«
»

W300 Fishing Kayak Motorized With a 2.5 HP Outboard Gas Engine

I thought it may be interesting to revisit the subject of motorizing fishing kayaks with an outboard gas engine.

To the best of my knowledge, so far only one W kayak angler has used such an outboard motor: Jim McGilvray, from Norfolk, UK, who rigged his 2007 W300 fishing kayak with a 2.5, 4 stroke engine, and a pair of DIY outriggers.
This is the movie Jim sent us, over two years ago:

This rig allows for more than trolling, obviously. The speed and stability are remarkable.



Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

This entry was posted on Monday, January 4th, 2010 at and is filed under kayak design, kayak fishing, kayak outfitting, rigging fishing kayaks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

5 Responses to “W300 Fishing Kayak Motorized With a 2.5 HP Outboard Gas Engine”

  1. Kevin Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at

    I’ve considered putting a 1 1/2 hp outboard on the W500 for longer trips. They sip gas and will go a lot farther than an electric trolling motor. I’m not sure if it would be overpowered compared to an electric though. Also no heavy batter to balance. I’ll post the set up if I ever get to it.

  2. admin Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at

    Hi Kevin,

    Sounds exciting!

    A 1.5 HP outboard might be just about right for your new W500, even without outriggers. It would certainly increase your range of exploration :)
    If you feel the motor makes your kayak too fast for its size, and therefore unstable, you could always add a pair of outriggers later.
    In fact that’s what Jim did back in 2007: He tried his little W300 with the 2.5 HP motor on, found it was too fast (the wet way ;) …) and consequently added the outriggers you see in the movie.

    Yoav

  3. Jeff McGovern Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at

    Glad you revisited that piece Yoav, it is still interesting. A 1.5hp motor should be about right since they are very light and the fuel source is right in the internal tank. The newer 4 stroke motors are easy to use and burn very little gas. I’ve been tempted to try it but the ease of use with the paddle and the portability out weight the desire. Just proves the W can be used about as many ways as folks can imagine. That’s a really cool part about having one, unlimited options and ideas.

  4. admin Says:
    January 4th, 2010 at

    Well Jeff, since you and Kevin already know each other, and live near each other, I guess you could team up on this project :)

    Yoav

  5. John Z Says:
    January 5th, 2010 at

    When I was a lot younger and much more foolhardy – I’d do crazy things like try to drop a small block V8 into a VW bug. That didn’t work out too well as I suspect the skipper of this craft will eventually discover in the long run. Still, it looks like a lot of fun and is extremely well thought out. I especially like the flip-over landing wheel idea. Jim obviously knows what he’s doing and is having fun doing it!
    John Z

Leave a Reply