Sailors Powerboat

[Amati]

^^

better if the bow fender was stowed .

Naw, he’s running over a crab pot....

 

[Amati]

I've owned power and sail pretty much continuously since I could first afford to buy a boat with paper route money. After about 50 years of a wide spectrum of boat ownership, and the good fortune and hard work habits to sail and power around for tens of thousands of miles on boats I cannot afford, I've come to some conclusions:

1) The longer I own or operate a powerboat, the slower I go. Anything over 15 knots is truly a waste of capability. 6-8 knots is actually a very nice cruising speed.

2) At the speeds we actually end up running, sailboats under power are fundamentally more comfortable and less expensive to operate.

3) Its the day out on the water that is important, not how far one goes in that day (beyond being able to make the next anchorage). So being able to get to Catalina in 40 minutes or even 2 hours is no advantage to getting there in 4 or 6 hours, as the 4 or 6 hours underway on a nice boat (power or sail) is enjoyable, whereas the 40 minute trip beats everyone up (those over about 13 anyway), and causes the cocktails to spill, champagne glasses to break, and hors d'oeuvres to fly around the boat. The entire experience should be pleasurable, not just the destination.

Hence, the retirement boat is a sailboat rather than a powerboat.

But I know eventually I'll lose mobility and balance, and at that time, a powerboat will again be the vessel. But it will still be a slow powerboat with a very small motor.

10 knots is better-

-easier to divide into distance,

-fast enough to get somewhere,

-slow enough to see crud in the water and react, without raising blood pressure

- natural speed easy with a slender double ended light hull, small engine, not so long as to be too $$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[ProaSailor]

Newick designed trimaran, 50 hp outboard

View attachment 256539

 

[Al Paca]

[No message]

 

[Mitre cut]

This is interesting, he cruised a bit with us this summer. 10m-ish long and has a 50hp Yanmar that sips rather than guzzles, cruises forever at 10 knots and has a sprint speed of over 15kts.

The beam is variable - the amas are winched in tight alongside for going into a standard 10m slip.

 

[farleydoodle]

I owned this San Juan 38 for 10 years, and loved every minute. Took it all over the PNW, as far as the Queen Charlottes. I cruised at about 20 knots, with a top speed over 30. Even now, almost 10 years after I sold it, I think it's one of the prettiest boats on the water. When I sold it, I reduced my carbon footprint considerably by getting a sailboat. 

 

[socalrider]

I owned this San Juan 38 for 10 years, and loved every minute. Took it all over the PNW, as far as the Queen Charlottes. I cruised at about 20 knots, with a top speed over 30. Even now, almost 10 years after I sold it, I think it's one of the prettiest boats on the water. When I sold it, I reduced my carbon footprint considerably by getting a sailboat. 

View attachment 256553

Just glorious. But Christ, twin 325’s?  Ouch - 1nmpg would be optimistic, no?

i don’t have detailed measurements but our 40’ sailboat at 6-7kts with the 4108 can’t burn much more than 1 liter per hour. I have owned her for 2+ years of weekly daysailing and have put a total of 20 gallons into the tank. I love the idea of a 2-4 hour trip to Catalina but not for $500 in fuel each time. 

 

[Pertinacious Tom]

10 knots is better-

-easier to divide into distance,

-fast enough to get somewhere,

-slow enough to see crud in the water and react, without raising blood pressure

- natural speed easy with a slender double ended light hull, small engine, not so long as to be too $$$$$$$$$$$$

The Cowmaran was designed to go ten knots because that seems fast to a sailor.

The owner mostly runs around at wide open throttle because 10 knots is not fast in a powerboat.

I bought our latest powerboat just for the above-20-knot cruising speed. Shrinks the harbor and makes things possible that can't be done in a slower boat.

Pretty cool, YMT. The two bilge keels are interesting and obviously have much less surface than a long skeg and no doubt give the directional stability needed. It's not beautiful, but it's good looking and very bold.

I think it goes a bit beyond "not beautiful" and might even be Admirable.

 

[Amati]

The Cowmaran was designed to go ten knots because that seems fast to a sailor.

The owner mostly runs around at wide open throttle because 10 knots is not fast in a powerboat.

I bought our latest powerboat just for the above-20-knot cruising speed. Shrinks the harbor and makes things possible that can't be done in a slower boat.

I think it goes a bit beyond "not beautiful" and might even be Admirable.

Cool boat- but on the 10 knot speed, I’ve lost count of how many times we’ve been sailing along at 10-11 knots, dodging all sorts of crap, and a motorboat flashes (or thunders) by, hits some flotsam, and BAM! followed by sick mechanical sounds as they disappear into the distance or around the bend.  Maybe it’s just local conditions?

 

[MisterMoon]

The perfect speed for me is 15 knots. Fast enough to get somewhere, but not so fast that you have to concentrate super hard while on the helm. Problem with most planing powerboats is they will either go six knots in displacement mode or 20 knots up on step, there is no happy medium. And they need big HP and big fuel bills to to do it. I want boat that will run comfortably at 12-15 knots, top out at 20 and do it all with 60 HP or less. 

 

[Doug Lord]

My Dads motorsailer.He started out with a Larchmont "O" boat and then decided to take the family on a cruise. So he found a good deal on this Hand designed motorsailer and had it completely refurbished at Higgins in New Orleans and we took off for Miami, the Isle of Pines, Havana, Nova Scotia and ,finally Brazil......

 

[QBF]

A No Limit Ship, one of which crossed the Atlantic in 2016. This year it is leaving Bermuda to return to Europe via the Azores.

This is a video of Four Seasons Atlantic crossing via the northern island route.

 

[widget]

This is interesting, he cruised a bit with us this summer. 10m-ish long and has a 50hp Yanmar that sips rather than guzzles, cruises forever at 10 knots and has a sprint speed of over 15kts.

The beam is variable - the amas are winched in tight alongside for going into a standard 10m slip.

View attachment 256545

Cool approach on the retractable amas.  This has turned into quite the hypermiler thread which is interesting.  I'd take Bob Perry's more traditional design any day over this, but then again, my idea of good days on the water is not covering distance at moderate speed. That's what sailing if for.  

Farleydoodle - That San Juan is BEAUTIFUL!  I've always been a fan of the picnic boats and really like what MJM has done to modernize with an eye to fuel conservation.  Open checkbook for a powerboat and it would be a nice new MJM with outboards, closely followed by the True North, just because I love the lines.  

 

[Tanton Y_M]

Sailors Power Boat @ 8.5knots. The Northwest Passage 2009. "The Other Side Of The Ice". The Movie and the Book.

 

[IStream]

Cool approach on the retractable amas.  This has turned into quite the hypermiler thread which is interesting.  I'd take Bob Perry's more traditional design any day over this, but then again, my idea of good days on the water is not covering distance at moderate speed. That's what sailing if for.  

Farleydoodle - That San Juan is BEAUTIFUL!  I've always been a fan of the picnic boats and really like what MJM has done to modernize with an eye to fuel conservation.  Open checkbook for a powerboat and it would be a nice new MJM with outboards, closely followed by the True North, just because I love the lines.  

Bob's design is great but it's a 60' long custom, which makes it unaffordable to procure and own for the vast majority.  A fuel-efficient 10-15kt motor vessel in the 40' range produced on a line is a different beast. 

 

[slug zitski]

Dont know if they ever built this radical  Chuck Paine  design.

it was interesting  

 

[kimbottles]

I am a sailor at heart, but I am quite fond of this Northwest School of Wooden Boatbuilding Paul Gartside designed Hadlock 23 Skiff. However it is lacking in cruising accommodations.

 

[Panoramix]

pogo loxo

 

[slug zitski]

The little pogo is nice .

do they have some clever solution for storing  a dingy  ?

 

[farleydoodle]

Just glorious. But Christ, twin 325’s?  Ouch - 1nmpg would be optimistic, no?

i don’t have detailed measurements but our 40’ sailboat at 6-7kts with the 4108 can’t burn much more than 1 liter per hour. I have owned her for 2+ years of weekly daysailing and have put a total of 20 gallons into the tank. I love the idea of a 2-4 hour trip to Catalina but not for $500 in fuel each time. 

Twin 350's actually. I kept detailed fuel logs the whole time I owned the boat, and averaged 1.1 nm/gal overall.