found my next boat!

[Boss Lady]

I found my next boat. Look at this: http://www.amsgrant.com/files/ams17.html
http://www.tributeboats.com/prod01.htm

"Fuel consumption of the MTU 12V183 engines at wide open throttle is a mere 57.7 gallons per hour and at 1900 RPM, they each burn 27 gallons per hour. Dick Moroso's Speed Merchant IV is projected to top 54 MPH and cruise at 40 MPH. Impres¬sively, the fuel consumptions at these speeds fell comfortably within Dick's desired range."

compare this to Jarrett Bays new 70' which has two 2800 HP engines fuel burn is 200 gallons per hour and a slower boat. This boat requires 3X times the Horse Power of the Tribute boat.

 

[Liquid Asset]

I'm in on that!

 

[luckydave215]

I know how I'll get more speed! Forget the repower, break out the sawzall!!

 

[richardoren]

Giant Donzis ?

This has gotta be the biggest Donzi I've seen. The smallest stepped hull they make is I believe the single-step 20 foot Z20.

They use steps to increase top speed, fuel economy is only a pleasant side effct. Adding steps reduces the length of hull where the boat is in contact with the water, reducing friction and drag as if it were a much shorter boat.

But lateral waves can come up under the hull and slam into the the edges of the step cutaways, causing the boat to lose control. High speed turns can also make a stepped boat spin out. Some try to reduce that tendency by adding big K-planes to the stern, a sort of artificial hull friction to help stabilize the boat.

I think I once read about high speed MegaYachts (you know, the ones with many thousands of hp) which had stepped hulls for this exact same purpose. Their fuel consumption was way high mainly because of the monster engines used. This boat is bringing this technology to the mid-sized segment where most Hatts lie: way bigger than offshores but way smaller than MegaYachts.

Sounds nice to me.

Richard

 

[luckydave215]

I wonder what those steps sound like when trying to sleep on the hook? Gurgle, slap, gurgle, slap, sploosh, sploosh.

 

[Boss Lady]

High speed turns in a stepped hull boat are a matter of trim. When I run my fountain flat out, very little of the boat is in the water. This is called running on the ragged edge, and at 70 MPH you could spin the boat if you had to make an emergency manuever, but at 50 MPH it is not an issue. At the ragged edge you must trim the bow down if you plan on making aggresive manuevers. On a 67 foot boat, there is still a substantial amount of boat in the water, and the handling issues seen in the light boats would not be seen. The stepped hull would simply make the boat more efficient (reduced drag due to air entrainment).

I have a stepped hull boat and it does not make any gurgle sounds currently(they are full of water when it is sitting still, they are air channels only when you are on plane). Also our Hats do not have much in the way of sound proofing except in the salon floor. I am adding a lot of sound proofing to Boss lady, and insulation as well.

The thing that interested me is that someone is trying to progress boats in our size class, instead of just adding a bigger monster motor. I just wish it was Hatteras.

 

[egaito]

Dick Moroso looks forward to launching Speed Merchant IV in the Fall of 1995 and there¬after will be found fishing between West Palm Beach, the Southern Caribbean and Mexico.

I wonder how well the boat has held up...

 

[Boss Lady]

I will find out come Monday, since I will be calling Tribute to start doing some due dilligence on this boat. I got turned on to this by my lifelong friend and boat captain. He called me recently since he knows that I am waiting on the price of the 68C to soften ($4 million is a little strong), and the 68C did not make the speed that was promised. It seems that my buddy was working as a hired gun running a fast tournament boat during a Marlin tournament down in the Carribean and this boat just blew past them like they were still tied to the dock, he called me the next day all excited and told me he had found the boat I was looking for, and it was a Tribute custom! So we will find out if it is all that or not.

 

[Gunsmoke]

Boss: Good luck and let me know if you need a first mate, or second mate, orrrrrrrrrr...

 

[Spellbound]

Impressive boats! I have fished alongside and crossed paths with a few of them --- H.T. Hook, Speculator, and the 70' Escapade this summer as she was returning from the Pacific for a repower at Whiticar. Rich Scheffer and Whiticar did the repower on Jack Dell's 60 Jim Smith "Jack O Heart's" which passed us this summer in excess of 42kts. Tribute knows what they are doing when it comes to speed and design.

 

[richardoren]

Re: Your next boat!

Hi Chris,

You've targeted the right guys for this - seen their >1.25 million lbs planing yacht unit that cruises at a continuous 80 knots?

http://www.amsgrant.com/files/ams18.html

Shame they're eyeing the megayacht market - we're the ones who need size, speed + fuel economy.

BTW, I'm in Florida for a few days looking at boats, and could drive up Monday from Ft Lauderdale and take some pics and meet some folks if you'd like. Anything for a fellow Hattie!

Rich

 

[Boss Lady]

I wonder how well the boat has held up...

I just got off the phone with Tribute and was told when asked if Mr. Moroso still has the boat, and the Tribute people said when someone out runs him he will build something else. He said everyone has had 11 years to make something faster, but nobody has come close yet (Sport Fishing boats). They make the hulls out of wood/composite using E-glass, Kevlar, and carbon fiber.

Stay tuned.

 

[richardoren]

Hey Chris, were they open to doing hull mods on your Hatt? They could add some Kevlar to the solid glass under the water line and custom build you some strakes?

 

[Freebird]

I leave you alone for 10 days and look what happens! I thought you wanted a Bertram fishing boat. You're worse than I am, and that's saying something!

PS Can I play with it when you're done?

 

[captmick]

I just bought Dick Moroso's old 61 Tribute. Going to bring back the old name, change it back to Speed Merchant. Hit 44.6 Knots on the sea trial, with a really dirty bottom.

 

[neosin]

lol the next time i need to get out to the flower gardens in 30 mins i'll call ya up when i need to dive ... wow with a price tag of 10 million i'm sure... I could just spend the money on a 53 MY, add on a fishing area, deck it all out, re-power with something easy on diesel and pocket the other 9.5 mill and i'd just be as happy as can be !! lol

 

[krush]

i bet i could make one faster with some redneck engineering

 

[Boss Lady]

I just bought Dick Moroso's old 61 Tribute. Going to bring back the old name, change it back to Speed Merchant. Hit 44.6 Knots on the sea trial, with a really dirty bottom.

Speed Merchant is 67 not a 61, are we talking about the same boat? This was an AMS Grant designed boat, and built in the Tribute boat yard, it is not like other Tributes. It also has 1000 Hp Caterpillars, shaft enclosures, twin step hull aeriators and an impressive tournament record. A Tribute hull is cold molded over wood, Speed Merchant was built in a mold.

 

[thoward]

The transom deadrise looks low, how does it do in steep seas? How heavy is the boat?

 

[hyperfishing]

The new Hatteras 60 GT cruises at 35 Kts and can hit 40 Knots without any wacky steps. <gg> Don't know about the relative fuel consumption though, as the Hat GT has twin 1,800 HP motivators.