110 Sport Upgrade

[Exoset]

Q1: what Boston Whaler small boat of any model year under 15-feet and under 1,000-lbs (including engine) would be would be the largest?

BACKSTORY

I am in the Florida east coast aboard our Hatteras 54 motor yacht ( beam is 18-feet) and we own a 2018 110 SPORT re-powered with a 2023 Mercury 25-HP “ProKicker” engine to use as our tender.

I am storing the tender on the fly bridge, thanks to a crane able to lift 1,000 lbs. When using the crane we also have a freedom lift on the back able to hold the same load.

My wife, two young sons, and I are using the tender a lot to run around, and kids are starting to be interested in tubing and wake boarding.

The 110 starts to feel cramped and underpowered for our use and I am starting to look for an upgrade. I am leaning toward a 2005 130 SPORT with 40 HP, but anything bigger and potentially more powerful under 1000-lbs total weight would be perfect.

Everybody tells me to go for a RIB but I am a Boston Whaler boat lover.

ASIDE

I am reading this forum for a while now. I learned so much from so many of you. So, thank you all.

[Exoset]

UPDATE
The more I am reading, the more I find out that the SUPER SPORT 15 might be the best choice. A MISCHIEF 15 would be ideal but I might have more luck looking for gold on the beach.

A 13 Dauntless might be a good one as well.

[jimh]

The Boston Whaler SPORT 15 and other model variants are great small boats. They are not really designed to be a tender, as they will easily get on plane, run at 30-MPH, and give a very smooth ride thanks to a finer forward entry of the hull. However, a 15 is not as stable as a 13-footer. But a SPORT 15 is a great boat—probably the best small boat ever for running around, and really a very fun boat to operate.

In my own case, I was looking for a 13-footer to tow behind a sailboat as a tender. I accidentally came across a SPORT 15 and bought it. A year later we switched from sail to trailer boating with the SPORT 15, as that small power boat was just so much fun to zip around in and explore new water by trailering it all over the midwest. Of course, that led to larger Boston Whaler boats, bigger trailers, and bigger tow vehicles.

A classic-era 13 makes a great tender, and the hull form is extremely stable. You can even row it. Many are used as tenders.

[Exoset]

Thank you for your input Jim, most appreciated ;).

Any idea how much a 15 ft classic era would weight (wet weight), with a 60/70 4 strokes ? Engine would weight 250 -ish letting a maximum of 600 for the hull…

Maybe you’re right, a 13 might be a safe choice. When is a Whaler stops being a classic to become a new gen ? 90s ?

I am just worried.

Q2: would a 13-footer with a 40-HP enough to tow a teenager?

Tubing should be ok but for wakeboarding I might want to push my luck with a 15-footer with 60 or 70 HP.

[jimh]

See the REFERENCE section article on the classic 15-footer at

https://continuouswave.com/whaler/reference/15/

The bare hull should be about 500 to 550-lbs.

[jimh]

Q2: would a 13-footer with a 40-HP be strong enough to tow a teenager?

I remember my wife's aunt had a 13-footer with a 30-HP (pull-start) engine, and you could water ski behind it. But the engine was a classic Johnson two-stroke-power-cycle engine, with good low-RPM torque.


Fig. 1. A very old 13-footer with 30-HP JOHNSON engine. Adult (thin) young women could be pulled up on (two) water skis with this set up.

I am certain you could pull around the lake young kids on water toys.

[Exoset]

After a lot of looking, I decided to buy a 1974 Boston Whaler 13-footer.

I'll do the sea trial today;

I will weight the boat on my crane scale to make sure it is not waterlogged.

This 1974 13-footer is in very good shape but comes with a 2024 Mercury 5O-HP FourStroke that weighs 260-lbs. In my mind that is way too heavy and I am thinking about changing to a 40-HP.

[A modern Mercury FourStroke engine] is available in two versions: a three-cylinder 204-lbs model, and a four-cylinder that weighs 260-lbs—essentially the same as the 50-HP model.

I guess I'll have to stick with Mercury to avoid having to change all the rigging and all.

Q3: Would a 2025 Mercury 40-HP three-cylinder engine at 204-lbs be okay on a 1974 13-footer?

[jimh]

Q3: Would a 2025 Mercury 40-HP three-cylinder engine at 204-lbs be okay on a 1974 13-footer?

A lighter 40-HP would be better than a much heavier 50-HP, which probably exceeds the rating for a 1974 13-footer. Also, a 1974 hull is 51-year-old. There is no basis to think that the transom and hull structure have increased in strength over 51-years to become strong enough to support a heavy engine with excessive power.