"Best" motor for beach cat ?

I thought this sounded like a great idea when I first got into catamarans. I bought a brand new 1.5 hp outboard and made a mount. I think I used it once before I sold it. It's just too much trouble and weight.

You can sail through some pretty narrow stuff with a little patience and skill. Can you not hoist sails at the dock and just go sailing?

The torqueedos are a neat product...I've been looking at them for my monoslug (can't convince myself to leave the weight of the outboard on the stern so I have to heave that thing all over the place). You'll need to really check on the waterproof nature of the Torqueedo, though...we all have the capability of flipping and going turtle and I can only imagine what might happen if the Torqueedo (and it's lithium batteries) aren't up for the submersion challenge. A gas outboard is not going to enjoy that either.

One other consideration might be to find a used dingy with an outboard (or trolling motor) and use that to tow the cat out. Park the dingy on the beach and go sailing. It probably wouldn't cost much more than a new 2 stroke outboard if you shop around a bit. Heck, you can build a nice sized pram out of two sheets of plywood.

If your situation requires a motor, I would go with a honda or other gas 4-stroke. It should last just about forever. You can then buy the dinghy that Jake mentioned with the savings. There might even be enough left over to buy a cooler for the dinghy and fill it with beer!

Paddle or 2

If the beach is somewhat safe, how about motoring over with a gas engine and leaving it on the beach while you sail. You then return to the beach and remount the motor for the return to dock. I don't know how much of a PITA mounting and un-mounting a motor is though.

I own a small 3.5hp 2 stroke for my jon boat that was purchased (not by me) to put on a beach cat.

was never used after the first season.

i have seen and been VERY impressed with the Torquedo

towing a cat with a motorized dingy through canals / marina could be a challenge but if it's not an issue, i like the idea...

You could literally connect the tow dingy somewhat between the hulls to have good control over the boat...or lash the tow boat to the side of the catamaran like they do with the AC and Extreme 40s.

I always thought a little jetski pump setup would be cool for recreational use. It'd need a hole going in, and a hole coming out, but it could be pretty light weight since you're not looking to break any speed records.

I had a cheetah bracket on my H21SE and when I did Catalina trips I bought a Honda 2hp. The thing worked fantastic. On more than one occasion, due to no wind and needing to get home, I motored all the way to Marina Del Rey from Avalon (50 plus miles). I carried two 1gallon gas cans. If I remember, I think I could motor about 25 miles on less than one of those. Optimum speed was about 6-7 knots at half throttle. One thing that made that Honda the best was that it was air cooled. No needing to flush it with fresh water really, I never did.

Somebody near us uses a float dock or raft depending on how you look at it. Catamaran sits on Raft, raft either has a motor or they use a small boat to bring raft and catamaran out into the open anchor and rig/ launch/ return from the anchored platform...

Now that is high end beach cat sailing 🙂 Does the raft have a beverage station and wait staff?

I regularly motor 15 minutes to a reliable morning thermal on the main lake, and thus have used small outboards on an H18M, SC20, ARC22, and Flight Risk. The bigger boats carry the weight just fine, I'd move crew fwd some on the 18 to compensate for the extra weight aft. I generally use 2 to 3 hp two strokes because they're lighter than four strokes, but the 2hp Honda was a nice motor, noticeably quieter. I generally construct the motor mounts, and they all have the feature that allows the entire arm to pivot upward to allow the lower unit to be parallel to the water when the motor is up, to clear the chop. Important on the 18 and other cats where the rear beam is not far above the waterline.
Motors are definitely additional hassle, but if they allow you to get to the fun, they can be worth the effort.

Dave

I highly recommend the Honda 2 HP motor. It's air cooled and uses a centrifugal clutch no there's no gears to worry about. If you get flipped over and let the motor sit for a month, they're very easy to rebuild. I did one for a neighbor.

Make sure you shut off the gas and run until dry before storing. Draining the tank is a good idea too.

If the motor goes inverted for a period of more than a few minutes. Slowly turn it over with your hand. Make sure it's at least one full revolution. If the motor seems to stop turning, remove spark plug to relieve oil in cylinder and turn it. Once it makes at least one full turn it will be good to go. It can/may smoke a lot upon starting but it will clear quickly.