Powerboat Fuel Efficiency

Ask questions before buying our plans or request a new design. Anybody can post here
konaphil
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Hawaii

Powerboat Fuel Efficiency

Post by konaphil »

I'm glad to see the "new boat design" efficient sharpie. The time of cheap fuel, and deep V 26 foot boats with twin 350's is coming to a close for most of us. Although the kings of efficiency will continue to be the full displacement boats, the speed can be frustrating. To me, the perfect boat is a seaworthy, trailerable, semi-displacement/semi-planing powerboat. WOT speed is not important to me. Its beating up an engine,and wasting fuel.
A decent cruising speed? Maybe 12-14 knots would be nice. An inboard can be still trailerable with the right trailer, so thats not out of the question.
Again, I like the new design ( 26' sharpie), as I believe these are the boats that hold much promise for the future.

Spokaloo
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
Posts: 4064
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:29 pm
Location: Spokane, Wa
Location: Spokane, Wa
Contact:

Post by Spokaloo »

Jacques seems to be fond of the semi-planers.

I agree, I think the cutting edge nowadays is going to be low horse, moderate speeds. People were flocking to ride in our boat over the weekend, esp those who have their own boats. I go out fishing with a friend reguarly who has a 225hp suzuki ob on his 21' deep v, but when the opportunity presents itself, he is in my boat asap.

Phil, flip through some of the old Atkin stuff. If there is something that a group of us like in that semi-planing speed range, we might be able to talk JM into bringing from the past to the present construction wise.

Sergeant Faunce perhaps?

E

jacquesmm
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 28215
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2002 1:00 am
Location: Florida USA
Contact:

Post by jacquesmm »

Correct, I like moderate speed in power boats.
This may be strange coming from somebody who worked for Cigarette and raced sailboats but seaworthiness and extreme speed do not often go together.
I am more the cruising type. I like to keep going whatever the weather is and moderate speed boats do that well.
There is a clear trend towards efficient semi-planing boats. For the first time, there will be seminar about those hulls at the next IBEX and guess who is going?
Those hulls are difficult to design but a lot was done last century and we can learn from those boats. I plan to produce a number of plans with that program.
Jacques Mertens - Designer
http://boatbuildercentral.com

User avatar
Knottybuoyz
Very Active Poster
Very Active Poster
Posts: 2566
Joined: Sun Sep 03, 2006 8:09 pm
Location: Iroquois, ON Canada

Post by Knottybuoyz »

jacquesmm wrote: Those hulls are difficult to design but a lot was done last century and we can learn from those boats. I plan to produce a number of plans with that program.
Do you think you'll get the TW34 into that category? I was looking at a few trawlers (on the internet) today and there's a lot in the 30 to 34' range that would fit in that category, Island Gypsy, Camano, Marine Trader yadda yadda yadda. 15 kts in a 34' trawler would be ultra nice!
Yours Aye! Rick
"It's not the boat "you built" until you've sworn at it, bled on it, sweated over it, cried beside it and then threatened to haul the POS outside and burn it!"

dewers
Active Poster
Active Poster
Posts: 298
Joined: Mon Apr 17, 2006 4:34 pm
Location: Santa Fe, NM

Post by dewers »

Phil, good luck on the hurricane bearing down on you. I have family (fitzgerald) in Kona and I heard that the winds are already picking up.

Sorry about hijacking the thread

Spokaloo
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
Posts: 4064
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:29 pm
Location: Spokane, Wa
Location: Spokane, Wa
Contact:

Post by Spokaloo »

For example:

Russel R, 20 Hp, 15mph:

Image
Image



XLNC, 13.5mph on 6hp:

Image

Easy Goer, 12 mph on 8 hp:

Image

Slip By, 15 hp, 15 mph:

Image

Of course, the Sergeant, 15hp, 15mph:

Image

Ghost, at 28', 40hp, 16mph:

Image

You get the idea. There are many, many designs out there from the past, that can be made contemporary again, making a fast, efficient build out of a fast, efficient boat. Moderate speeds and all-conditions abilities (in some).

E

anonymous

Post by anonymous »

It seems to me on this board people prefer powerboats instead of sailboats, since powerboats is what most posts are about.

Is it because it is a US based board where powerboats are more dominant in the market or?

I kind of like sailboats or displacement boats. Dunno...

Spokaloo
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
* Bateau Builder - Expert *
Posts: 4064
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 5:29 pm
Location: Spokane, Wa
Location: Spokane, Wa
Contact:

Post by Spokaloo »

The US is a big country, which has a pretty minimal amount of its area on a coast. On top of that, some coastal areas are not conducive to sailing. Most of us are inland, with gusty and moody winds. Many are on large bodies of water which need to be traversed in less than a day. A strong majority are anglers, who need to get from spot to spot a little sooner than later.

Its not like The Netherlands or say France where the country has a good percentage of the populous with ready access to the seas.

E

konaphil
Frequent Poster
Frequent Poster
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Dec 31, 1969 7:00 pm
Location: Hawaii

Post by konaphil »

I appreciate the positive responses to the concept of moderate speed, efficient boat designs. Atkins' designs are impressive. Interestingly, if I just wanted to go out and have open dayboat fun, the FS 17 looks good. But , personally, if I can just have one boat (reality), a big, trailerable, efficient cruiser makes a lot more sense. A this time, I live on the windward (eastern) coast of the Big Island, and a 10:00 Tuesday evening, we have had no wind from hurricane. Maybe something later, we'll see.

anonymous

Post by anonymous »

Spokaloo wrote:The US is a big country, which has a pretty minimal amount of its area on a coast. On top of that, some coastal areas are not conducive to sailing. Most of us are inland, with gusty and moody winds. Many are on large bodies of water which need to be traversed in less than a day. A strong majority are anglers, who need to get from spot to spot a little sooner than later.

Its not like The Netherlands or say France where the country has a good percentage of the populous with ready access to the seas.

E
Last time I checked US map, it has a large area on the west from Canada to Mexico. It has Hawaii. It has Gulf of Mexico area, Florida, Keys, Puerto Rico as a territory, and then from Florida all the way up to Canada again. Oh, and I forgot Alaska area. I can say it has much more sea area than European country on its own. For Great Lakes it is also a very large body of water. Considering population is highly concentrated on the coasts in US (except few places like Chichago, Atlanta to name the few) I think lots of people have realtivly easy access to the water. People in Europe do not necessarily live just next to the sea but have to travel as well.

For anglers and other fishing things - sure, powerboat is a much better thing. But for an enthusiast for sea, sailboat should have more charachter and not high horsepower, high speed, even AC inside the boat, satelitte and other stuff.

Could it be US love for V-8 engines and high displacements (powerboats) and European predominantly smaller cars with smaller displacement engines (sailboats)? Also in Europe people tend to eat more at home, still cooking but in US takeout, eating out or buying frozen food is very common nowadays. No time to slow down and smell the roses I reckon.

P.S This is NOT USA bashing - I consider US my second home and I love it. It is just a question why powerboats are dominant in US and not sailboats? Also, I wouldn't mind more sailboats and/or more future sailboat designs on this site....and everyone is talking about power all the time :(:(:(

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 17 guests