Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

[petekirk]

hi - i have a 13 foot dory and currently troll around on a 10HP honda. I am looking to get an engine which will put me up on the plane - has anyone got experience of this boat and what HP outboard will give what performance? The maximum rating for this boat is 40HP - some say I need 40HP, others say a 30HP is loads of power to plane the boat with 3 people on board.<br />Thanks for your help.<br />Peter Kirk, Penzance, England.

 

[JB]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

Hello, Peter.<br /><br />Welcome to iboats. <br /><br />The Dell Quays are very good copies of Boston Whalers. Real quality boats.<br /><br />I haven't had a Dell Quay, but I have had several Boston Whaler 13s.<br /><br />A 25 will plane a BW 13 nicely with 2 adults and a child and cruise at 20, with WOT of about 25mph, depending on load. That is plenty fast for a 13.<br /><br />A 40 makes it a rocket, with WOT in the 40mph vicinity, which is too danged fast for a 13' fishing boat.<br /><br />I recommend a nice 25HP for that boat. My personal favorites are JohnnyRudes from the 80s, but the new Honda 25 is very attractive if you can bear the price.<br /><br />Good luck.

 

[petekirk]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

JB - many thanks for your reply, very helpful and will, it seems, avoid me heading into orbit -

 

[AndyL]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

Hi Peter,<br />The original Dell Quay Dory 13 was rated up to 50hp although I would suggest that was vastly over the top. I had one years ago when Dell Quay actually made them (before they sold to Shakespeare and so on) with a 40hp merc on the back. What I found was that over time the foam between the hulls gets compacted in the impact zone which causes the bottom to become soft and flexible. The upshot is then that when you apply huge power from a big engine the hydostatic/dynamic force from the speed through the water concaves the hull and thus forces the bow of the boat down. This increases the waterplane area and the boat slows down from drag. The harder you push it then the bigger the force and you gain no speed advantage. Coupled with that it becomes hard to steer. I fully agree with the points JB makes in that they are a fine boat and very versatile however I go along with the notion that a 25hp would be a lovely compromise unless you intend to heavily load it. If the boat is any age you will also find that the foam core will have absorbed a fair amount of water, usually from the silly brass keel band screws. This can also add a lot of weight to the overall package. I also had one of the last 17 foot Dorys that Dell Quay made (Blue and White) which was a fabulous boat but also suffered from water in the foam ingress and a soft bottom<br /><br />Andy.

 

[petekirk]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

andy, thanks for your help - advice seems clearly pointing towards the 25. when i bought the boat the foam was waterlogged, however i have installed a bung aft and drained it, installed new keelbands and glassed over them. i will check to see how soft my bottom is!!<br />peter

 

[SimonC]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

Peter, I run a 55 Yamaha on my 13 foot Dell Quay with excellent results. Yes it can get a little lively, but so do my friends identical boats with 40 Yamahas. <br />The earliest dory's had a completely flat pad at the back of the hull that meant that more power made you go faster. The later ones have a slight hook at the rear of the pad which puts the nose in once 35 mph ish is reached.<br />The advantage I have is that the sheer grunt of the 55 makes mine a much better proposition for water skiing, particularly if it's adults rather than kids. The top end of mine, and my friends boats are identical, the difference is how quick we get there.<br />On mine the transom has been reinforced to take the extra weight of the motor, and I too have removed the keelbands and glassed over the holes - when I bought the boat I was stunned how much water came out when I drilled a hole just under the transom drain tube. In fact it was the drain tube that was causing the problems as it had split and was allowing a lot of water into the hull.<br />You should be aware that if the foam is wet it's actually impossible to dry it out completely - the only real cure is to split the hull and replace the old soggy foam with new closed cell foam.<br />Good luck.

 

[petekirk]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

simon - thanks for your reply. as i'm not planning on pulling anything, i have decided to get something a little smaller than yourself, and today in fact have ordered a honda 30hp. <br />i think mine is the slightly later model - i do have a bit of a hook at the rear of the pad - we'll see how it goes when i'm up and running.<br />as for the soggy foam, i really can't be doing with replacing it, but it's not too heavy to move boat and trailer by hand. i assume that other than adding weight it's not a particular problem...?<br />cheers<br />pete

 

[SimonC]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

Peter, the added weight is actually the least of the problems. The real issue is that over time the damp foam will cause all of the wood in the hull to rot out. On mine it's ok at the moment, but I do expect problems at some point in the future. I'll probably sell it and get something bigger if this happens.<br />One of my friends has just split his dory hull to remove the old soggy foam - despite the fact that it had been draining for months there was an astounding amount of water in the hull. The foam was a soggy mess and weighed a ton. He's still drying the hull out at the moment prior to reassembly with new closed cell foam.<br />You mentioned you installed a drain plug in an earlier post - at the moment I make do with a stainless steel self tapper - where did you get it, how big is it and was it any easy install?

 

[AndyL]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

If it is any interest what I did with mine was to buy a brass drain plug assembly (about 1" diameter plug). Drill a hole in the transome just big enough to take the female coupling. Before attaching it I poked a length of 22mm copper water pipe as far up the hull as it would go then pulled it out thus removing a foam core. Cleaned out the pipe, drilled lots of holes down the length of it then re-inserted it back into the hull. Fitted the brass drain plug assembly using sealant as appropriate. The idea is that any water in the foam will seep into the copper pipe where it can then be drained by removing the plug. As you rightly point out the foam is usually saturated and although initially it would appear you get plenty of water out it will never dry out the foam. The only real fix is to cut the deck out, scrape out the foam and make good. Great little safe boats but the old ones are always very heavy. In the marinas here they stand them vertically upright over winter with the drain plugs out and the water still is draining come the spring.

 

[alpolo]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

"i will check to see how soft my bottom is!!<br />peter"<br /><br />Peter.. I think you should check the boat's bottom not yours

 

[sajack]

Re: Dellquay Dory - what power outboard?

Im running a 50hp Tohatsu on my 13 foot Dell Quay. There are not too many 50s around that can run with it. It is a 1985 Dell Quay 13.