Hi Donk, as twodogs said I currently own a Yamaha 33. When talking to other sailors about the boat the topic of the engine under the V berth almost always raises it head. I must admit that prior to purchasing the boat the weight of the engine up front gave me some cause for concern as to how it would perform in a seaway. After some research I concluded that these boats are fairly well balanced and have no greater propensity to hobby horse or misbehave any more than other boats of a similar age and design(now confirmed by sailing experience). Access to the engine is excellent as the V berth furniture comes apart easily and the forward hatch is almost directly overhead. Obviously having the engine up front requires an 8m long exhaust hose to the rear transom and a fairly large capacity water lock muffler. The long prop shaft, while unusual results in a relatively shallow thrust line, making the original 12hp yanmar surprisingly efficient if some what small compared to modern trends. After almost forty years of good service to multiple owners the engine began to have some overheating issues so I decided to strip it down for inspection. I found that the injector nozzle and top end had some wear along with the typical corrosion and calcification in the raw water cooling system. After much consideration I decided to replace the engine rather than rebuild(something I had allowed for when purchasing the boat). I was able to install a 30hp engine easily into the boat which has improved motoring performance markedly with importantly no gain in weight. I do miss the redundancy of a hand crank that the original engine offered, but i guess you can't have everything. The fuel tank is also forward in the boat which can make refueling at sea interesting in any kind of swell. All in all I've the found the Yamaha brand to be well engineered and built in most aspects. I hope your friend gains as much pleasure sailing his boat as my wife and I do sailing our old girl.
PS: yes Ramona I've used clear hosing as supplied and endorsed by the engine distributor???
Plenty of room for servicing despite needing a short handle screwdriver for changing the impeller.
