This might take awhile! :.I have been going over a brochure i have from a aluminum boat dealer that list all there brands of boats with listings for each length,width,etc and there is something puzzling to me.First when the coast guard sets hp limits does it consider welded,riveted or fiberglass in the equation

or the weight of a boat?For instance you have four or five 1648 boats built by lowe,roughneck(*lowe welded),alumacraft,sea ark,weldcraft.There are slight differences in side height*(1" usually)maybe a inch or two difference in beam width,but then some are riveted boats and others welded.Some are rated for a

40,some a 35,and some a 45.How can such slight differences effect the ratings on a boat that is the same in length and bottom width,10 HP differences.I have seen where if a console was added it would up the HP rating by 10 and if a floor was installed another 10-15 hp added= tiller 40,console 50,console & floor installed 75hp.I would think the more weight added the less HP could be added because of weight,wouldn't you?Shed light on this for me please? :-/

well i dont know much about this but your logic seems backwards (if im wrong please explain it to me) but it seems the more weight you add to a boat the slower it would move with the same hp engine, thus you could be allowed more hp so that the boat could move a little better, also a lighter boat doesnt require as much hp as a heavier boat, so i assume the weight of the boat might be a factor when they are setting the hp rating....

Coast Guard establashies guidlines for max hp rating.  The manufactor sets the hp rating they feel is safe for their hulls, many times this is well below what the Coast Guard max allowed.   Console boats with a steering wheel are safer to drive than tiller or stick so it's not uncommon to see them with a higher hp rating.  Most manufactors lower the hp limit on their entry level boats.  Theirs just too much insurance liability involved to rate everything at what the Coast Guard would allow.