One of the best hp formulas I have seen was the one promoted by the late Renn Tolman, whose "Alaskan Skiff" is similar to many of your designs. He figured that 1 hp per 25 lbs. of displacement weight was about right for his semi-vee skiff. So a 1000 lb. running displacement... (weight of the boat, fuel and pax), skiff should take about 40 hp. Of course a flat bottom dory design will require considerably less.

I suspect at least part of the reason why tiller steering hp is rated lower than remote steering is due to weight distribution. With tiller steering, the operator's weight is farther aft than if it were remote steering. That added weight aft means you should have a motor that is lighter, and therefore lower hp. With remote steering, the weight is distributed closer to the center of the boat, which allows more weight hanging off the transom, and therefore higher hp.

I would love to see something on outboard vs inboard in boats where either could be used.

Hi Jeff. New subscriber here. I'd like to extend a big thank you for your efforts to put out some really interesting and informative tutorials. I've been binge watching your channel for the last two days and you have answered so many questions that i never even thought to ask as novice boat builder without a lot of time around ocean going boats. I would like to post a longer comment and maybe you or one of your other subscribers could give some suggestions in picking a good first time project for my situation. Thanks again and keep them coming. Cheers from Bali 🌴

Jeff, I have a 115 hp 25” shaft I bought to go on the Tiberon Panga 21’ I’m just wrapping up. Going to use it in a lake in Canada that can get rough... wanted the extra freeboard and capacity. Will be posting videos to your site. Already sent you some progress pics a while ago

Could you talk about design differences for an inboard engine?

Enjoying your videos on boat building. I have a question. At 5:28 in this video, the plan shows using a 2x6 for the transom motor mount. The ends of the horizontal 2x6 are attached to vertical 2x4's. Since the "cross grain" of the horizontal 2x6 is screwed into the "long grain" of the vertical 2x4's, won't the cross grain of the wide 2x6 expand/contract while the long grain of the 2x4's not move causing the pocket screws used to work loose?