I believe this will be the most appropriate place to put this thread but does anyone have any thoughts on Storm Yachts? Looks like they have delivered at least one yacht since inception with two more nearing completion. I really like the designs from them and am looking forward to seeing the X-65. If anyone has any knowledge when this may be delivered, please share. http://www.stormyachts.com/
"OPTIMAL EFFICIENCY RESULTING IN A FUEL CONSUMPTION OF JUST ONE LITRE PER HOUR AT EIGHT KNOTS" Impressive, our 80-footer takes 16 litres at 7,5 knots (with triple IPS 1200) which I thought were pretty good....
Storm Yachts is just a new Dutch Brand name. The yard behind that brand (and its financial background) is Dutch Quality Yachts with the Shipyard De Hoop located in the little town of Heusden, SE of Rotterdam. This yard has built some 1500 ships in steel and alloy in its history. The naval architectual brain behind those designs is Pieter Van Oossanen with his Fast Displacement Hull design. As most of the work is outsourced to subcontractors in Dutch yards of this size anyhow, there is no reason to assume, that this company would not be able to build very nice and good quality boats. The yard is financially quite healthy and the ownership has a solid reputation in this industry in the Netherland. One has to like this design. But I personally still have reservations with Volvo IPS propulsion on semi displacement or even on those fast displacement hulls. IMHO the IPS system has to work to hard with those hull designs. But our member Lars (AMG) is probably the better person to talk about that subject. They offer on the other hand different types of propulsion for their boats. Their layouts are well figured and practical. They resisted from placing to many cabins in these hulls, quite nice. The biggest problem for this company will be the fact, that they are competing with large Italian pleasure boat industry (60 to 100 feet) in this market segment. Also on lower quality, they build their plastic fantastic a lot cheaper than the yachting industry in northern Europe. So, if somebody likes the design, I do not see any reason not to give it a try. But I personally would go for the original, a Delta Powerboat (Delta 80) . GRP/CFRP gives less headaches for a pleasure boat in that size than alloy. Oops, Lars was faster than me Just my 2 (Euro) cents
Yes, and I have read more figures on the Storm website, like this for the 65'; "Fuel consumption 17,0 L per nm at 8 kts (2 x VOLVO IPS D13-800)" So, they must have mixed up the facts a little. It should probably be 17 L per hour. About IPS on round-bilged hulls I have no experience, but these boats are pretty wide so I think it will work.
