I agree that I was somewhat general, and all boats are different. I also agree that once you're above hull speed your distance per unit of fuel drops dramatically. However, I think it's generally agreed that for planing hulls, the least-efficient speed (other than wide-open throttle) is that speed range between hull speed and the speed where you've broken over onto plane. The reason being, that in that range, you're still trying to move aside water with nearly the full displacement weight of the boat, rather than running on top of the water.
My 36 Sport Sedan's hull speed is about 7.5 knots. At that speed, I use about 2 gph, total for both engines, and the engines are just off idle at about 1,300 RPM. At 12 knots, the bow is pointing toward the sky, the stern is deep in the water, and I'm throwing a wake that the wakeboarders can only fantasize about, and I'm using 17 gph. Plus the engines are straining at around 2,400 rpm, and you can hear them working. At 3,200 RPM, I use 20 GPH, and am running at about 19.5 knots. Pushing the throttles wide open, I go about 28 knots at 4,000 RPM (redline on these engines), and use about 45 GPH. My point wasn't that the mere exceeding of hull speed was inefficient, but once you do exceed there are various levels of inefficiency, and a lot of people think only of GPH, not how far each gallon or liter takes them. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/unifliteworld?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
