17 CC Power

[Anonymous]

I recently bought my first AS, a '74 with a 50hp Merc, 1990, on there.  I actually bought it from the original owner and it was a heartfelt sale for him.  He took great care of it and its in great shape.  My question is what do most people run on this hull?  On the seatrial the 50 felt a little underpowered.  Other than that the boat is great and i can't wait to take it out for some striper fishing off the cape.

[Seadog]

I would say your 17 is underpowered with 50 hp.

I had a 1990 175 with a 90 hp and wished it had had a 115.
 
The newer 175's have a max hp of 120 so 50 hp sounds pretty sluggish.

That's pretty good to find a '74 from the original owner.

Good luck with her.

[Deck Daddy]

My 90 hp yamaha pushes my 17 right along @ 35 knts. Great on fuel on gets me all over Buzzards Bay and the Sound. 50 hp seems to be underpowered, but the phrase around these parts seem to be "slow and steady". Good luck and see ya around the Cape.

[steved]

Did the previous owner pass along any original Aquasport materials with the boat? If so, we would love to have copies/ scans for our Aquasport history project. Please let us know.

Thanks

[RickK]

When I bought my 170 (in '88 ) it had a Merc 150 on it.     Man did that baby fly - give ya a face lift when WOT.  (About 3 inches of boat in the water at top end).  Well the motor froze up a little later and I stepped down to a 115.  Runs at 38-39 mph now even with an oversized windshield.  I talked to a mechanic at his shop and when I told him it used to have a 150, he told me that if he powered it he'd put a 200 on it  :twisted:
I think a 90-125 would be fine.

[osprey170]

My 85 has an Evinrude 115 that is original to the boat - it runs plenty fast.  I think anything higher than a 130 would be a little scary.  Spec sheet on this website says max HP to be 130 which sounds about right to me.  Also have to consider what the weight and power will do to your transom.

[Anonymous]

Great, thanks for the feedback.  This boat is sweet, hoping to put her in the water this weekend.  She also came with the light green rub rail all around.  She's a beaut!

[Anonymous]

I have a 86' 170 with the original 90 johnson it runs great,I think if it blew up I would replace it with a 90 E-tec

[DoOver]

I have an early 70's 170 that I just love. It came with a 65 Johnson that I wore out. I put a 73 140 Johnson on it and goes 39.9 mph on my gps. This is a great site! Nice to see other Aquasoport owners. Brian

[Skipper]

I think, but am not positive, that somewhere along the vintage of your motor the HP ratings were changed from the powerhead to the prop.  My understanding is that Yamaha started this.  If I am correct, be careful that the HP ratings you are hearing are the new or old version.  If I'm wrong, I will gladly stand corrected.

As an example, for my 1977 19-6 FF I replaced my original 140 HP Evinrude with a 1989 150 HP Johnson.  Even though only 10 HP more, it fells and runs like twice the HP and runs WOT 12 MPH faster -- and is considerably more gutsy in pulling everything from skiers to a heavy load of passengers, ice chests, 50 gallons of fuel, etc., and jumps onto a plane when the old 140 would strain and groan for 2-300 feet or more.  It was in 1989 when I first heard this.

[JimCt]

Guess I'm one of Deck Daddy's "slow and steady" types.  My '72 170 came with a Merc. 75 on it and it's plenty fast enough for me; ~33 kts.  Opened up, unless the sea is close to flat, which is rare here on L.I. Sound, you really get bounced around.  I can deal with it but others in the boat have a tough, tiring job just holding on.  The AS hull can take the seas fine, its the souls aboard who sometimes can't.  And I like happy people aboard.

I suppose the right power depends on a) what the hull is C.G. rated to have, b) the average sea conditions you can generally expect where you're located, and c) what the mission is.  My mission is to enjoy being on the water as long as possible. A little less speed seems to help.

[RickK]

I have an early 70's 170 that I just love. It came with a 65 Johnson that I wore out. I put a 73 140 Johnson on it and goes 39.9 mph on my gps. This is a great site! Nice to see other Aquasoport owners. Brian

Brian, welcome aboard and to the 170 club.  Do you know what year she is?  Does your boat have the ID plate on it (right rear outside transom)?  Someone stated here that they started using them in 73, so that'll give you an idea of the year of yours - mine does not have one.  Of course your title would tell you that too    Any pics you can post?

[DoOver]

Hi Rick, yes she had a aluminum tag held on by two rivets but fell off. The registration is up and I can't find the paper work on it, to tell you the year. When I reregister I'll  know.  I've had her about 10 years. I use to fish her every night. I fish the Hudson and the Long Island Sound out of Westport Ct. Stripers, blues and fluke. Great boat for two people! We been in all kinds of water and weather, allways feel secure. I'll get a camera and post some photo's.
 Brian

[RickK]

I fish the intercoastal waterways down here for the most part, which means we're usually fishing structure - casting under docks, mangrove banks, etc.  Just so many sides to a boat, so you're right, 2 people is the perfect number in the 170, any more and you start getting in each other's way or someone is on the wrong side to fish the structure.  You'd think a 17' boat would have enough room.  I don't know about the newer 175 but my boat is not very wide at the beam (around 6' at the widest - by the CC) which makes it less stable and if more than 2 are fishing one side or if you have a bunch of people walking fore and aft all the time ......  2 is perfect.  8)