[Maxwell]

Originally Posted by vlafrank

pods of any kind on trawlers or full displacement expedition yachts any time soon? I've always been intrigued, wondering if large, slow-turning contra-rotating props would give trawlers a free knot or two of speed. Anybody have an opinion on this? AFAIK, no one in the trawler yacht industry or expedition yacht industry has done so yet, nor have I seen any ducted props, nor those strange-looking affairs resembling flat boards arranged vertically in a revolving circle. But "enquiring minds want to know....."

Although "pods" clearly improve maneuverability and may be a bit more efficient at cruise due to the angle (or lack of) of the propellers to the hull, could it really affect the speed on a displacement boat? I was under the impression hull speed is hull speed. Thoughts?

[carelm]

Originally Posted by Capt J

Grand Banks builds the 41' Europa with zues drives.

AFAIK Grand Banks is installing pods or Zeus drives in their latest offerings in the East Bay series. My own observation is that the Pod/Zeus drives appeal to the owner/operator of picnic boats or express cruisers due to their ease of operation and better space utilization. This may not be as much of a consideration for a sportfisher or convertible owner if he/she uses the boat for chartering. In this case I'm presuming the operator has a high level of experience/expertise and may prefer the more conventional drive systems as noted earlier.

[Telemachus]

Any word on how the cruise ships with these azipods have held up in terms of service and reliability?

[Bamboo]

Originally Posted by Maxwell

Although "pods" clearly improve maneuverability and may be a bit more efficient at cruise due to the angle (or lack of) of the propellers to the hull, could it really affect the speed on a displacement boat? I was under the impression hull speed is hull speed. Thoughts?

Driver experience, skill and familiarity of the system on the vessel is the main factor of maneuverability- not if it's a pod, conventional or otherwise.

[PacBlue]

Originally Posted by Bill106

I think the market would be receptive to a 50' convertible pod drive boat and the ZF/CAT combo using C-18's is released which would more than adequately power a boat that size. ;

I believe Viking has a 50' Convertible doing the Boat Show Circuit with 1200hp MAN and ZF Pods.

It would be interesting to know if the SF guys are signing up for this package?

[Liberty]

Originally Posted by PacBlue

I believe Viking has a 50' Convertible doing the Boat Show Circuit with 1200hp MAN and ZF Pods.

It would be interesting to know if the SF guys are signing up for this package?

Yeah I rode on it.

Went like a raped ape.

Bit skittish, but seriously noisy transmission.

[Capt J]

That's a beautiful hull. Have you thought about making it in a fish-around configuration.

I don't think any sportfish should have the engines in the cockpit. It just sounds like a recipe for a rusty disaster. If you flood the cockpit backing down on a fish, or just the sloshing around and saltiness usually found in that area. The 50' Sportfish size/market seems very soft right now (for example Cabo only built 2- 52' FB's because that's all they've had orders for since they came out with the 52' which was I think 2006. I think you could get away with a shorter engine room with the pods, and possibly put other things in the cockpit like fuel tank etc......

[Liberty]

Originally Posted by Capt J

That's a beautiful hull. Have you thought about making it in a fish-around configuration.

I don't think any sportfish should have the engines in the cockpit. It just sounds like a recipe for a rusty disaster. If you flood the cockpit backing down on a fish, or just the sloshing around and saltiness usually found in that area. The 50' Sportfish size/market seems very soft right now (for example Cabo only built 2- 52' FB's because that's all they've had orders for since they came out with the 52' which was I think 2006. I think you could get away with a shorter engine room with the pods, and possibly put other things in the cockpit like fuel tank etc......

I was in the Cabo/Hatteras Boardroom two weeks ago.

The Cabo 52 FB was dropped as it duplicated the Hatteras GT 54 FB.

I can tell you though, there is still some friendly banter from the Cabo people about the fact it should still be in the range. They spoke pretty highly about it.

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by Liberty

I was in the Cabo/Hatteras Boardroom two weeks ago.

The Cabo 52 FB was dropped as it duplicated the Hatteras GT 54 FB.

I can tell you though, there is still some friendly banter from the Cabo people about the fact it should still be in the range. They spoke pretty highly about it.

I think it should. It had a nice layout. But it was a lack of orders that was the biggest deciding factor. I've run several 52' expresses but never a FB 52' boat. Considering the largest Cabo FB boat is only a 40' FB and there is nothing about that since I don't think they still do the 48'. Hatteras dropped the 50' FB so it didn't compete with Cabo several years ago.

[SHAZAM]

Did they discontinue the 43?

I know the 50' market is soft, the fact that the boats are unreasonably priced. Where do you guys think a 50' sf should be priced with 700 to 1000 HP diesels without a top, electronics or chairs?

[Bill106]

Originally Posted by Capt J

That's a beautiful hull. Have you thought about making it in a fish-around configuration.

I did build a smaller version 7 years ago but it had eggbeaters out back so it doesn't really count. Personally I prefer that layout on smaller boats but there seem to be a lot more than like the express version.

Shazam, New boats are disproportionally more expensive than the used market right now but the costs involved in building them have done nothing but gone up. I'm certain all builders are pricing their boats as low as they possibly can to the point of break even just to keep the shop open.

Depending on how nicely that 50' was done you are probably looking in the range of 750-1.2

[SHAZAM]

Originally Posted by Bill106

Depending on how nicely that 50' was done you are probably looking in the range of 750-1.2

Bingo. Now show me a 50 in that range.

[Capt J]

Originally Posted by SHAZAM

Did they discontinue the 43?

I know the 50' market is soft, the fact that the boats are unreasonably priced. Where do you guys think a 50' sf should be priced with 700 to 1000 HP diesels without a top, electronics or chairs?

A while ago the 43' was discontinued. That was one of their oldest hull designs. Cabo is only showing a 40' FB on their website as the only current model flybridge they're producing.

I would guess a 50' FB should go for around $1.2 nicely equipped.....(engines, furnishings, etc......) some 38' ish Interepids are pushing $750k with options. Problem is, many of those 50' convertible owners were small business owners that were hit the hardest.....many of those guys have switched to 25' center consoles these days......the guys that haven't been hurt with the economy are now running 70' + sportfish

[SHAZAM]

Originally Posted by Capt J

Problem is, many of those 50' convertible owners were small business owners that were hit the hardest.....many of those guys have switched to 25' center consoles these days......the guys that haven't been hurt with the economy are now running 70' + sportfish

That's amazing and hard for me to reconcile, how a market that was traditionally so strong could have just vanished. Think about how many 46/50/51 bertrams were built, how many 50/52 Hatteras pumped out and how many 46/48/50 Vikings were produced and now the whole market segment is gone?

So where are we at? 30' to 60' buyers have turned into cc buyers and convertibles are 70'+? What's even more puzzling is people paying as much for a cc as a decent size convertible. Wtf?!

[Kafue]

Originally Posted by SHAZAM

That's amazing and hard for me to reconcile, how a market that was traditionally so strong could have just vanished. Think about how many 46/50/51 bertrams were built, how many 50/52 Hatteras pumped out and how many 46/48/50 Vikings were produced and now the whole market segment is gone?

So where are we at? 30' to 60' buyers have turned into cc buyers and convertibles are 70'+? What's even more puzzling is people paying as much for a cc as a decent size convertible. Wtf?!

I agree with Capt J about the small business owners being the buyers of the 50 or so SF and them being hardest hit. Even here in Australia, where many of the US boats were being imported, the market has dried up for that size SF. Last week a Salthouse 55, considered a high quality NZ built SF, which should sell for $1.2 up, went to auction and sold for just over $400,000. Now that is a sign, as if we needed one that our market is going South big time.
As for the CC attraction at those prices, crazy!