TWL: Is 900 horsepower too much?
I just read about the Nordic Tug 52 and can't help wondering what kind of
wake that kind of boat will pull at 17 knots, or while climbing up to that
speed. I imagine it would tear up all of Narragansett Bay.
An editor friend at a major sailing magazine sent me the above
comment upon reading about the new Nordic Tug being powered by twin
450-hp diesels as standard fare.
What do you think? Is 900 hp too much?
--Georgs
-----Original Message-----
Subject: TWL: Is 900 horsepower too much?
I just read about the Nordic Tug 52 and can't help wondering what kind of
wake that kind of boat will pull at 17 knots, or while climbing up to that
speed. I imagine it would tear up all of Narragansett Bay.
An editor friend at a major sailing magazine sent me the above
comment upon reading about the new Nordic Tug being powered by twin
450-hp diesels as standard fare.
What do you think? Is 900 hp too much?
--Georgs
REPLY
I wondered at the same thing.
Last year when I worked on a repowering job for an 80 foot fishing tug with a
900 HP Detroit engine we could turn up about 9.5 Knots max in a 80 foot hull.
That hull created a considerable wake. That much power in a much shorter hull
sure will create even more wake.
Watching the short tugs bulldozing about in Vancouver harbour or along the
Fraser river and dragging huge wakes behind them certainly suggest a similar
pattern will occur with the Nordic Tug 52.
Somehow the original concept of recreational trawlering seems to have been lost
in the marketing hype.
Arild
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Just goes to show how misused the word "trawler" is. 135 hp is just fine on
my Krogen 42. I can just imagine the engine room of that 52. Sheesh! Can't
wait to see one pulling skiers though...
Keith
__
Buy Land Now. It's Not Being Made Any More.
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<snip>
What do you think? Is 900 hp too much?
This is a great thread to weigh in on for those of us who have chosen a
semi-displacement hull for very specific purposes.
My wife and I are the proud owners of a Gozzard 51 - hull #1- and two years
old. We are madly in love with this boat that has the same power plant as
the new Nordic Tug 52- a pair of Cummins 450c's. A picture of our boat can
be seen in the Gozzard ad near the end of each Passagemaker magazine and the
complete specs and virtual tour is available on the Gozzard website.
After 45+ years of sailing at 6-7 knots - many times in the wrong direction-
we love the simplicity and flexibility of this semi-displacement boat. We
spend most of our time cruising at the displacement speed of 9-10 knots,
depending on fuel and water load, where we burn 9 gph, and fast cruise at
15-16 knots on plane with a burn of nearly 30 gph. Top speed is 18.5 to 20
knots at nearly 50 gph. Yes we can play trawler all day at 7 knots with a
burn of less than 4 gph and keep the engine temperatures satisfactory.
Is this a true trawler? Not really. Is it the best bluewater passagemaker?
Not at all. However, for many of us the wonderful coastal miles available
for truly relaxing cruising is what its all about. In this case this boat
gets the job done very well and reasonably economically. We have been able
to make pleasant day trips from Algonac. Mich to Cleveland, from Sandy Hook
to Cape May, and from Naples to Key West.
We prefer to avoid storms with the higher speed than see whether our ever
aging bodies can weather another one. The boat actually handles larger chop
better at the fast cruise speed. We experienced the usual 3 to 4 foot chop
of Albemarle along with a string of other trawler types and all of us got
well soaked and well bounced at trawler speed. However when we kicked the
speed up to 15 knots, we got to turn the wipers off and leave the others
behind.
The hull of the Gozzard is very similar in configuration to that of the
beautiful Fleming 55, which interesting enough employs the same power plant.
The quarter beam buttock angle, which pretty much determines whether the
boat is displacement, semi-displacement, or planing is just above the
planing angles of two degrees or less. We selected it this way in
discussions with Ted Gozzard in order to achieve a cruise speed twice that
of our last sailboat, a Gozzard 44, and that determined the use of twin
450's. Yes the wake is significant in the transitional range and that is why
we chose either the displacement or planing level, where we are no different
than most other boats of this size.
After all the sailing we are taking cruising easy with the
semi-displacement, twin screw, bow thrusted, and stabilized motor vessel -
even if it isn't a true trawler by many people's standards. Enjoying life in
the half fast lane.
Vic McCloskey