Yamaha f115 versus f150 on 2006 Key West 186 cc

[Tom Majenski]

I will be purchasing a 2006 Key West 186 cc, it has a Yamaha F115 on it currently, but for $2600 more the dealer will put on a Yamaha F150 on the boat. The boat will be moored in Wareham Massachusetts by the Maritime end of the Cape Cod Canal (water can ge rough with a strong current at the mouth). I plan to use the boat for fishing and throwing a few traps, along with some easy sight seeing, as well as some tubing and maybe some water skiing at a later date. I will be a first time boat owner and was looking for some advise on what size engine I should go with. I'm trying to do it right the first time. I would appreciate any advise you guys or girls could give me on what I should do. Thanks Tom M.

[tashasdaddy]

imho. the 115 should push that boat at 45 mph, don't think the extra 35 hp is worth $2600.

[WillyBWright]

On the other hand, in heavy seas you would appreciate having a motor as close to the maximum rating on the boat as possible. Then again the 115 should burn less gas, but not necessarily. Say if you wanted to run that 45mph, the 115 would be wide open. For the same speed, the 150 would be in the 3/4 throttle ballpark and could conceivably get better mileage.

The first F150 I drove was quite an armload. It took a lot of bicep to steer it on the Alumacraft it was on. You might consider hydraulic steering if you get that.

[Rod@Serengeti]

I like the F150 for its much larger displacement, lower compression ratio, and low end grunt. F150's also do better in cold water than F115 (they run warmer). Your water is cold, like ours (55deg) and the 4S motors have a bit of a problem with condensation in the oil at low operating temps.

Some dealers can/will put a warmer thermostat in the F115 to help. SeaStar steering definitely.

[pine island fred]

Have a similar boat with the F 115. More than adequate power! Never go above 3/4 throttle and it flies. Looking back I wish I had gotten a 90. Agree with the others, anything over 115, go with the hydraulic steering. regards fred

[Tom Majenski]

Have a similar boat with the F 115. More than adequate power! Never go above 3/4 throttle and it flies. Looking back I wish I had gotten a 90. Agree with the others, anything over 115, go with the hydraulic steering. regards fred

Thanks Fred and everybody else, I appreciate all the help. After reading all your advice, I think I'll just stick with the F115. The boat does come with hydraulic steering so hopefully it will handle nicely. My only concern is entering the maritime (Buzzards Bay) end of the Cape Cod Canal, the water can get a little rough and I would want the boat to be able to power through it if I needed to. Thanks again everybody and I am always open to any advice that comes my way. Tom M.

[yamamarinetech40]

We sell a LOT of Century 1801's with the F115, and it is ok for cruising. If you put four people in it, it doesn't plane off for 'awhile'...and for skiing you wouldn't want it...my brother bought one from us but got the optional F150, speed only goes up a few mph, but hole shot is great and rough seas are much easier in his. I know the key west is a lighter boat, I would suggest getting a test drive with the F115 and bringing two people with you and the salesman....

[Texasmark]

Agree whole heartedly on the test drive, and if you can, schedule it for a day when the water is rough and load up the boat.

We (wife and I) had a 125 Johnson on a 18' Caravelle trihull back in '72. You could load up with the 4 kids and a sunday's worth of goodies and go out for a good time.

The boat was heavy and had a deep v transom area which means it didn't have a lot of "get out of and on top of the water" which translates to a sloppy hole shot (getting up on plane).

We used a 17P SST prop because we wanted to ski and that lower pitch helped us with the hole shot. We didn't have Power Trim and Tilt (PTT) which would have helped also, not a tach so I don't have any idea what Wide Open Throttle (WOT) rpm's were, but they were (had to be) on the high side as she would run 41 max with just me or 39 with the Sunday bunch and purred nicely doing it.

Numerous times we were exposed to rough water and had no problems....but there are ways to handle rough water.

Rough water to me is 4-5 foot waves with a 25 mph wind pushing them. Sometimes capping, sometimes not. Distance between not very much (15-20'). I prefer to get on the water and quarter the waves maintaining a "just on plane speed" rather than staying down in the water (below planing speed) takeing them head on, pound, and eat the spray. I zig zag my way home.

With that said, rough water was no worse for us than normal water. Even if it got rougher, I still would prefer being on top and riding between the wave sort of thing and that significantly reduced the load on the engine as compared to the other style.

So, that translates to not needing more hp for traversing your inlet............butttttt did I want more ponies? You bet. Especially every time a Merc Red band would pull up next to me and flip me the bird,,,,then not-so-politely run off and leave me. :|

It's a tough choice. One thing about more ponies, you don't have to use them if you don't want (but you will....human nature attests to that), and you have to pay for them, and insure them, and feed them, and they weigh more. More butttttts: once the money is spent, it's never coming back and is soon forgotten. But the enjoyment is there for as long as you have the boat.

I guess my advice, after reading the posts and thinking about the old days is that DeeJayCee has the right answer: "Maximum Rated HP is Never Enough".....not suggesting you go overboard, just that you'll use whatever is hanging on the transom and the bigger it is the more fun you will have with it. BTDT.....am there doing that. 8)

HTH,

Mark