The brand new Capelli Tempest 775 meets the Yamaha F225 outboard. A very good encounter, despite the test conditions. As they say in Italy, rain is good luck on your wedding day…
It’s a rainy day on the river Po and the water has the color of lead at the Associazione motonautica Cremona, the powerboating association of the Italian city. The photos of this test have been taken on a clearly different day. The rain doesn’t stop us as we have to run the sea trial of Capelli Tempest 775 matched to the Yamaha F225 outboard.
Capelli Tempest 775
The Capelli Tempest 775 comes from the long history and experience of the Capelli yard, so this new unit is no exception and returns a good value for money. On a rib, in less than 8 meters, there’s not much you can invent: so the Tempest 775 has to win over competitors in terms of quality of the execution. Skipping a description of the traditional layout, I want to highlight some smart solutions that I encounter bow to aft. First, the fiberglass structure of the stemhead includes the anchor winch and a step for getting aboard. The solarium can be extended towards the pilot station, whose windshield is not reinforced by the handrail (there’ two, on the sides of the console). Beneath the driver’s seat there’s a galley cabinet which can serve the aft dinette.
Yamaha F225FETX
This unit is the smaller in the four-stroke, 4.2 liter family. The same block is used for F250D and F300B. Like the siblings, this F225F features 24 valves and six cylinders, with all the advanced solutions of the Japanese outboards: Electronic Fuel Injection, Power trim & tilt, throttle and transmission by wire, YCOP immobilizer.
The test
The Yamaha F225FETX motor mounts a 3-bladed, 15 1/4 x 16 “ steel propeller. What surprises the most is not the pure performance, but their absolute uniformity on both directions of the river. Even the fuel consumption, already low, gets lower when navigating against the flow. The slowest plane is at 2600 rpm for a quite high 18 knots, but the need of gas remains under 20 lph. In 2.8 seconds from still the Tempest 775 gets to plane, in another 7 you reach the top speed. Small adjustments of the trim are enough to gain 100 rpm and no less than 3 knots at maximum pace. On a river you’d better be careful with sudden maneuvers, because of shallows and close banks, but crossing our waves returns a good sensation of stability and comfort.
Technical features
Length overall 7,75 mt (25ft 5in)
Beam 3,00 mt (9ft 10in)
Displacement 1350 Kg
Tubular diameter 0.65 mt (25 in)
Max engine 250 HP
Fuel tank 250 lt (66 US gal)
Passengers 22
Performance down the river
| rpm | knots | mph | lph | nm/l | dB | range (20% reserve) |
| 1000 | 4,0 | 4,6 | 4,5 | 0,89 | 61 | 178 |
| 1500 | 7,0 | 8,1 | 8,6 | 0,81 | 62 | 163 |
| 2000 | 9,0 | 10,4 | 12,7 | 0,71 | 68 | 142 |
| 2500 | 15,0 | 17,3 | 18,7 | 0,80 | 72 | 160 |
| 3000 | 21,0 | 24,2 | 23,7 | 0,89 | 75 | 177 |
| 3500 | 25,0 | 28,8 | 28,8 | 0,87 | 76 | 174 |
| 4000 | 28,0 | 32,2 | 38,6 | 0,73 | 76 | 145 |
| 4500 | 32,0 | 36,8 | 50 | 0,64 | 77 | 128 |
| 5000 | 36,0 | 41,4 | 61,2 | 0,59 | 78 | 118 |
| 5500 | 39,0 | 44,9 | 71,1 | 0,55 | 80 | 110 |
| 6000 | 41,0 | 47,2 | 92,5 | 0,44 | 82 | 89 |
| 6100 | 44,0 | 50,6 | 94,4 | 0,47 | 82 | 93 |
Performance up the river
| rpm | knots | mph | lph | nm/l | dB | range (20% reserve) |
| 1000 | 5,0 | 5,8 | 4,6 | 1,09 | 61 | 217 |
| 1500 | 7,0 | 8,1 | 8,3 | 0,84 | 62 | 169 |
| 2000 | 9,0 | 10,4 | 11,8 | 0,76 | 68 | 153 |
| 2500 | 15,0 | 17,3 | 17,4 | 0,86 | 72 | 172 |
| 3000 | 20,0 | 23,0 | 23,1 | 0,87 | 75 | 173 |
| 3500 | 25,0 | 28,8 | 28,5 | 0,88 | 76 | 175 |
| 4000 | 29,0 | 33,4 | 39,2 | 0,74 | 76 | 148 |
| 4500 | 32,0 | 36,8 | 48,4 | 0,66 | 77 | 132 |
| 5000 | 35,0 | 40,3 | 61,1 | 0,57 | 78 | 115 |
| 5500 | 39,0 | 44,9 | 70,6 | 0,55 | 80 | 110 |
| 6000 | 41,0 | 47,2 | 91,9 | 0,45 | 82 | 89 |
| 6100 | 44,0 | 50,6 | 94,3 | 0,47 | 82 | 93 |
Test conditions
Calm water, temperature 12° C (54° F), clean hull fuel 110 lt (29 US gal), passengers 2
Indicative prices
Package Capelli Tempest 775/Yamaha F200GETX€ 51,875 + taxes
Package Capelli Tempest 775/Yamaha F225FETX€ 53,680 + taxes
Package Capelli Tempest 775/Yamaha F250DETX€ 54,470 + taxes
