RickW Ph18

[Fuzz]

CapeMan has a Yamaha 70 on his OD-18 and loves it. I would think both hulls would run close to the same with like power. Maybe he will see this and chime in.

[Rrick411]

You have me looking at the OD study plans now. Looks a bit narrower and lighter. The recommended HP on the OD is 40 where it is 70 on the Phantom. Seems like 90 on the Phantom would be close to a 70 on the OD. Jacques has been pretty adamant in his posts the 70 is enough, and will push this hull to the mid 40's. I'm sure their builds were cleaner and lighter than mine is though, but if I got 40mph top end, I'm good with it. I'm leaning 90 as I will sometimes need to run heavy, along with my added weight to the build, but will see if someone chimes in with their experiences. I'm thinking 4 blade prop too. Probably better to go with a little more hp than not enough. I have some time before I need to make this investment so I'll stew on it a bit.

[cape man]

I started with a 40hp yamaha and built the OD18 to use it. After 8 years I upgraded to the 70. My OD is 300lbs fat (over plan weight) without the motor.

The 70 yamaha is an amazing motor, but my advice is go for the 90 on the Phantom as it's a heavier boat and designed for performance.

[Rrick411]

Thanks for the input Cape Man. I was leaning towards the 90. Yes, same here with the build. I was going to build an LM18 but had this old 70 2 banger on this old aluminum bass boat, that runs well, so my brother and I decided to go with something bigger I could put it on. I moved last year and have an abundance of shallow water fishing in my area as opposed to the offshore stuff where I used to live. My boys were spoiled running offshore in my 27 with all the bells and whistles, they didn't have a lot of interest in the old bass boat. Now that we have been using the old tin can in skinny water, my kids decided it is not such a bad old girl. So I will hand that one down and buy the new motor.