Alumacraft Lunker 165 CS with a 25-hp Yamaha

We tested the Alumacraft Lunker 165 CS last week in Georgia with the new Yamaha F25 outboard and got some surprising speed and fuel consumption figures.

When you were a kid don’t you remember that the horsepower on the boats was a lot
lower than what you see today? We remember when the hottest outboard motor on the
lake was a 60-hp engine and it was huge (and all the pretty girls wanted to ride
in that guy’s boat!). We remember waterskiing quite happily behind an aluminum boat
powered by a 25-hp motor (with girls of more discerning taste). To look at the boating
magazines and the rigs at boat shows these days one would think that somehow over
the years outboard motors lost their strength. What happened? To find out we asked
Yamaha to put a new F25LA 4-stroke on an Alumacraft Lunker 165 CS and we’d find
out. Come along for
the ride, captain's report and test numbers -- pull the mouse