Perhaps the final chapter.
Been out quite a few more times on the little Kat in various sea states including flat, chop and swell. No problems and handles all in its stride although expect a harsh ride in chop when pushing on. Immense fun playing in the waves and surf as expected with plenty of buoyancy and stability with those big tubes and wide beam.
Lucky enough to have run with a few different motors, stats below, but bear in mind all running ‘out the box’ stock set ups and one up (78kg) plus fuel, anchor tub and kit. All motors, except the 15hp, sat directly on transom with no packers and all ended up running best fully trimmed in.
Mariner 3.5 four stroke (stock 7”prop) ;
Full throttle and a bit of weight shifting gets it (slowly) onto the plane, with a solid 11.5 knots max. and lots of noise. Throttle back a good bit and mucho quieter but amazingly still planing.
Yamaha 6hp four stroke (stock 8” prop) ;
At full throttle able to pop onto the plane reasonably quickly and power on to a solid 14 knots bouncing off 5600 revs. Hardly any ventilation even in chop.
Tohatsu 9.8 two stroke (stock 8.5” prop) ;
Pops instantly up onto the plane and tops out at just over 19 knots with motor nudging 6000rpm and giving a cruising speed of around 14 knots at a much more relaxed 4500rpm. Even two up (140 kilos) will top 18 knots, although takes slightly longer to get fully planing.
Yamaha 15 two stroke (stock 9” prop) ;
Despite being underpropped and looking a tad trimmed out even on pin 1, performed great, and powered on to 21 knots nudging 6050 rpm along with effortless cruising at a very relaxed 4000 to 4500 rpm. Less splashy than the Tohatsu 9.8 with virtually no ventilation even raised on a 10mm packer and feel it could go higher. Probably in part due the Yamaha ‘J’ type prop which run a bit more cupping than the stock Tohatsu.
In fairness boat runs and handles fine with all these motors and not surprisingly performance within a knot of our Elling KB350 running same motors. Really like the super light Tohatsu 9.8hp for its balance of weight and power but many would be equally happy with the 6hp if lightly loaded and mainly solo. Most fun for us though was with the power of the 15hp Yam which suits this sporty hull and performed amazingly well with less splashing at speed, and virtually no ventilation. Being able to run that little bit further trimmed out made the Kat feel better balanced and even more responsive.
Boat all packed away now ready to return to Boatworld and sorry to see this go as it’s been a real blast.
A big thanks to Boatworld for the opportunity to test their new Sport Kat 330
