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Ensign Sailing Forum

Outboard Questions from Newbie
Author Last Post
11/8/2025 5:56 PM
Hi Andrew,

I sit on the transom and steer with the tiller and motor, like Robin. It's not ideal, but fine for a short ride, and plenty maneuverable.

Last season, I bought the ePropulsion outboard. I highly recommend it. The battery holds its charge, and I really like the clean, quiet motor. I don't need to use the motor much, so mine held its charge nearly all season long. It's also very easy to mount and unmount because the motor without the battery, and the battery alone are quite lightweight. I just mount the motor first then pop on the battery.

My bracket is a 3-pronged stainless mount that I believe came with the boat from Pearson. It's not much, but it's strong enough for the small motor.

Regards,
Bill Tonetti
11/8/2025 11:13 AM

Hi Andrew,

Welcome to the Ensign. There are a bunch of them up your way in Casco Bay. I would recommend you get a tiller extension and attach that to your tiller. Especially if you are doing a lot of solo sailing or motoring. I have a 4.5HP Mercury which I use to go any distance. Our events are up to 2 hours away and we can be against significant tide so having a good sized motor for that application is almost a must. I have seen a lot of 3.5 HP motors doing some amount of distance motoring and those seem to work well also. If you are not needing to motor too far and want to do gas 3.5HP is lighter and probably the better option. The 4.5 is quite heavy, 55 pounds or so..


With the tiller extension attached to the tiller I can sit on the transom facing forward and reach the throttle and never let go of the tiller extension, best of both worlds. Makes a huge difference coming into the dock being able to steer precisely and control the motor at the same time. Usually I am going into neutral 4 or 5 boat lengths away from the dock so I can concentrate on steering and coasting to the dock arriving with very little speed.


Hope this helps

Robin
11/8/2025 10:44 AM
Hi Christopher. I too use a tiller tamer to hold the tiller straight, I back out of our slip, steering with the engine. My 3.5 engine does not have reverse to spinning the engine around to leave the harbor can be interesting.
 
Enjoy.
Brian
 
From: Christopher <ensignsailing@ensignclass.com>
To: Ensign <ensignsailing@ensignclass.com>
Date: Saturday, 8 November 2025 10:27 AM EST
Subject: re: [Ensign Sailing] Outboard Questions from Newbie

 
I lash the tiller sit back by the engine and steer with the outboard.the prop can produce  cavitation when going from reverse to forward I just pop it in to neutral and back to break the cavitation.
 
11/8/2025 10:28 AM
I lash the tiller sit back by the engine and steer with the outboard.the prop can produce  cavitation when going from reverse to forward I just pop it in to neutral and back to break the cavitation.
11/8/2025 9:43 AM

New Ensign owner looking to be ready for the spring season. I'm going to be keeping 512 in a slip in Maine's Casco Bay. The boat came with a Honda 5hp, but I'm having difficulty imagining how to manage the throttle and transmission with an outboard hanging off the transom a fairly long reach behind me, even as I steer and try to fend off. Sounds like a rodeo to me! The Honda 5hp does not - to my knowledge, anyway - have a remote kit available.


I'm considering the Torqeedo or Epropulsion with remote setup. Anybody have experience?


Also, if anyone has had good experience with an outboard mount, I would appreciate advice. There is a permanent mount that came with the boat, but fiberglass repairs are underway and I have a feeling the existing mount is overkill and creating unnecessary force on the transom. I have a blank canvas to work with, so would like to optimize the setup.


Experience and thoughts appreciated!
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