i was corious as to why i see most ocen going boats have 2 or more motors, is it safe to take my boat offsore? my boat is a 17' sprint bass boat with a 88 jonny.
As a planing boat increases in size it requires more HP to plane and run at reasonable cruising and WOT speed. being that the max single engine HP right now is 350. any boat that requires more HP needs two engines. you are on the ocean so you are seeing bigger boats which will have 2 engines. The 2nd advantage of course is having 1 engine left if you lose one. Yamaha's 350 is targeting the boat market hoping to replace people with twin 150's and 175's. less weight same /better performance. but I would think some would be apprehensive to lose the back up.
as far as your 17' boat off shore, keep in mind "offshore" typically refers to 10 miles out or more....if you just meant take it out in the ocean pick your weather days. if you really meant offshore .....good luck
when folks get into trouble is when they dont have the experience to handle offshore conditions..panic, and CG is called in...if you have to ask weather a boat can handle offshore..you dont need to go offshore.