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I need some opinions/advice. My father has a 1984 15' CC with a 2000 70 HP Yamaha. The boat is a rocket! However, the motor is now shot. Here are the options he is considering: a 1998 70 hp Yamaha exactly like the one he has - we don't know the history on it, a 2011 Mercury 60 hp Four-stroke with less than 10 hrs, a new 60 hp Etec, a new 75 hp Etec, and a new 70 hp Yamaha 4-stroke. Of those motors, which would you choose and why? I am also interested in hearing from those who are running any of these other than the older 70 yamaha. Older guys use this boat and rarely run WOT, but they need to be able to get up and run in skinny water quickly. Thanks in advance for your help.
Frank
Frank,
I put a Yamaha F70 on my '84 CC last year. It was my first boat, so I do not really have anything to compare it to, but I really like it. Starts instantly, sips gas, is very quiet, and gets the boat up to ~42mph. It is fairly light as 4 strokes of that size go, around 260#. It would be a good choice. Good Luck!
I'd vote for the eTec 60 or the Yamaha F70LA (the new 4-stroke). The eTec 75 is too heavy at 320 pounds - that's not going to help you up on a plane quickly. If you can re-use the existing Yamaha controls on the F70, you can save some coin there too.
For skinny water, quick planing and not caring about WOT speed, you might want to go with a 4-blade stainless prop and underprop it a bit - these modern motors have rev limiters so there is no danger at the high end. A good prop will let you mount the motor high, and you may also want to consider a jack plate.
I would chose the new Yamaha 4 stroke motor. Honestly any 60-70hp motor would meet the performance requirement your looking for. Boston Whaler could have easily put a maximum of 60hp on these boats on almost no one would have complained. A 50hp on a classic 15' would have the same performance as the current 150/60 combo.
I am very happy with my 2011 60 Etec. Very little gas, quiet, 38 WOT, and out of the hole its real quick. Last season I filled up the oil reservoir twice. Great motor.
