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I think that my 27 must be OK on hull weight judging by the way it sits in the water. I have also read where weighing the hull against the hull weights listed by Boston Whaler is not an accurate method for determining the amount of water in the foam, even though I still see people claiming this is the only accurate method for determining this, due to the variance between actual weight of the individual classic hulls compared to the single number for weight listed being as much as 500 lbs on the Outrages. I believe that this weight variance was a result of the manual/hand layup techniques that were used back in the 80's, but I don't know for sure. I think today's Whalers are much more likely to be closer to published weight due to modern quality control techniques both at Boston Whaler and at their raw material suppliers.

The Whaler 27's were available with so many options, they remind me of Class 8 trucks. I spec trucks for my business where the weight of the vehicle is a primary consideration for it's usefulness and revenue generation. Every single component, right down to the materials used for the various options within hub manufacturers, have a published weight listed by the truck assembler, like Paccar, Volvo, or Freightliner. These weights are also not precise, and when the final assembly is complete, a minimal level of fuel is put in the fuel tanks and each truck is then weighed at the assembly plant. I have never seen this weight to be the same as generated by the computer when the vehicle is spec'd, and I have seen variances of as much as 1000 lbs in these 15000-20000 lb trucks. It is a shame that all boat manufacturers do not put an actual weight tag on every boat the way it is done in the class 8 truck business.

I have also noted that everything weighs more than most people think and weight adds up quickly. I know that there is a lot more than I listed in my post above on my boat. That Radar arch is not considered in the published weight, and I estimate it at 300 lbs minimum...it's heavy, I need help to lift it into place when I have it folded down for trailering. The Tiara-style seat that is on my boat is custom, and the weight of it is added to the original Boston Whaler seating that has been rearranged to support it. There are 2 more seats, a heavy captain's chair and a lighter, but still heavy, secondary captain's chair on the helm as well. My boat was also weighed with the helm/outside lounge area Bimini top and canvas on it, as well as the side, rear, and front eisenglass /canvas. These weights were not included in the listed weight.There was also tools, spare parts, clothing, food and drinking water, etc. etc. that I did not mention in that post for brevity's sake. Each one of those 2 Garmin MFD's on the helm weigh 16 lbs or so, the GSD-26 CHIRP Sonar unit weighs 11 lbs, the autopilot pump system including the control box and pump as well as plumbing and fluids weighs over 25 lbs, and that open-array radar alone was over 60 lbs! The hydraulic twin Seastar steering system, and the 2 anchors and ropes/chain are also not included in the published weight of the boats. There was also a couple of M/T ice chests, and 6 high quality life-jackets on board as well that I failed to mention...I wonder now what all I actually forgot!

It is not clear, at least to me, if the weight of the stove, refrigerator and head were included in the official listed weight. Even the shorepower systems varied between boats, and it was optional equipment as well. The reason that the original owner's manual was a loose-leaf notebook is to allow Boston Whaler to compile the book with the individual manufacturers owner's manuals for each component installed on the boats as OEM.

When you start adding everything up, it would not surprise me at all if I failed to list 900 lbs of stuff in my post, and actually, I am a bit surprised that I got that close! :)


As to the actual vs. rated horsepower of the engines, it sure would be nice for engineering calculations if that 10 percent variance was eliminated! Unfortunately we are stuck with the info we have got, and I have read that between the same manufacturer's engines of the same published horsepower, there is also an actual variance of output as well, just to make things even MORE complicated. I am wondering if their is a difference between the 2 engines output on my boat right now, as a matter of fact, due to the difference I see in displayed RPM at WOT.

It is interesting to me that, with only 5 exceptions, every single outboard powered boat over 150 HP, stored at my current marina in Surfside TX, has either Yamaha or Mercury engines. There is a boat up for sale there with a pair of 300 E-tec's which has been replaced already with another similar boat powered by Yamaha's by the current owner. I have a couple of pictures on my Flicker site of the interior of the dry-stack facility that clearly show this, here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/99787852...467798233/