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Old 12-29-2014, 07:19 PM   #29
N4061
Guru
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,161
FD versus SD

It's been some time since I posted as we have been focused on the new house but this subject hit home from a slightly different perspective. While the argument of fuel burn is worth exploring especially if you are planning long distance trips (+2,000 miles non-stop) the one area of comparison that really caught us by surprise was the comfort levels between FD and SD. When we decided to exit the 6 knots FD boats and return to SD (still single engine) we looked forward to 9 -12 knots and getting someplace the same day. What we didn't expect was the very uncomfortable ride that 7 - 10 knots provided on the SD. Our mistake (I still believe) was thinking a 10 knot SD boat would be fast enough to compensate for the lack of stabilization. One trip outside into small 3' swells on the beam had the first mate signaling to return to port and to buy a different boat. The rest is history.

So what I took away from this experience is SD hulls are fine as long as the water is relatively calm, the boat gets up to 14 - 20 knots to help with stabilization and cut through the waves. Of course if it gets too rough you will have to slow down again of beat the boat and passengers to death and deal with the rolling.

Where does this leave us, well we have focused our sights on another bucket list boat - a Downeaster of some type and possibly a cold molded skiff to experience the build project. If we ever decide to travel far we would likely return the Turtle Speed FD boats with active fins.

Just my two cents.

JT
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