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Baia 48 Flash

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by Jimes, Oct 19, 2019.

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  1. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    Does anyone have experience on these boat and solid numbers for mpg/range on these boats?

    Led to believe it may do 1 mile per gallon in calm water but ferrying it south from Florida so looking for best range speed and a safe factoring for sea state.

    Am planning a 120nm run prior to USA departure so will get a good idea then, but if anyone can help narrow down numbers prior it would really save me some headache right now.

    They're pretty rare in the USA, and this particular one has the C12 Cats so scarce as hen's teeth.

    If you have direct experience i am forever in your debt, but even if your mate's mate ran a 63' Azzura i'm all ears.
  2. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    C12's burn around 52 gph for both at 80% load, what's cruise speed on the boat? I ran a 1998 58' Baia for a while, and it had 8v92's and didn't like staying on plane unless lighter on fuel, etc. So the numbers I had on that boat, are useless to you.
  3. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    Hi Capt J, thank you very much for replying!

    From the little i've seen this particular one (with c12 acerts) planes fairly easily. Enough throttle for turbo spin up and maybe 25% down on the drives and she comes right up. No need of trim tab. Believe the 480hp penta powered 48s need a lot of down angle on the drives plus trim tab to get up on plane.

    Sea trial in calm river water showed 50mph @2350rpm WOT and ~40mph @ 1750-1800rpm. This was 2 guys onboard and about 1/2 tank of fuel (350gals = full tanks)... so far from loaded.

    So i guess normal cruise is 32-35kts... but we're unlikely to do that on a ferry unless the sea is very calm. And besides i need max range cruise speed as i had planned this refueling in Cuba, but that is out now due to the fuel shortages.

    The other option is the boat does 8kts at forward idle. Means a much longer trip but may provide the range i need.

    I'm not sure which gallons the tanks are and it makes a fair difference... do you remember if your Baia tanks were stated in imperial or USG capacity?
  4. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    She'll get excellent range at hull speed, so to extend range, I'd probably do an overnight at hull speed with extra fuel barrels and dump them as soon as possible into the main tanks. Generally the Arneson boats are very efficient, but your fuel capacity is seriously lacking. Check the tanks themselves and see if there's a tag on it that states tankage. They usually do on Baia's.

    The 480HP Volvo penta one was probably like the 59' I ran with 760HP 8v92's...…..you needed a hope and a prayer to get her on plane with full fuel.

    Where are you taking her from and to? The good news is the CAT computers are excellent at recording the fuel burned on the C12's. Go to the trip fuel page, press both arrows at the same time (on the cat display) and follow the instructions to clear the trip fuel each time you fuel. Also the fuel burn calculation on the displays is right on the money.
  5. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    That is excellent news on the CAT fuel burn recording. The boat has Raymarine C80s (its a 2006) so not a lot of fancy info. But fuel numbers like that and some basic math will do me just as well.

    I'm not at the boat so can't check tanks. All the info i've seen says 350 gals but not sure which gallons. I'm planning 320 usable.

    How much fuel on deck do you think she'll handle safely? Would it handle 150-200gal bladder tied on the foredeck or would this be too much & too high?

    Longest sector is 420nm and the first 60nm of that may have up to 2kts of current against us. It should even out after that.

    For that sector:
    @0.6nm/gal = 7 drums/2700lbs/14 adults equiv
    @0.7nm/gal = 5 drums/1953lbs/10 adults
    @0.8nm/gal = 4 drums/1562lbs/8 adults
    If she does 1nm/gal @ hull speed then 2 drums would do... would it do this do you think?
    If better than that at hull speed could mix it up as you say. Planning to run slow at night anyway then open her up day time if the sea state allows and we have the fuel for it.
  6. Capt J

    Capt J Senior Member

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    I wouldn't do 1 bladder. I'd do 2 drums in the cockpit and a smaller bladder on bow. For your distance you're going to have to do a good amount of slow speed. I would do 2 drums and a bladder and do hull speed and plan on a 20% reserve minimum. On long voyages like that I actually plan on a 30% reserve (of the main tanks). She should do 1nm per gallon, I'd be a little doubtful of more than that at hull speed, but who knows. Where are you headed to? Key West to Cozumel?
  7. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Is this range needed for repeated trips or just one time to get her home?
  8. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    Capt Ralph- Mainly just to get her home, but could be used other times/maintenance runs etc.

    The way i see it the price of a bladder is a small fraction of shipping the boat.
  9. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    Please search the YF threads on Bladder vs Drums. Opened my eyes a bit more.
    I do agree with Skippy J with drum and a bladder on for-deck,, running slow.
    With weather and currents, I see that reserve getting used up.
  10. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    Firstly i'd like to thank all of you above who gave of your time and know how to help out with my questions/ferry... very much appreciated!

    For anyone searching in future... the boat is a Baia 48 Flash with twin Cat C12 Acerts @715hp each & 5 blade Rolla props @ D29.25 P46.5

    Its also referred to as a Baia Mericraft Flash 859.

    They say these boats burn 1mpg on plane but unless you are in completely calm water you can forget about that. Once the boat starts pitching in a sea the drive lose efficiency.

    In a 1-2' sea with only equipment and main tank fuel we made about 0.7mpg @ 38mph/1825rpm

    Once we fueled up main tanks +540gallons ferry fuel the boat would not plane. Not surprised. Estimated load of 8000lbs onboard (including 540 gals ferry fuel + main tank fuel + crew & equipment)

    At fwd idle the boat made about 9mph. Range fuel burn was slightly better than 1mpg with current against us giving ~8mph on the GPS.

    After 9hrs and burning 60gallons/420lbs at fwd idle (72miles) i was able to get the boat on plane. It took me moving 1500lbs fwd, a lot of coaxing and was probably more luck and a following sea than anything. I estimate the load we had at the time to be full main tanks plus the equivalent of 23 people @200lbs each and for the next 120miles burnt fuel at 0.55mpg @32mph @1700rpm with 2-3' following sea.

    Once on plane the boat thundered along in these conditions.

    Once we were lighter we had a 3-4' head sea so had to manage speed ~24mph to not beat the boat up. Although lighter now we still burnt 0.5mpg as this boat does not like to go that slow.

    You also risk falling off plane at this speed which is a pita to get back on when at sea. Even once we'd burnt down a lot of fuel i had to turn down sea to get the boat up on plane.

    So my ferry numbers if i ever did this again would be 1mpg @ fwd idle and 0.5mpg at any other speed in a sea, plus reserves.
  11. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    How much fuel onboard when you made it in? Over reserved?
  12. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    I wish. 485miles and arrived with 100 gallons.

    And that was managing speed... spent another 8hrs at fwd idle after the planing i described above to be sure we had that 100 left on arrival.
  13. Capt Ralph

    Capt Ralph Senior Member

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    That is hardly a reserve, that's BINGO. Glad you made it safe.
  14. Jimes

    Jimes New Member

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    lol too right, but was running fuel numbers as we transferred and always had the option to slow down to fwd idle. Could've arrived with ~300gals... 24 hours later in bad weather.

    Thanks for your help... i see now what you meant about fuel bladders. Glad i used drums is all i can say.