Bis be2 shelves of ur ates do x good job evaluat Pp Powerboat —.Performance Independent tests published in boating magazines can be a valuable source of data for designers, builders, and boat owners. Still, specific improvements would make any such test significantly more useful. by Donald L. Blount and Douglas Blount muke, model, and ‘es and condition and optional the time of the spe+ “dimensioie, engine back rating: sign office, we have a 6'long cific boats, One can also stey F filled with notebooks containing from individual boats’ quantitaive " measurements and further analyze rom 25 them collectively to yield useful diag tes weight (usually for an collected much of nostic data and to indicate design ). Acceleration hing boats from these articles trends, er files for in-house use. Nevertheless, we feel that there are als Souttest articles serve the needs of measurements that should be added weie! eral different groups. Magazine to the typical published boat test that - : editorial content; boat would make them even more valu» We able. In this article, we'll look at these ‘i parameters in detail, and make the det case for more in-depth reporting, lished, to tnake 1 nay benefit the most, a petitive boats. Builders, t present, boat-test results are mation includes the depth of water lly reported for a series of ui the test site, because it snificant influence on both the ion results deep” water, the test y experience a bit of & 1a; overall hull oat. BOATBUILDERBoat-Test Example: Hypothetical 46 € should have water depth of at 08 x LOA, of 3 x chine beam so, it would be good to know the specific gravity of the water 10 deter- chins iF its sal, fresh, or brackish, Testengines te insoard Gieselsy Sep rainy Cov We also need a realistic boat weight. [Wansmision: tarine Sea Ut.» Model HH Gear ratio. 1.7221 lrstating oF overstating weight | Proplls: Good Propeller Cot Slyle-2esah 20" tele cia 2" henefis no one, Specifications ofen Bien s°8 Glades x'no hap © outs blose area emt io & not define the condition of the | Testsite Conditions: cc boat eeight. We suggest report. | Atmosphericcondltions: 75°F C9, 70% mumiditue sng city weight with standard equip- : a *. unless the builder clearly fines the published weight, When 0 information is provided to help sets at least approximate the boat's [Eugis! gol Gs2= 0 2.850 Iue Cit) mp ight, the value of the test data is | FetOOs: S182 the "82 bay = S00 peatly diminished ae We've included two other pieces of RTE formation in our hypothetical test ESRBeBH sults; change of trim with speed; ingine rim ue tang pun Sad a few data poims 2 cruise and Kots_esree sow “tee! © speed using trim tabs 0 | s 4 ee Analysis of Test Results 3s 2 Our goal is to develop a power- 28 B -sus-speed relationship from these es iB oat tests, To do that, we need aa 2 is curate and direct measurement of 24 z salt power. When installed, electronic se falda nifors can be an invaluable source Tea OS) ETS fuel-rate data. Alternatively, fuel ser | ose | Ses | es for diesel engines, based on EE saracerstics curves from the engine SSC fevst ateaurea ot rein etacione snacurer Gee Figure a), can give fee retorts th coed Teel Pctcl-opueeph ln tg en, wer levels being delivered by the *ESSct Eine deci . Fuel capacitye eine within: seoroninntely five 5. Range Sitiot ops do not account for generater fuel, cagine within approximately fi Srotecinavely 3 gph apne server &. Fe eased wr tndit sing trim tabs, unless rated We'll calculate a dimensionless Speeds" are tmvany weroves, eamared with PS eee cade mamiber) in Fuci-corauaption rate seasured with ergine horufdcturer’s ncruterien systen] set to compare our Hypothetical 46 ~Above—A sample powerboat performance tes, incorporating the | en 2édilonal information the authors would Ike to see in such tess: etn of water under the Keel, a realistic Boat weight. change oF | mth speed; and data points at crise and top speed using topo om tabs. Figure A—Fuel rates for diese! engines, based on characteristic curves from the engine manufacturer such as the es shown hore can gre pover lees beg dered byte “She wininagerounetey 8 a Ee | =e = E Sain aes a0 1200) oma 200. S Page| 250 8 150 200 B00 Bal 2 ce 500 ‘30 ie Eno 00 8 so i 20.0 50 5 —<_d iz : ° a 100 en | | 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 om iG RPM ae = aS Octoner/NovEMBer 2002 69to different-size win-screw diese! boats, or to the benchmark for mono- hulls, We'll also include apparent slip ratio, 10 understand how well the pro- peller and gear r: selected; brake and shaft horsepower; and transport efficiency + Apparent slip ratio. & gocx! way 10 underseand propeller slip is 10 com: pare the prop to a wood screw. A wood screw advances into wood with fone revolution a distance equal to its piten—there is 2er0 slip. A typical boat propeller without cup, operating in water, will advance 80% 10 859% of the propeller pitch with one revolution: that is, with 20% 10 15% slip. A pro- peller with cup has an effective pitch somewhat greater than the nominal piteit and may have relatively low slip. To achieve good propulsive effi- ciency, you need a very Low slip ratio. at design operating speeds, while the propeller is loading the engine at rated jorsepower and rpm. A fairly high slip ratio indicates vedluced efficiency and/ r propeller cavitation. Figure B shows values from Table 1 for a range of cds for our test boat, compared 1 imum speed-versus-slip ratio of other boats. Our boat has a good match of gear ratio and propeller mensions. Ive recluced the drag of the hull and appendages, or improved the match berweer propellers and reduction-gear ratio, of just fit a pro peller with bexer characteristics, chen lesis repeated under the same condi- tions would show a reduced slip ratio, and therefore improved propulsive efficiency. There ave several ways to achieve becer propeller characteristics: with cambered blade sections, rather than the flat-faced ogival sections com mon on most stock propellers; by varying pitch dlistibution from hub to tip for propellers on inclined shales; or Dy polishing surfaces ond refiaing blade leading-edge detail Be suspicious if the apparent slip ratio is negative, A negative reading could occur with cupped or cambered- section propellers, but it's more often the result of misinformation about th gear ratio or propeller pitch. (Boat speed and engine rpm are inde pendently recorded by an objective journalist/tester) + Volume Froude number. One of the best ways to evaluate calm- water performance of different bows is by a dimensionless comparison Figure C is the graph of the Hypo- jo have been 70. PROFESSIONAL BOATBUILDER Z| 087 other boats. The H46 has | 3 03 and propelier dimensions, | @ 0.1 Speed ve Apparent Sip T reo rbines oast_—=- ype Betta Seed | as o4 jorcoarrate |E oa 2 00. ot 02 o 1 2 % do s0 6 | ‘Speed (knots) Definitions BHP Engine brake horsepower (power input to gear) BOA —_ eam overall in feet Diesel fuct weight 7 Ibs/U.S. gal (838 kg/cu m) ET Transport efficiency, (W x V)/(Total SHP x 326) = w(RW) Fag Volume Froude number (dimensionless boat speed), (Wx1.6878)/(gxy 13) 8 Acceleration due to gravity, 32.15 fuse? 9.8misec2) LOA Length overall in feet n Propeller rotational speed in revstsec, rpm engine/(gear ratio x 60) P Propeller pitch in inches R Bare hull resistance in Ibs SA Apparentslip, 1-[V(1.6878/(Pxn12)) SFC Specific fuel consumption, lbs fuelBHP x hr) SHP shaft horsepower (power out of gear) v Boat speed in knots W Boat test weight in Ibs a Overall propulsive efficiency | ne Gearefficiency (about 96.59) v Volume of displaced water necessary to support the weight of the boat in cu ft in salt water, 7 = W/64thetical 46's transport efficiency (ET) versus volume Froude number (nq) To construct this graph, we need shaft horsepower, test-boat weight, and speed—all of which can be gathered from boat-test data from various mag- azines, and from manufacturers’ diesel engine characteristics. The perfor- mance of the Hypothetical 46 is typi- cal of many current production boats, but below the benchmark that @ lim- ited number of very good boats have attained. The transpon efficiency cal- culated from the test data is shown as points in Figure C, and is well below the benchmark line. At the highest test speed, Fyq = 3.2, the Hypothetical 46 is only 68% as efficient as very good hard-chine monohull. + Trim measurements, Taking tim measurements during boat tests seems to have fallen by the wayside We would encourage its return, Let's examine the trim data in Figure D. First, note that the trim gauge need only be set to zero when the boat, loaded for sea tials, is at rest. Trim measurements accurate t0 0.1° 10 0.2° are desirable. It's important to make tim measurements at steady boat speeds, beginning with low engine rpm and increasing in increments (0 maximum throttle. Select the rpm increments so that at least theee boat speeds are run between 10 and 18 knots. The trim-versusspeed curve in this range provides a good indicator of potential bow steering and/or dynamic instabilities at higher speeds. During tests on the Hypothet 46, the boat was free to trim. That is, trim tabs were up (not used) for all but 1wvo runs. We know that trim tabs produce a bow-down moment, which can improve both ride quality in head seas and forward visibility. Bus, tim tabs can also give undesirable results On some boats, they help increase speed; on others, they slow down the boat; and in some cases can induce unwanted bow steering. For our test boat, tabs improved cruise speed but 1 top speed. At cruise, the boat was running at a trim angle higher than optimum for minimum resis tance; trim tabs lowered the running angle, which helped at that speed. At full throtle, the boat was near opti mum teim, So, tim tabs at fall throttle slowed down the boat, since the bow ‘was lowered into the wate ing frictional drag. “The running trim of a boat at semi- 72 PROFESSIONAL BOATBUILDER port Efficiency. = Benchmark Achieved by monohull Boats 1 Hypothetical 46" Test DtaFeee to Tim «Hypothetical 46° Test Data Tas Full Down, Figure C—The Hypothetical 46's transport efficiency is well below the bench. ‘mark line. At the highest test speed, it is only 68% as efficient as a very good hara-chine ‘monohull Zo 504030 6b 78D volume Froude Number Figure DA double | yigure D Tee ‘hump in the speedttrim —T ig Tal bown— eT OTF RC curve, shown by the siete tri green line, portends i] —. problems when te | $48 running-trim angle is z ae r reduced at higher | a speeds, whether ty rim | 239 tabs oreawy items | 0 placed forward in the | ta) ——= Ho 300350 | Bee aaa carat boat ae planing speeds is a good indicator of potential dynamic instabilities—bow steering and heeling—at high speeds A double hump in the speed-trim curve shown by the green line in Figure D portends problems when the running-trim angle is reduced at higher speeds, whether by tim tabs, or heavy items placed forward in the boar. Of “time out of the hole"—that is, measure of agility or response (0 th shrotle, It is that and more. But, tak note that the water clepth at the te site can easily shade acceleratio results, If the boat has little powe margin between che propelle demand and the engine characteristic at low rpm, it might not accelerate + Acceleration. The acceleration planing speeds test is generally accepted as a gauge in shallow Portable yet sophisticated patent-pending powerboat. performance testing equioment from Janelle Engineering (Punta Gorda, Florida), capable of testing a boat's entire propulsion system during sea trials. Janelle’s PowerMate system measures torque, thrust, horsepower, rom, trim data, speed, voltages, current, pressure, heat, and GPS information simultaneously, with no restriction on vessel horsepower. During a sea trial, a Jenelle engineer attaches wireless strain gauges to the ‘prop shafts. The strain gauges communicate Information to @ laptop computer near the sharts, \which in turn communicates with a laptop on the bridge, where the engineer conducts the testing. All the measured values are recorded ‘simulteneously for graphical side-by-side comparisons of the engines’ individual effect on the vessel's performance. In its report, Janelle provides a copy of the engine manufacturers performance specifications, allowing for a ‘newversusused comparison of the engines.Figure E ar ‘Acceleration Curve “Deep Water, 5am) speed fenot) 0 t00 200300 Time (seconds) Figure F ee eee ees - Previously Published Fuel Capacity vs. Length Overall ee ery Wea aa = “9 Fuel Capacity —— US. Gallons = 0.0525 (LOA}*2.5. Deep Water, 5” mall power margin at low engine rpm) 5000 $4000 2000 | § 200! & 1000 (Bas wo sop | | = 20 0 & Length Overt feen Figure E—The acceleration-test results for the Hypothetical 46 include two additional curves. One shows the likely differences due to conducting the test in shallow water. The other curve shows the sluggish response when there is a small power margin at low engine rom. water. For boat-to-boat out-of the-hole comparisons to be equitable, they all need 0 be conducted in water depth of at least 08 x LOA. ‘The acceleration-test-results graph for the Hypothetical 46 given in Figure E includes two additional curves. One shows the likely differ- ences due (0 conducting the test in shallow water: slower initial accelers- boat length. sion, but increased top speed. The other curve shows the sluggish response when there is 2 small power margin at low engine 1pm. The fixes in the latter case may not be easy. ‘Options are to change propellers and gear ratio, change engine turbo- charger, change engine model, or reduce boat weight. If 2 boat exhibits very sluggish acceleration, then one Figure F—Boattosts collected over several years offer ways to Study trends in boat characteristics. For examplo, the data here ‘Shows thatthe nominal fuel capecty in twinciesetengine ‘portfshing boats increases exponentially as a function of fr all of these changes must be made to produce a marketable cra —+— Boat-test results collected over several years offer a number of ways to study trends in boat characterises Take, for example, Figures F and G. The first shows the nominal fuel capacity offered in twin-ciesel-engine sportishing boats. As expected, the Tecma Marine Toilets and Bidets Discover Wilcox Crittenden Modern, sleek lines and distinctive European styling are the hallmarks of Wilcox Crittenden's arr — Tecra matin toes. These toes are excrord- narily quiet and efficient, and available exclusively through Wilcox Crittenden in the US, and Canada.“ # Manual and Electric Marine Toilet: Wilcox Crittenden sels and services the finest quality marine toilets available in the world. 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These wends support the conclusion that larger boats with high-pow. ered diesel engines afe more efficient load-carriess than smalles boats Another trend that boat tests can seve is sound levels. Are noise levels at the helm increasing or decreasing, consider ing the offsetting effects of emerging acoustic treatments versus increasing engine power? We applaud ke boat testers. Continue the wondesful service. Bui at the (est site; indicate whether ies salt, fresh, or brackish water; and remember that speed-trim dat most useful The message for magazine readers is, save all your boat-test articles, Boat tests collecied over several y an informative design-and-trend data base. Turn your creative thoughts loose and squeeze more from these boar-test artic Previously Published Range at Maximum Speed [Beat LOA under 551( 168m) + Gout LOA 55 (16:8m) ond Larger build Figure G—Ihe great majority of planing, twinsdiese! boats have, at maximum test speeds, ranges of 200 t0 400 nm. Longer boats have the greatest range; thelr maximum speeds also tend to be higher than smaller boats. These tends suppert the conclusion that larger boats with high powered diesel engines are more efficient loadcartiers than smaller boats About the Authors: Donald Biount is president of Donald L, Blount and ‘Assoctates Inc. (Chesapeake, Virginia), @ naval architecture and marine engineering firm focusing on the design of sportfishing boats, large custom motoryachts. amd production powerboats. He 1s a professional engi: eer, @ Fellow of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, and fuel tanks’ capacity increases expo- may we nentially as @ function of boat length Figure G Wlustrates that the great majority of planing, ewin-diesel boats have, at maximum test speeds, ranges of 209 to 400 nm. Longer boats have the greatest range; cheir maximum speeds also tend to be higher than greedily ask for a bit more detailed information that would add greatly © the value of the tests? Clearly define the condition of boat weight in the specification, s0 there is a realistic value for boar weight as it is tested Measure and publish the water depth the author of numerous technical articles and research papers Douglas L. Blount is president of DIBA Robotics, Lid. (Chesapeake, Virginia}, @ ENC robotic plug-and-patiern ‘manufacturing company. Marine Hardware, Tne . For all your Power and/or Sail Hardware Needs. A customer-oriented company that has been supply- ing quality parts to boatbuildess throughout the Unired Stat White Water Marine Hardware sakes great pride in the prompt sesvice, as well as the very competitive pricing offered. We actively continue to introduce new and specialty items in an on-going effort to accommodate the marine industry’s needs. nd Canada for over eighteen years. 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