General cruising speeds-gctid805594

[ozbucko]

So here we are anchored in a beautiful location watching the world and other boats going past and it occurred to me that a lot of the vessels were cruising around at the 10 knot range and not on the Plane.

So my question is, what speed do you guys and ladies cruise around at, even though you may well be able to get up and easily cruise at 25 knots?

I know this may sound a bit like how long is a piece of string?

Well the answer to that is "Twice the distance from the middle"

What's the opinions out there?

[Mlydy]

Good question. We are kind of all over the place when we cruise and a lot of it depends on water conditions on Lake Erie. Often I'd love to cruise around 25kts but I also don't want to have to visit the chiropractor when I get home! :cheer:

It also seems to depend on how hot it is. If it's a toasty day we end up cruising faster to get that nice wind in the hair feeling and cool off on the way to our destination.

However last Sunday we were out on the lake. Temps were in the mid 50's and it was our first time going out after having the boat launched so I motored out of East Harbor to lake Erie at about 5 knots, then traveled across a pretty calm lake at about 25kts, then through the Sandusky Bay at about 5-8kts, back out to Lake Erie at that speed for a bit before heading home at 25. That's a somewhat normal afternoon trip for us I suppose.

[smitty477]

Such a wide open question....

It depends greatly on the boat , the conditions, and the goal at hand that day.

But it is almost always at 6 knots, 16 knots, or 30 knots.

I cannot imagine a reason or purpose to travel at 10 knots.

[MidnightSun]

Express cruisers normally cruise express which is somewhere around 25-30mph as this is what they were designed for however with the huge gas price increases over the years, most express boats have become trawlers and slow is more the norm. Your speed is dependant on conditions, boat design/power, capability and your pocket book. I never burned more than a few thousand a year when I had the Avanti, always travelled around 30 mph but not that far and anchored out a lot. The new owner managed to drink $12,000 in gas last year. :woohoo:

[Old_Man_With_A_Boat]

I cruise at 6 to 9 mph. It all depends on the current. I am in no rush when I get there l get there. Yes If I need to I can throttle up, but I stay mostly at 6 to 9 mph.

[canoel]

10 knots is a very in-efficient speed.

On plane or hull speed are the two most fuel efficient speeds. Plowing through the water at slightly above hull speed to slightly below plane, also loads the engines up, and puts much more wear on them.

[CptCrunchie]

On a relatively calm ocean, my peak economy is 21-23kts with a consumption of 9.6-9.8gph. When it kicks up, I cruise just slow enough that I don't pound the waves. I'm with Mlydy on this one; my chiropractor doesn't need any more of my business than he has now. :S

[aluxury1]

The magical information to have when mother nature doesn't prohibit speed is MPG. I have found this information is very difficult and expensive to get for use in getting "the best cruise speed or RPM"


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[watchthis]

My boat is a bit large for a single, but fully loaded we cruise at an easy 3300 rpm, which is anywhere from 16.5 to19 knots depending on tide and current. It is also about 12-13 gallons per hour. Other than that, we are at idle speed.

[Glasply1]

It's a planing hull. We "cruise" where the engine sounds happiest and that means at about 25mph. If I wanted to cruise at 8mph I'd buy a trawler and revel in the economy while gnashing my teeth as planing Bayliners passed me by!

[Pcpete]

I cruised our 2950 Encounter at 25kn on normal water. If it kicked up a bit I'd back off and shove the bow down going into it. Going 8-9kn was the worst for fuel economy and wake. At 9kn I could flood low lying villages. Now, with the 3818, I find I'm enjoying running 8.5-9.5kn unless it kicks up on the beam, then I put it up to 15kn. I haven't had enough rough water experience with it yet to know when I'm going to be backing off but so far it's long after I would have with our Encounter.

[Guest]

28 mph, turning 3k on both engines. Gotta love twins and the DP drives.

[2850Bounty]

FYI and FWIW

GPH is not an accurate means to determine fuel economy, whereas MPG is!

GPH does not take distance traveled into account, whereas MPG does.

There are only two fuel efficient speeds.

1...... Hull Speed where the boat is not pushing water excessivley.

2...... Up on step (planing) and a tab bit more.

Most any speed between this equates to wasting fuel and is possibly over-burdening the engine.

.

[Four_Pyrates]

"2850Bounty" post=805971 wrote:
FYI and FWIW

GPH is not an accurate means to determine fuel economy, whereas MPG is!

GPH does not take distance traveled into account, whereas MPG does.

There are only two fuel efficient speeds.

1...... Hull Speed where the boat is not pushing water excessivley.

2...... Up on step (planing) and a tab bit more.

Most any speed between this equates to wasting fuel and is possibly over-burdening the engine.

.

I am in agreement that hull speed and plane are the two best Depending on the boat, the speeds can vary.

GPH is the most critical measurement for port to port cruising. It is easier to count and you know not to second guess the clock.

[2850Bounty]

"Four Pyrates" post=805976 wrote:


I am in agreement that hull speed and plane are the two best Depending on the boat, the speeds can vary.

GPH is the most critical measurement for port to port cruising. It is easier to count and you know not to second guess the clock.

[color]#000088 wrote:
OK..... if you know the distance from port to port, then you have just included distance traveled in with your GPH.

When GPH includes distance traveled, your fuel consumption is now converted to MPG, of which is much more meaningful..... correct?

Mike Pilling explains this in very simple terms in this thread.

http://www.baylinerownersclub.org/index.php/forum/boc-library/99-why-gallons-per-hour-is-not-fuel-economy

[/color].