New to larger displacement boats..

[ashedd]

As the title says, I'm new to larger boats. I was perfectly happy with my little 20' cabin cruiser powered by an evinrude, but it basically was only useful for one person to use, as a 20' cabin cruise only has about 10' of deck space. Trying to wedge four chairs in that 10' for entertaining was a nightmare, especially if you're over six and a half feet tall like me. So I figured a 28' cabin cruiser would work better. More beam, more systems, larger aft deck. Plus a 28' isn't very likely to have a loud smelly outboard that everyone but me hates. Buying a new e-tec for the 20 footer was an option but not real cheap.

Flash forward to now... I looked at several 28' foot boats that I liked. Then the guy I rent moorage from tells me he's moving out of state and wants to sell me his boat. I resist but decide to take it at the last min before he moves. It was going to sit in the boathouse of the property he sold until someone bought the boat. So instead of a 28' boat I got a 40' wood express cruiser. Kept in a boat house it's whole life and with regular hull maintenance. I looked at plenty of rotten wood boats in the past, almost lost my screwdriver in the transom of one, but this one is solid. It's a planked boat so it seems much stronger than the plywood cabin cruiser I had/have.

I must assume it's a full displacement hull. It's a 1957 Richardson Express Cruiser 40' with 12' beam. It's powered by a pair of gas V8's straight inboards. It idles in gear at 5 knots, nothing slower. I'd say 6 knots is the high limit of no wake, although this thing always kicks up some sort of wake. At 8 knots it has quite a wake and I enjoy watch how the university crew team handles it when they pass me. Those guys are always in my way so it doesn't bug me too much to inconvenience them.

So far I seem to like cruising at 9-10 knots turning about 1500-1600 rpm and with a stern wave large enough to wake surf behind. At those speeds I can stand on the aft deck(which is huge) and I feel like I'm on a battleship. At 2500-2600 rpm I can get up into the teens, 15-16 knots, right on the edge of planning(or at least that's how it feels). 18 knots feel like a full plane. WOT(with minor tuning still required) gets me 23-24 knots and a wake I thought I'd never see behind a boat I'd ever operate. I think I may have seen info online(it's hard to find Richardson info) with a stated max speed in the upper 20's(like 29 knots). From what I can tell most these large wood cruisers are all alike, they have similar if not the same hull. My boat looks almost just like a Chris Craft Constellation.

So am I correct in assuming this is a full planning hull? I have trim tabs that keep blowing a fuse so they're not hooked up currently, not sure if they're up or down or i what. The tabs are on the list of repairs. I don't particularly like the way it steers on plane, it seems to wallow about. It'll roll over more than I'm comfortable with but that might just be the size I'm not used too. I had an Olympic cuddy that you could put in a turn at 50 knots and the gunwales would be on top of the water. If I ever saw that with the Richardson I think I would soil myself. Of course it's crappy to steer at low speed too, but I know that's relatively normal for a large deep V hull.

I was hoping the hull could work out ok at displacement speeds. I actually prefer to go slower, it allows me to walk around and do stuff while underway, and the fuel burn is lower. I don't know the fuel burn now but I'd expect it to be pretty bad.

Here is a pic of a pic. I need to take some nice pics this spring

[Lepke]

Boats that go fast enough to plane have small rudders to reduce drag allowing a higher speed. But they don't steer as well at low speed. If you have cable steering, make sure the cables are tight or the rudders tend to wander. If you have hydraulic steering, make sure there isn't air is the system. Same problem.
Trim tabs should help get you get planning easier. It's probably worth the effort to troubleshoot. Trim tabs only move a small amount and will be just below the boat bottom. They work like dive planes on a submarine and tilt the boat up or down.
When you're in a marina, put one engine in neutral and your idle speed will be lower and should produce no wake. It's what I do.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ashedd.

[UNCIVILIZED]

I can tell you that with your attitude towards other boaters, including those rowing crew, won't win you any awards. Ditto on observing no wake zones, & courtesy in general. And a lot of those "courtesy" items, & other rules, are genuinely safety items.
The tone about which you approach them definitely kill any incentive I have to field your questions, etc. Maritime speed limits are akin to reduced speed zones around schools. Make sense?

[Sav]

G'day mate, it looks like a relic from the '60's, and with 2 V8's I'd say its been tweaked by a gas head at some time in the 70's or '80's.

[Sav]

... ummmm its got no sails.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by UNCIVILIZED

I can tell you that with your attitude towards other boaters, including those rowing crew, won't win you any awards. Ditto on observing no wake zones, & courtesy in general. And a lot of those "courtesy" items, & other rules, are genuinely safety items.
The tone about which you approach them definitely kill any incentive I have to field your questions, etc. Maritime speed limits are akin to reduced speed zones around schools. Make sense?

That was my thought exactly when I read the original post.

[Suijin]

I used to row competitively...you sir, are a jack@&$.

And the reason that boat fared as well as it did was because it was covered. Out in the rain it's going to suffer unless you are a slave to it. Freshwater is not your friend.

[30West]

It is not a displacement hull, and not a good planing hull. Those are beautiful boats, but a lot of work. I grew up working on boats like that, a lot of work, for a lot of money. I'm going to guess you expect to do the work yourself, that is good. Work builds character. You should also think about joining a rowing club.

[Stumble]

No, that boat isn't a displacement hull, it's somewhere between a semi-planing and planing hull, which is how it's able to get up on a plane in the first place.

Low speed maneuvering is always going to be soft, the hull is optimized for higher speeds, as are the rudders. And frankly there is no good way to resolve wallowing at low speeds short of adding bigger rudders, and gimping the boats top end speed.

As for speeds below designed max, you likely have a lot more stuff on board than originally designed for. It happens over the years, and a good hard cleaning while removing everything that isn't bolted down, and a few things that are, will help out a lot. Secondly over time engines loose power. A full on rebuild can bring it back, but it's a lot of money if you aren't going to run that fast much anyway.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by ashedd

I must assume it's a full displacement hull. It's a 1957 Richardson Express Cruiser 40' with 12' beam. It's powered by a pair of gas V8's straight inboards. It idles in gear at 5 knots, nothing slower. I'd say 6 knots is the high limit of no wake, although this thing always kicks up some sort of wake. At 8 knots it has quite a wake and I enjoy watch how the university crew team handles it when they pass me. Those guys are always in my way so it doesn't bug me too much to inconvenience them.

So am I correct in assuming this is a full planning hull? I have trim tabs that keep blowing a fuse so they're not hooked up currently, not sure if they're up or down or i what. The tabs are on the list of repairs. I don't particularly like the way it steers on plane, it seems to wallow about. ... Of course it's crappy to steer at low speed too, but I know that's relatively normal for a large deep V hull.

I was hoping the hull could work out ok at displacement speeds. I actually prefer to go slower, it allows me to walk around and do stuff while underway, and the fuel burn is lower. I don't know the fuel burn now but I'd expect it to be pretty bad.

You need to rethink your outlook on operations around other boat traffic.

It's likely an older version (earlier design) of a planing hull, although could be semi-planing. Maybe some 'net searches for brand/model info could turn something up, maybe an owner's club, etc.

Sounds like your steering is loose. Won't always be great at slow speed, but it shouldn't be squirrelly. Should be much better at design speeds, and if it's not my first suspicion would be about cables, connections, etc.

You can use it at displacement speeds. Sometimes sea states won't be wonderful for that; change course (or even destination), tack, speed up, whatever during those times.

You need to rethink your outlook on operations around other boat traffic.

-Chris

[canyonbat]

Are we being spoofed? Only one guy could be such an a$$ when it comes to boat courtesy.

[30West]

Hey, you scratched my anchor!

[Scot McPherson]

traffic on the water may sometimes be a nuisance, but the waterways are shared. Putting other people in danger because of your intolerance for their presence is both distasteful, and illegal.

[jimbunyard]

Hmmm...I admit to the same feelings as many have posted here at first, but then re-read the post and noticed the section bolded below.


"I must assume it's a full displacement hull. It's a 1957 Richardson Express Cruiser 40' with 12' beam. It's powered by a pair of gas V8's straight inboards. It idles in gear at 5 knots, nothing slower. I'd say 6 knots is the high limit of no wake, although this thing always kicks up some sort of wake. At 8 knots it has quite a wake and I enjoy watch how the university crew team handles it when they pass me. Those guys are always in my way so it doesn't bug me too much to inconvenience them."



So I revise my assumption and think that maybe he's not such an ass; should he slow down even more so the rowers can have a wake-free row? Or maybe if he sees the scullers out he should just stay in? From the paragraph above it seems he's a little conflicted at the wake the boat throws anyway, and has rationalized it in an (from first hand experience; I do the same) all-too-familiar manner...

Almost appears to be a little excess, overt PC creeping in here...

But the post also brings up a question I've always had: Is the owner/operator of a boat responsible for injuries or damages caused by excessive wakes thrown by his boat? In other words, if a small boat is anchored on a point, say, I dunno, fishing, and an obnoxious powerboater roars by and causes a fisherman in the small boat to fall and break his arm, is the powerboater liable?