Outboard for E27
I recently purchased a 9.9 Honda, only has about 5 hours on it so far.
I had talked to Nigel, and was going to go with the 8hp, but they weighed the same, so I got the larger one.
The only reason am commenting is that I have the unique experience of comparing the Yamaha 9.9. I sailed the Oregon Offshore (from Astoria to Victoria), and didn't want to do it with my old 2 stroke mercury. It is a good motor, but the boat maxed out at about 5 knots. I borrowed the 9.9 Yamaha from one of my crew, and used it for about two weeks.
The Yamaha and the Honda perform comparably. Either would get the boat up to about 8 kts. (Please keep in mind that I have little confidence in the absolute speed registered, but the relative performance should be reliable).
I never did find a dealer for the Yamaha in my area, so bought the Honda. (Think about spending the extra $40 for an hour meter/tach so you can watch the maintenance more closely. This is a big investment.) I think in terms of performance that the Yamaha did perform slightly better at slower speeds. If I had the choice of doing either one, I would probably choose the Yamaha if price and weight were the same. Be sure you are comparing apples to apples, there are a lot of versions of these motors. I spent the big bucks and got the long shaft, high output motor. I looked pretty closely at the Mercury. It might be a better long term investment. It had cylinder displacement about twice that of the Honda. Unfortunately, it weighed about 20 pounds more than the Honda. Our boats are so sensitive to weight in the stern that I didn't think that was acceptable. Not only that, but I can lift and place the 111 lbs of the Honda, I don't think I could have done that for the Mercury.
If a higher horsepower engine was no more expensive, and no more weight, I would go ahead. But with this engine cranked all the way up, the boat is in a big hole, and I doubt it would go much faster with more hp.
That's my opinion on it. I hope it was worth what you paid for it!