mounting a motor on a Hobie Wave

Hi all,

I am interested in mounting a small (3.5HP) outboard motor on my Hobie Wave. I've read through a few threads showing cleverly designed rear motor mounts that clear the tiller handle.

What I'm wondering is whether the design could be greatly simplified by mounting the motor on the front crossbar, and running it in reverse. The motor I have doesn't have a reverse gear, so reverse would be accomplished by rotating the motor 180 degrees. Steering would be handled by the main tiller, so no need to hang out by the motor once it's lowered and started.

The motor would be mounted adjacent to the mast, and would tilt up when not in use. A simple bracket would need to be fabricated, of course.

Any thoughts on this design before I make a fool of myself?

From my limited experience with motor on a Wave I'd recommend to carefully think through about the following:
1. How to trim throttle with motor mounted in front?
2. Does your motor have emergency kill switch and how you'll be using it with this configuration?

CA Newbie, great points, thanks.

The motor will be used as a backup to get home if the wind dies, as there are strong tidal currents where I sail. So, I'm thinking that the motor throttle will not need to be adjusted frequently. Yes, the motor has a kill switch, so I'd need to have a long lanyard available.

One other issue I've encountered - the pontoons are much taller at the fore crossbar than at the aft. So, an adjustable bracket would be required to get the motor low enough. The complexity grows...