty small prop pretty fast. Without major modifications an outboard will make a fair bit of prop wash. This is why I recommend an inboard, which can be geared way down to swing a big prop slowly.

 

Is there a reason you need no wake over low wake?

 

There's certainly a distinction when you get a ticket for doing one, instead of the other.

 

My 5 minutes of pedantry... I guess that the OP intended to say "low wake", not "no wake".
If by "wake" one intends the wave train created by the boat, then "no-wake" means a perfectly flat water left behind the hull - which is a condition impossible to achieve at speeds of practical interest. Virtually possible at some extremely low-speeds though.
If the word "wake" comprises the friction effects too, then no-wake condition exists only in theoretical realms of ideal inviscid fluids.

 

I meant to say NO wake.
Obviously one can only approach this goal...