Hi from the Tasmanian Island state of Australia

Peter Williams

New Member
Feb 16, 2018
12
Boat Info
Sea Ray 275 (Australia)
Engines
Mercruiser MPI with Bravo III
Hi all,
My name is Pete and I'm from the Australian Island state of Tasmania aka home to the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and largest wooden Boast festival in the Southern Hemisphere but enough of the tourism ad.

I've nailed down my Search to Sea Ray's Sundancer and most likely a 2006-2008 Sundancer 275 (260 elsewhere)

I'm currently selling my yacht to 'upgrade' to an Express cruiser as I feel it's time to spend more time enjoying the destination as opposed to a yacht where it's the enjoyment of the leisurely travel pace and destination.

There are a few good Sundancer 275's for sale in Australia so there are some good choices available.

Due to the fact that I live on the Island state of Australia we have a huge coastline, unfortunately, Tasmania is also in the southern ocean roaring 40's but our East Coast is very well sheltered plus we have lots of outlying islands that I can hustle to shelter in if the weather gets rough. I think that's why I like the Express Cruiser (as their style of boat is called here). If the weather looks bad I can hustle to a safe anchorage.

I'll see if I can find the right forum section to post a question, but I'll also post here and if I can be directed to the right sections.
Is there a fast rev/speed that can be sustained for say, 6 to 8 hours?
I've read that 6-8knots is ok for fuel economy but I'm thinking of fast 5 hour runs at say, 15knots/27mph or even 5 hours at 20knots/37mph

Cheers all, Pete
 
Welcome to the site
Our first boat was not a SeaRay but well built. It was 28 feet at water line and 10.5 foot beam. It had upper and lower helms with a V birth that had a door. Engines were twin 175HP 3.8 OMC stern drives. It held 50 gallons of water and 100US gallons of fuel. We got it because we kept it on the west coast of Canada that can be windy and rough. The boat would go 27 knots at 4200 RPM. We ran it at 3800 RPM at 22 knots. It burnt 1 liter a minute and we would run it for up to 5 hours at a time at that speed. No problems. We tried to run it slow but the MPG rate was the same going slow as it was going fast.
PM me if you need more information about how we found the boat.
 
Hi all,
My name is Pete and I'm from the Australian Island state of Tasmania aka home to the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race and largest wooden Boast festival in the Southern Hemisphere but enough of the tourism ad.

I've nailed down my Search to Sea Ray's Sundancer and most likely a 2006-2008 Sundancer 275 (260 elsewhere)

I'm currently selling my yacht to 'upgrade' to an Express cruiser as I feel it's time to spend more time enjoying the destination as opposed to a yacht where it's the enjoyment of the leisurely travel pace and destination.

There are a few good Sundancer 275's for sale in Australia so there are some good choices available.

Due to the fact that I live on the Island state of Australia we have a huge coastline, unfortunately, Tasmania is also in the southern ocean roaring 40's but our East Coast is very well sheltered plus we have lots of outlying islands that I can hustle to shelter in if the weather gets rough. I think that's why I like the Express Cruiser (as their style of boat is called here). If the weather looks bad I can hustle to a safe anchorage.

I'll see if I can find the right forum section to post a question, but I'll also post here and if I can be directed to the right sections.
Is there a fast rev/speed that can be sustained for say, 6 to 8 hours?
I've read that 6-8knots is ok for fuel economy but I'm thinking of fast 5 hour runs at say, 15knots/27mph or even 5 hours at 20knots/37mph

Cheers all, Pete


Pete, Welcome to the site. We visited your great island a year ago from the states. Our daughter and her husband live in Sanford (just outside Hobart). Spent a month there visiting (and golfing) the entire island from Pt. Arthur to Devonport.

Tony
 
Pete, Welcome to the site. We visited your great island a year ago from the states. Our daughter and her husband live in Sanford (just outside Hobart). Spent a month there visiting (and golfing) the entire island from Pt. Arthur to Devonport.

Tony
Hi Tony,
Yes, Tasmania is a lovely piece of the world but then again, I believe most areas that have an ocean or coast are also lovely pieces of the world but that's the boater in me.

Wow, sounds like a good month of travelling. Devonport for the Spirit of Tasmania Ferry and the Salamanca market in Hobart is great as it the MONA (Museum Old New Art). Lot's of really nice places to visit and usually very nice people.
 
Welcome to the site
Our first boat was not a SeaRay but well built. It was 28 feet at water line and 10.5 foot beam. It had upper and lower helms with a V birth that had a door. Engines were twin 175HP 3.8 OMC stern drives. It held 50 gallons of water and 100US gallons of fuel. We got it because we kept it on the west coast of Canada that can be windy and rough. The boat would go 27 knots at 4200 RPM. We ran it at 3800 RPM at 22 knots. It burnt 1 liter a minute and we would run it for up to 5 hours at a time at that speed. No problems. We tried to run it slow but the MPG rate was the same going slow as it was going fast.
PM me if you need more information about how we found the boat.

Hi and thank you very much for the excellent information.
I like your answer as it really offers me 'real' data, I think my math's is good so I have trust in my calculations of Litres per Hour and balanced with what your information I'm thinking I can do a 5hr run. I was also concerned with running a boat engine at such high rpm for extended periods. My yachts diesel will tick over at 1500rpm for days on end if allow it to but I was unsure on running a V8 300Hp marine engine at 3500rpm which is just under 75% of WOT.... I'm thinking of your answer that I can. I'll do some 'test' runs when I purchase and when it looks good I'll go out for an extended run, increasing the running time for each run. First, run, say 45min at 3500rpm, then 1hr then 2hr then 3 hrs and see how fuel consumption and sea state affect the overall fuel consumption. If all the boxes get a tick I'll then do an extended 5hr run to a port with a fueling dock.
 
We had 1200 hours on the engines when we sold the boat. Had the boat for 5 years. We put 100+ hours a year on the boat. The legs (part in the water) got a lot of work each year the seals kept failing. Based on our experience you want the boat to feel happy. We tried running it at 3600 RPM but it pushed a lot of water at 3800 it was flatter and went faster. Things in the water come up fast at 22 knots. It is all eyes forward to avoid floating things. We have logs in our water.
 
We had 1200 hours on the engines when we sold the boat. Had the boat for 5 years. We put 100+ hours a year on the boat. The legs (part in the water) got a lot of work each year the seals kept failing. Based on our experience you want the boat to feel happy. We tried running it at 3600 RPM but it pushed a lot of water at 3800 it was flatter and went faster. Things in the water come up fast at 22 knots. It is all eyes forward to avoid floating things. We have logs in our water.
Hi,

Thanks for the reply.
Our waterways are reasonably clear of obstructions but in saying that it's still an ocean and things still float about in it.
We had a safety warning for mariners alert that a 100mt 250kg (300ft - 550lb) piece of black PolyPipe from a local marine farm had broken loose and was 'lost' in the local area. All mariners were advised to navigate the area with extreme caution in the area and to report the Lat & long of the pipe if it was spotted, so we do get the occasional obstacle.
I sail single handed so at 5knots there's not a lot of drama with hitting items albeit NEVER hit items but at least at 5knots the response rate is better.
On a motorboat and especially a powerful and very fast one I'll not do fast single handed cruises and the fast cruises will have an extra constant lookout (girlfriend) as an extra set of eyes.
 

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