Outboard powered Trawlers?
 

Hi All and Greetings from Ireland,

I've been lurking here for a while looking at the posts; very interesting and informative.

I'm interested in a trawler, BUT buying a 30 year old model does not appeal to me because of the potential of a financial melt down if the engines blow up. To me it's the same question as "How much is a 30 year old truck worth?" When you come to resell your boat.

I was looking at these outboard designs in alloy which would come in at 'budget' brand new, the complete hull/superstructure ready welded at about €2k/ft; the interior fitted out as a home build. Just hang the outboards on the transom and go!

32', 3 tons, 300hp.......

Are these really trawlers?

32 FT Commercial Crab Boat (1442) | Aluminum Boat Plans & Designs by Specmar

http://www.trawlerforum.com/attachme...cc7ec4a90a.jpg

http://www.trawlerforum.com/attachme...2a042536e3.jpg

I'd say you can cruise them any way you wish. Whatever you wish to call them they look light, efficient and capable. Personally I think you can get by fine with less than 300 HP (assuming twin 150's) but it's all dependent upon what you want a boat to do. R Cooke at this forum has a boat quite similar to the one on the bottom picture and he regularly cruises long distances in it comfortably.

He has a book about it to you can find on Amazon I believe, Google his name.

The naval architect stated that this design has 20 degree deadrise for 'rough water use', and I was just wondering how deep vee boats would cruise at trawler displacement speeds; I wouldn't be able to afford to cruise at 15-20 knots with only 1.5 mpg for long!

I was only interested in a coastal cruiser, would this make a good slow cruiser at say 7-8 kts and maybe 4 mpg?

These always intrigued me, and would get a closer look if we ever decide to go for a trailerable boat;

Caledon 27

I'm no Naval Architect but will say this as an owner of a planing hull boat. My boat slow cruises very economically with over 300 HP available at 6 or so knots but if the conditions get snotty it bounces around like a cork. My simple solution when conditions get like that is to kick it in the butt and get her up near planing speed, say about 12 knots for my boat and push through it, stabilizes my ride and gets out of the washing machine faster.

Planing hulls generally handle well when going faster but can slow down and get great mileage in benign conditions. My 2 cents and worth half that probably :)

Here in Europe you're only allowed about 27' long by 8'6" wide on a trailer, although the 3tons weight would be fine( max 3.5 tons ) with a private car licence.

The design seems to be 'nearly too good to be true' weighing at only about 3 tons, but I love the trawler workboat look!!

The new generation of OB's like the Suzuki leanburn seems to burn about the same fuel as a similar sized diesel.......

What's not to like....?

This is a trawler with an outboard, we saw it near Ft Myers Florida a couple of years ago. It looked like a 32-34 footer.

Here on the Shannon I see lots of planning boats like bayliners etc, and at slow speed they oscillate from side to side like demented devils! Ribs aren't quite as bad but still suffer from the same problem.

Is there a formula for knowing what is the max vee that is stabile at slow speed ?

Correct me if I'm wrong Rustybarge but can you acquire diesel outboards in Ireland?

That's a very nice looking boat.

What make is it?

Ahh, you must have been reading my post on the boat design forum.:)

That Caledonian looks very light for its size with all that heavy wood interior.
I would guess more like 5 tons than 3tons!

Sorry, I didn't see the make I'd guess Mainship or Carver? I believe the O/B is an add on mounted on the swim platform I'm sure the standard platform would need substancial reinforcing.

No, haven't checked in there in a while now. Earlier you mentioned not cruising long at 1.5 mpg. If you want much more than 3-4 mpg you'd better start looking at sailboats in my opinion because you'd have to have one efficient boat to get much more than that.

Bolting a standby OB to the swim platform sounds like a great idea, those Yamaha high trust 60hp are meant to be great motors.

I was following the epic trans Atlantic voyage on the KK42 on this forum; can't remember what economy he was getting at 6/7 kts; will a modern OB able to match a slow running diesel?

I think Richard was getting about 4 nmpg on that passage. The most efficient outboard I know of isn't quite a trawler, has a much higher cruise speed of 16 kt but does get 4 nmpg at that clip. Slow down to 14 kt and sip at 7 nmpg.

MC30

Apples and oranges. That Krogen is significantly north of your stated budget. Can they match efficiency??? No idea, perhaps in a very lightweight cat in benign conditions but that's just a wild guess based on nothing but personal conjecture. Others on this forum are far more qualified to opine on that than me. Fuel mileage is not my thing at all, when I need it I just whip out the credit card and fill er up :)

Hi Rusty, I don't think that's the boat for cruising but I like the idea of using an outboard to power a trawler cruising boat.

I'm going to cause some thread drift sorry. One of our members just completed an Atlantic crossing and is in Castletownbere. If you're any where near there you might want to stop by and say hello.
You can see where the boat is here: https://share.delorme.com/Dauntless

I see that Richard came up in the conversation while I was typing.

20 Deg V bottom not a good choice
 

A 20/21 deg planning hull is not a good choice for trawler speeds in anything more than flat water. They are very sea kindly on plane at 20knts and up. Slow speed they pitch and roll in rough conditions. Lose power and they swing beam to and roll. I cruised a 28' 21 deg 10' beam boat for over 10 years. You are pretty much stuck with the 1.4 mpg. A well designed outboard is a good choice, however very pricey when compared to a car block marine outdrive. Aluminum cats can do both go fast and slow. Probably a better route. They can be full displacement run fast with lower power and are very stable at slow trawler speeds. Think Glacier Bay.