Its unclear to me what you are getting at with that post Fallguy.You burn $300 at $4 a gallon...or 75 gallons.
75 gallons at $6 is $450
Let's say you get 75 miles.
10 mph cruise 5mpg Skoota 24
max speed 25mph
At cruise, the Skoota uses 15 gallons or at $6; 90$ bs 450$
Yeah, that is pretty close to real economics.
Imagine saving $360 a weekend for gas.
Forget the Skoota. Some of JM designs will do better than 1mpg I'll bet.
I am sure that you put a lot of research and thought into what design best met your needs, as did I, before you settled on the Skoota 32. Likewise I hope that you find your boat exceeds your expectations, as I have with mine.The Skoota can autopilot and you can radar alarm, flir alarm, yada yada.
I am building the 32 to fish. And cruise. And I am quite happy at 25mph if I need it. The other thing is no way do the displacement craft need to drop to 5 mph in weather.
The obvious downside is you can't win the race around V.I. But I don't want to...
The issue here is that IMO Christer is all over the place with what he is looking for in a boat across size/performance/economy/amenities - and is just not going to find all of his desires satisfied in one design.
I went from a 14' alloy boat with a 40 hp 4 stroke $50 dollar a day fishing boat to a 22' composite boat with a 250 hp 4 stroke $200 a day fishing boat. At first I was concerned about the increased cost of operating the bigger boat until one of my mates pointed out that it is a BIG boat with a BIG motor and a large capacity to take family and friends (generally 3 rather than 2) to remote places. I've put 100 hrs a year on my motor in the two years since it "splashed", and many times more than that on the boat because we spend most of our time on the trolling motor.
I could do almost everything with my 14' boat that I do with my 22' boat - but not with the same comfort and safety!
We were sitting comfortably on 20 kts in this video. Thoughts of economy tend to be put on the back burner in such conditions.
[youtube]https://youtu.be/bfa67LO6qmU[/youtube]
In my little boat I would have been doing 6 kts max. I have no idea how a Skoota 32 would go in such conditions!
I am fortunate in that the build and operating cost are not an issue for me, but I have seen many people buy big boats and once the novelty has worn off realise that they can't reasonably afford to use them.