I had a 9.9 Mercury long shaft that definitely seemed like overkill. Fighting a 35 knot headwind in heavy Chesapeake chop I could only go 3.5 knots and the propeller rose out of the water between each wave.

Replaced it with a 6 Tohatsu that drove the boat over 5 knots in relatively calm water at 3/4 throttle. Advantage was that I could remove the 59 pound motor (barely) by myself.

8 hp long shaft seems most popular.

Lee
Boatless at Claytor Lake, VA

On Sat, Jul 5, 2025, 10:22 AM THOMAS POLISE via Rhodes22-list <
rhodes22-list at rhodes22.org> wrote:

> I presently have a 9.9 HP motor that is in need of replacement, and was
> considering the 8 hp Yamaha.  Has anyone gone to 8, and if so is that
> enough hp against wind and also in assisting in getting off when running
> aground?
> Thanks
>