Sven asked a timely question when he asked about the possibility of using an electric motor on a dinghy. We are in the process of buying a small sailboat, a Compac Sun Cat, to use in conjunction with our Trawler, which we live aboard. We will use this sailboat as a "big" sailing dinghy in addition to our standard dinghy. When we move our trawler from one long term living location to another, we plan on towing the Compac Sun Cat behind us. But for the most part the Sun Cat will be used as our day sailor fun boat!! When we went out for a test sail on the brokers Compac Sun Cat, we used our dinghy gas motor, a 4 stroke 4 hp Mercury outboard that is just about new, and we had just had it check out which cost us a little over $200. The Sun Cat sailed beautifully!!! The motor ran like crap!!! We decided on the spot that we were going to go ELECTRIC from here on in. For small boats and dinghy use there are electric motors available in every marine catalog now that provide sufficient HP for most users. These small electric motors come with a removable, rechargeable battery that can be charged onboard your main boat, mounted on the motor in seconds and provide the power you need to get around without the hassle of that gas outboard. Check out the specs and see if the run times are sufficient for your use. That electric motor is perfect for our standard dinghy use. However, the Compac Sun Cat is much much larger than a standard dinghy, so we are having the builder, Compac Yachts out of Florida, engineer a larger, 24 volt driven electric motor into the boat. The owners of Compac Yachts are engineers and are working with the electric motor manufacturer to do this custom, one off setup for us, complete with the onboard charging system, battery bank, remote controls, and all AC/DC wiring. Everything will be integrated into the design of the boat making it a totally turnkey look and operation right from the factory. This electric motor setup will provide the equivalent power of a 6 HP outboard, with significantly higher thrust, for 9 hours or so on a single charge at half power. Our calculations indicate that we will seldom need to use half power once the boat is moving, so our estimate is that we will be able to power the Compac Sun Cat for 12 or more hours at near hull speed using the electric motor setup. And that is WITHOUT the use of the sail. This electric motor setup is ideal for us because it will allow us to use the Sun Cat as a big dinghy for zooming all over the area, including even overnights, as the Sun Cat has a small cabin, a portapotty, dual house batteries in addition to the engine batteries, and enough DC power to run an ice chest cooler. So we will be able to leave the Trawler anchored or out in the "back waters of paradise" and use the Sun Cat to motor into civilization for provisioning. We are going to have our Trawler wired with an external 30 amp outlet so that we can hook the Sun Cat up to our Trawler for charging while we are running the generator when we are anchored out. We are going to have this larger electric motor for our "big" dinghy, the Compac Sun Cat, and the smaller electric motor for our regular dinghy. And we can do this all without the smell, mess, and hazard of gas on the Sun Cat or the need for an alternate fuel supply other than diesel on our Trawler. We will probably put a chain around the gas outboard and use it as a fishing anchor!!! hahahaha If anyone is interested in more details just email us at: santasandi@webtv.net. Sandi & Randy 36' Marine Trader "Flashy Pink" San Diego, CA