balboa26 converstion to motorboat

hey everyone I have a balboa 26 that I want to convert to outboard power only should I remove the swing keel or just leave it ?

 

Go buy a real motorboat.
Nothing will work right.

 

Never gonna go much faster than 7 knots.

You are forgetting about that critical thing called hull speed.

Lots of guys just put the ob on and never raise the sails. Join that club; there is no shame in it.

But if you put a 50hp engine on the back of that boat and remove some keel, I doubt you'll ever get much more than the 7.

Max Speed equals 1.34 x sqrt(WL) or 1.34 rt(26) or 6.8kts.

Some of the engineers here might have better answers, but don't mess with the boat bud.

She is what she is.

 

Lots of shame in never using the sails IMHO.
I saw a guy with sails up, motoring as fast as it would go, with the sails sheeted on the wrong side of the boat. Ignorant and dangerous.

If you just motor, you might at least take off the mast.

 

If 7mph is okay go 4 it. Lotsa places u can access with 20" draft.

Depends on hpw much u want to invest, if it was mine i would take out cb and rudder then add long shallow keel 6 to 8" deep with attached long shallow rudder right up to bottom of hull or hanging rudder with ob in well just fwd of it.

With 10hp you might get upto 15mpg or more doing about 6mph

 

Do a search for "strawlers" and you will find some useful information. As everybody has said no matter how much horsepower you hang off the stern you will not go much faster that hull speed. Extending the transom 2 feet or so may clean up flow and help a little but you will still be pretty much limited to hull speed. If you are happy with that go for it. If you want to go faster than that get a similar size powerboat. As a rule of thumb 1 hp per 500 lbs displacement will power you at hull speed.
And you will need some ballast. I would just leave the centerboard in the up position. If you remove it you will have to add ballast.
Have fun with your project.

 

There is nothing wrong with motoring with a sailboat. One thing you will notice when you take off the mast is that the period of roll is shorter (rolls faster).