neworleansrich
Senior Member
Maybe this title is misleading, but I’m not sure what else to call this idea.
First some background: A friend has a 1989 61ft Hatteras (nice roomy, well built boat, great Bahama cruiser). Back in the day it was built to plane with twin 12v71’s. Repowering to make it a real LRC or trawler speed boat would be very expensive. Lately, he has been running it around at trawler speed. He can either run both engines just above idle, or run one engine at a time (the preferable option). Running on one engine he can get about one gallon per mile at 8kts. The boat has a modern autopilot which tracks ok under one engine.
We recently brought the boat back up from the Bahamas to New Orleans and while sitting around the pilothouse during the trip we debated the pros and cons of repowering along with other ideas to help run the boat more efficiently. We started thinking about removing one prop for the bulk of the Gulf crossing. We could pull one prop in the shallows on the Gulf side of the Keys and reinstall it in the Mississippi Sound or vice versa. Obviously, pulling a prop for the crossing would eliminate the redundancy of the main engines and reduce maneuverability (though the thruster helps in that regard). Without the deadhead prop, the boat would track better with less drag and eliminate the shaft and gear rotation (the Twin Disc people say the gear can take the free rotation as long as the engine is started and run every 8 hours).
Anyway, the idea we are now discussing is replacing one prop with a folding or feathering prop. Maxprops and other brands are available for the 2.5 inch shafts, though they are not cheap. The idea is not necessarily to power the boat with this; rather the folding prop engine would be used only as a maneuvering engine or as a get home engine. The other engine would be used as the primary propulsion engine.
So what do you think guys? Repowering would mean cutting a hole in the side of the hull to get the 12v71’s out. One boatyard thought they could do it for around $200k. The boat is probably worth $325k and may be worth no more even if it was repowered. The 12v71’s are in ok shape, but running them slow is not helping their lives. Any downsides? alternatives?
First some background: A friend has a 1989 61ft Hatteras (nice roomy, well built boat, great Bahama cruiser). Back in the day it was built to plane with twin 12v71’s. Repowering to make it a real LRC or trawler speed boat would be very expensive. Lately, he has been running it around at trawler speed. He can either run both engines just above idle, or run one engine at a time (the preferable option). Running on one engine he can get about one gallon per mile at 8kts. The boat has a modern autopilot which tracks ok under one engine.
We recently brought the boat back up from the Bahamas to New Orleans and while sitting around the pilothouse during the trip we debated the pros and cons of repowering along with other ideas to help run the boat more efficiently. We started thinking about removing one prop for the bulk of the Gulf crossing. We could pull one prop in the shallows on the Gulf side of the Keys and reinstall it in the Mississippi Sound or vice versa. Obviously, pulling a prop for the crossing would eliminate the redundancy of the main engines and reduce maneuverability (though the thruster helps in that regard). Without the deadhead prop, the boat would track better with less drag and eliminate the shaft and gear rotation (the Twin Disc people say the gear can take the free rotation as long as the engine is started and run every 8 hours).
Anyway, the idea we are now discussing is replacing one prop with a folding or feathering prop. Maxprops and other brands are available for the 2.5 inch shafts, though they are not cheap. The idea is not necessarily to power the boat with this; rather the folding prop engine would be used only as a maneuvering engine or as a get home engine. The other engine would be used as the primary propulsion engine.
So what do you think guys? Repowering would mean cutting a hole in the side of the hull to get the 12v71’s out. One boatyard thought they could do it for around $200k. The boat is probably worth $325k and may be worth no more even if it was repowered. The 12v71’s are in ok shape, but running them slow is not helping their lives. Any downsides? alternatives?