Are we obsessed with power?

[ffiill]

What do I mean-take the auxiliary engine-once upon a time a six horse power Stuart Turner sufficed;then it was a 10 hp Yanmar;now its 20 hp-30hp.
The Mercedes 42 hp OM636 was considered adequate for my Motor Sailer 30 years ago-nows its 70 hp,80hp and so on.
Power tools used to be rated at 250 watts;400 watts -now they are 1200 watts.
Last but not least the anchor windlass which was what got me thinking about this.The Simpson Lawrence Sea Wolf circa 1980s worked very well with a 600 watt motor; even 10 years ago anything more than 700 watts for a smaller boat was unusual.But now its 900 watts,1000 watts.
We see the same with cars where in my recent AA magazine it was suggested that 115 hp for a family hatchback was underpowered wheras our Morris 1800 circa 1968 with no more than 70 bhp could cruise at 90mph! never mind the pre war Morris 8 as in 8HP which happily moved our family about in the 1950s.
Assuming that the power unit is matched to a suitable transmission system for whatever use is there really any need for ever larger more powereful motors?

 

[PoRL9]

You are Jeremy Clarkson and I claim my£5!!

 

[fireball]

My Pug is 90hp - and it does feel a bit sluggish - so you have to plan any overtaking on single carriageways ...

 

[WF36]

Yes!

Car is 420BHP and RIB is 200!

 

[Poignard]

The Hiscock's comfortably managed their first circumnavigation in 'Wanderer III' (30' loa, 9 tons displacement) with a non-reversing 4hp Stuart-Turner. But for their second circumnavigation in her they decided they needed more power, so replaced the 4hp engine with an 8hp!

My 28', 4-1/2 ton, Twister has a massive 10hp engine which is more than enough

 

[davidej]

Yes!

Car is 420BHP and RIB is 200!

You come across at least one like this everywhere you go.

Look at the Avator!

 

[pagos]

That's the speed we go.

The Hiscock's comfortably managed their first circumnavigation in 'Wanderer III' (30' loa, 9 tons displacement) with a non-reversing 4hp Stuart-Turner. But for their second circumnavigation in her they decided they needed more power, so replaced the 4hp engine with an 8hp!

My 28', 4-1/2 ton, Twister has a massive 10hp engine which is more than enough

Unfortunately that's lust life now we all seem to need to rush, be there to meet people and be at sea less time. let us all stand back and enjoy the sea and what it throws at us it's a great place if you have the time but life is not like that, have you ever tried to leave your phone at home for the week bet not hey .

 

[Poignard]

have you ever tried to leave your phone at home for the week bet not hey .

I once accidentally left it on the boat for a week, and when I recovered it I was mortified to find that no-one had called me.

 

[chinita]

I once accidentally left it on the boat for a week, and when I recovered it I was mortified to find that no-one had called me.

Well, you don't get that lack of response here

 

[johnalison]

To my mind, two things have happened since the old days.

Firstly, sailing has become a weekend sport for many people who cannot afford not to be back by Monday morning. If caught somewhere with a slog against the weather most AWBs can now be relied on to punch through the seas to get back. Holiday cruises can also now be made over longer distances, even if the speeds in still water are not much greater.

Secondly, modern folding props have meant that medium sized boats can carry a lot of power without having to drag a large prop through the water.

Being retired now, my time is my own but my cruising is in many ways more enjoyable than when I had to rely on a 12 HP Dolphin, good little engine as it was.

 

[rotrax]

To my mind, two things have happened since the old days.

Firstly, sailing has become a weekend sport for many people who cannot afford not to be back by Monday morning. If caught somewhere with a slog against the weather most AWBs can now be relied on to punch through the seas to get back. Holiday cruises can also now be made over longer distances, even if the speeds in still water are not much greater.

Secondly, modern folding props have meant that medium sized boats can carry a lot of power without having to drag a large prop through the water.

Being retired now, my time is my own but my cruising is in many ways more enjoyable than when I had to rely on a 12 HP Dolphin, good little engine as it was.

Bang on the money!

 

[Billjratt]

It seems time is the important thing nowadays.
People have come to realise they can't get back any that is wasted.
So, everything has to be done quickly and that takes energy.
Everything from drilling a hole to moving a boat from A to B will waste less time if more energy is used

And, of course, you need more power to create the energy required to do the same work in a shorter time...

 

[Capt Popeye]

'Time & Tide wait for no man'

so these days it more like 'go when I want to', (or have to), so sod the tide

Jeremy Clarkson is not alone out there

yes, quite large 60 / 80 ft working barges got along with a 30 / 40 hp that rev at 600rpm (or so) turning big props

but I think that 'they' Skippers worked the tides / current / wind to their advantage and got there

it looks like Anglers go for 60 / 70 hp (or higher) main engines and with an aux of 10 / 25 hp, anything less is considered under powered

still, lets see what the price of fuel does to these 'thirsty' engines

 

[OldBawley]

In 1946 the first engine in our boat was a Swedish “Solo” 2 cyl 8,8 HP at 900 rpm.
In 1951 followedd a “Conach “ 8-10HPp 4 cyl. Not sure about the name, the handwriting in the logbook is bad.
In 1980 a Perkins 4108 M was build in, the boat was then used to fish shrimps in a semi professional way.
The next one will be a lot smaller.

 

[Sybarite]

You come across at least one like this everywhere you go.

Look at the Avator!

They say its in inverse proportion to.....

 

[Sybarite]

'Time & Tide wait for no man'

so these days it more like 'go when I want to', (or have to), so sod the tide

Jeremy Clarkson is not alone out there

yes, quite large 60 / 80 ft working barges got along with a 30 / 40 hp that rev at 600rpm (or so) turning big props

but I think that 'they' Skippers worked the tides / current / wind to their advantage and got there

it looks like Anglers go for 60 / 70 hp (or higher) main engines and with an aux of 10 / 25 hp, anything less is considered under powered

still, lets see what the price of fuel does to these 'thirsty' engines

We have people living on barges in front of the house on the Seine. Our friends on a 36m 300 ton barge have a 160hp engine (what you see as an auxialiary on some 50' yachts) with which they have to manouvre in the confines of a river with fast running water and without the benefit of a bow thruster.

 

[Stemar]

When I bought Jissel (24ft Snapdragon), she had a very tired MD1 of nominally 7HP, but actually, more like 2HP. After our first trip out, going back into Portsmouth harbour, we took 3/4hr to go from No 4 to Ballast. It died the following year and I replaced it with a 28HP, simply because it was free (still cost me the best part of £1000 to install, but I'd have had much the same costs if I'd bought a new engine)

That extra power means I come and go as I please, and can plan a passage knowing I can keep up a decent average speed irrespective of wind or, to some extent, tide. This means that SWMBO is willing to come with me. It also means I know what time we're going to be home.

28hp's far too much, of course. If I had to replace the engine again, I'd be looking for around 15hp, which is all I ever use, 'cos it means I can maintain hull speed into any sort of sea I'd chose to be out in, and make reasonable progress against one I'd rather not be out in, so I'll be out in it for less time.

 

[LadyInBed]

I hadn't thought about it before, but yes, power sources are larger now.
Maybe due to better power to weight ratio and better for the power source not to run on the upper limit.

 

[crazy4557]

I'm planning on buying a 40'+ yacht next year when I've sold my stink pot and the boat must have at least a 75hp engine. I'm not going to be in a hurry but after years of running around the solent like my hair's on fire at 30 knots trying to intimidate all you yotties means I need/want to get places within a reasonable time.
I also will still want to go on long journeys in a fairly short time due to work commitments so with a decent size engine I can!

 

[jamesjermain]

When I first started in the yottie journo business, the rule of thumb for yacht designers had been for years 4hp per ton. Then Westerly (and others) started bunging 25hp into three-tonners and threatened to sue writers who described their boats as motor sailors.
The term is largely irrelevant these days since most yachts are faster under power than sail in average conditions.

And before people go off on a nostalgic trip down memory lane I could tell a few stories about hideous old Vires, Sprites and RCA Dolphins that would make you hair stand on end; not to mention some about Stuart Turners, Petters and Kelvins