Boat in build pics (2013 Fairline Squadron 78)

[Trundlebug]

It would seem that given the volume of these horns, the switch for them might be an ideal application for an aircraft style switch, i.e. underneath a flip-up cover so the switch can't be activated accidentally.

I'm sure they'll do them as spring return types rather than latch-on, but no doubt others will confirm.

Might save you having to keep remembering to switch off at the isolator, - and switch on again when you get going. Nothing more frustrating than needing to use your wonderfully loud parper to give someone a 5 blast burst, only to find you've forgotten to turn on the isolator! By the time you've run down and sorted it, the moment's gone...

 

[jfm]

aircraft style switch, i.e. underneath a flip-up cover so the switch can't be activated accidentally.

Hmm I like that idea, thanks. Willdo!

 

[jfm]

Very quick update from factory. Engines have arrived this week, all the way from South Carolina. They are JIT, maybe due to cost (£100k each kinda thing; not sure exactly), and will go in the boat tomorrow or Friday

Gotta say, I find these lumps fascinating. Beautiful things. The colour screens are mounted (by Cat, OEM) aft, over the gearboxes, facing inwards, as discussed earlier in the thread. There isn't much to provide a scale in these pics but the Cat colour screen units are 230mm wide

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Hmm I like that idea, thanks. Willdo!

Iirc Carlingswitch do a contura with a locking tab that has to be slid upwards before the rocker can be moved. Although the top gun-style switch might be more fun!

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[MapisM]

Gotta say, I find these lumps fascinating. Beautiful things.

+1.
As much as I love the MTU stuff, those things are well worth an...

Incidentally, much more so than the non-Acert version on M1, as far as theory goes.
I'm curious to hear if you will actually feel the difference, particularly at low speed.

 

[STEVEDUNSTABLE]

Very quick update from factory. Engines have arrived this week, all the way from South Carolina. They are JIT, maybe due to cost (£100k each kinda thing; not sure exactly), and will go in the boat tomorrow or Friday

Gotta say, I find these lumps fascinating. Beautiful things. The colour screens are mounted (by Cat, OEM) aft, over the gearboxes, facing inwards, as discussed earlier in the thread. There isn't much to provide a scale in these pics but the Cat colour screen units are 230mm wide

hi jfm......just LOVE this sort of stuff !!!!!!!!! (more details if poss wieght, size, etc if poss) ... yes, sorry, but another of my stupid questions !!!!!..... do the engines rotate in opposite directions?? (aka, if you had twin outboards on the transom) or are the props,"handed" or is this done via the gearbox?? just curious (and stupid)!!

 

[rafiki_]

Yep JFM, the Cats look lovely lumps of engineering. Did you resolve your screen dilema?

 

[John100156]

.......Gotta say, I find these lumps fascinating. Beautiful things...

Me too, they look fantastic lumps. It will be interesting to find out how well they perform, at this rate it seems it will not be too long a wait albeit a hell of a lot of work yet to be completed. Do you have a launch date yet?

 

[MapisM]

do the engines rotate in opposite directions?? (aka, if you had twin outboards on the transom) or are the props,"handed" or is this done via the gearbox??

Nope, the crankshaft has the same rotation in both engines.
It would actually make sense to have counter-rotating blocks, on any twin engines installation, but for various practical reasons the counter-rotation is always handled by the gearboxes, with the props handed accordingly, of course - what do you mean by "OR" are the props handed?

Btw, one thing rather counter-intuitive (if you 'scuse the pun... ) is that the engine actually spinning in the same direction of the prop is the port one, with its l/h prop. In the stbd engine, aside from adjusting the ratio, the gearbox also reverses the rotation, to spin a r/h prop.

 

[jfm]

Incidentally, much more so than the non-Acert version on M1, as far as theory goes.
I'm curious to hear if you will actually feel the difference, particularly at low speed.

I'm told by thre main Fairline "test pilot" who sea-trials all the Sq78 in Ipswich that you can definitely feel the extra push (power at lower rpm) of the ACERT engine compared with the previous engine, but I'll let you know when I've tried it first hand. TBH the non ACERT C32 engine was a joy anyway - loads of push out of the hole shot (if I can use the term "holeshot" for such a genre of boat, but you know what I mean )

 

[jfm]

Nope, the crankshaft has the same rotation in both engines.
It would actually make sense to have counter-rotating blocks, on any twin engines installation, but for various practical reasons the counter-rotation is always handled by the gearboxes, with the props handed accordingly, of course - what do you mean by "OR" are the props handed?

Btw, one thing rather counter-intuitive (if you 'scuse the pun... ) is that the engine actually spinning in the same direction of the prop is the port one, with its l/h prop. In the stbd engine, aside from adjusting the ratio, the gearbox also reverses the rotation, to spin a r/h prop.

+1 Yup, the crankshafts rotate anticlockwise if you're looking at it from flywheel (aft) end

Steve the spec highlights are:
3.2tonnes weight, per engine, dry. There's a gearbox and 130litres of oil + water to add to that
32.1 litres displacement, V12, so about 2.6 litres per pot
Made in Greenville, South Carolina, I think (I haven't actually checked that...)
Titanium plate heat exchange
Return fuel cooler
Prelube controlled by ECU on start up (ie, the engine doesn't fire till the journals have pressursed oil)
Both seawater and freshwater pumps are gear driven, not belt. Only the alternator is belt driven
230v block heaters

This is a lovely engine. I share MapisM's admiration for MTU engines generally but this C32 is a real "sweet spot" engine for Cat and so at the ~1600hp level this is the engine I'd choose; it goes in their huge dumper trucks and gensets (at lower bhp) where the hours are 100x a boat, and they just don't break down (whereas, in contrast, plenty of the MAN series at this hp have cylinder-head-off repairs below 1000hrs including TCM's boat and a friend of mine with a 2008/9 manhattan 70). This Cat C32 is made in 600-1825hp versions, and mine are 1622hp so not "fully stressed" even at WOT. Full spec sheet is here; you'll need to scroll to the heat exchanger cooler/1600hp version

 

[jfm]

Me too, they look fantastic lumps. It will be interesting to find out how well they perform, at this rate it seems it will not be too long a wait albeit a hell of a lot of work yet to be completed. Do you have a launch date yet?

The schedule is that it leaves factory in Oundle last week of March 2013, then it is launched in Ipswich, and has a month of sea trials and final jobs like tender install (during which month I will own it and have access to do some of my jobs too). Then they hand it over fully at end of April.

I plan to put it on a ship to France mid June 2013 (there's no longer any rush for the cowes-MC race), and therefore have it in UK for 4-6 weeks or so of jobs and shakedown cruises. So, from say middle of May to mid June 2013 I'll prob keep it in Ocean village (easy train to London for me) or Lymington (I love Lymington) and of course anyone around there/then is welcome to drop by for a look-see

 

[tico]

Presumably the engines are handed for servicing (filter etc) I see that's an option on the spec

 

[jfm]

Yep JFM, the Cats look lovely lumps of engineering. Did you resolve your screen dilema?

Yes, the screens have been OEM mounted by Cat above the gearboxes, turned inwards, see pics. I think this will work but they're just on brackets and can be moved if I don't like them there - no big deal

 

[jfm]

Presumably the engines are handed for servicing (filter etc) I see that's an option on the spec

Yes, fully handed. Though you can get to both sides of the engines easily due to Sq78 not having wing fuel tanks. The main fuel tanks are athwartships at front of engine room.

Also you don't need to get to the engines as much as you'd expect for lube changes. All 6 oil-change items (engines, gensets, gearboxes) have their sumps plumbed to an oil change manifold just by the engine room door. So you turn some valves and an electric pump empties the sump of any of the 6 to your waste drum beside the engine room door. Then you put the new oil drum there, and run the pump t'other way and fill the sump with new oil remotely

The manifold/pump is the thing behind the blue-tint polythene on the port engine in the pics above and those brass hose tails you can see are where the hoses to the 6x sumps are attached

 

[Groot T]

Here's a picture (not a very good one, sorry) of the Kahlenberg horns installed. These are the business, with titanium diaphragm and powered by a compressor and air tank hidden behind the scenes. Supplied by Piers and Toby du Pre, posters on here, who own the European Kahlenberg distributorship, Kahlenberg UK. Those guys have been very helpful throughout with all the tech specs and control stations specs and are a delight to deal with. If you scroll down to the model D-330 here you can hear the horns

They're located on the GRP apron/roof above the lower helm windscreen and in front of the flybridge windscreen. You cannot put these on masts/radar arches on a 25m boat because they'd be too loud for people on the flybridge

JFM, so pleased to see the horns are fitted! Looking really good on the flybridge apron, definitely the best place for them. As I've said before, am on hand should the install guys need any on-site advice, etc.

Just seen the engines and they are quite something! 32.1L per engine and weighing in at 3.2 tonnes each. Quite the beasts!

Very nice. What's the risk, if any, to people on the coachroof sunpad, or, ahem, enjoying a g&t in the sundowner chairs at the windlass?

Cheers
Jimmy

Hay Jimmy, on JFMs setup a quick toot wouldn't be advised if anyone is forward of the horns and on JFMs boat. At the mouth of the horns it is roughly 138 dB, so even though you won't go deaf it'll really bloomin hurt.

 

[John100156]

?......if anyone is forward of the horns and on JFMs boat. At the mouth of the horns it is roughly 138 dB, so even though you won't go deaf it'll really bloomin hurt......

Just need another set in the saloon to deter any would be burglars, didn't someone do something similar on a security alarm system a few years back, that almost damaged the burglars eardrums making them feel sick? But we couldn't do that to the poor unfortunate could we......

I think I may be visiting Lyminton around that time, just can't remember why

 

[rafiki_]

JFM, so pleased to see the horns are fitted! Looking really good on the flybridge apron, definitely the best place for them. As I've said before, am on hand should the install guys need any on-site advice, etc.

Just seen the engines and they are quite something! 32.1L per engine and weighing in at 3.2 tonnes each. Quite the beasts!




Hay Jimmy, on JFMs setup a quick toot wouldn't be advised if anyone is forward of the horns and on JFMs boat. At the mouth of the horns it is roughly 138 dB, so even though you won't go deaf it'll really bloomin hurt.

Is there a legal limit on noise dB? Of course not for out in the briny, but when moored up in a marina? I'm guessing that the horns must be CE marked for emc/rfi compliance, and many things need to comply with noise regs.

 

[Groot T]

Is there a legal limit on noise dB? Of course not for out in the briny, but when moored up in a marina? I'm guessing that the horns must be CE marked for emc/rfi compliance, and many things need to comply with noise regs.

Its a good question and we had an interesting situation with the Hayling Island Sailing Club, because elf'n'safety stated that employees must not be exposed to constant sound levels of above 85db and nothing over 95db in 'short blasts'. However, it is a signalling device which must be well over 130db so the boat can be heard at 1nm away.

I've not looked into what laws there are in a marina but would be shocked if they didn't have exemption for use of a ships tooter, especially if you have to give someone the five blasts within a large marina basin.

The horns are type approved by ABS (American Bureau of Shipping) and the compressor pumps, etc, are all CE stamped.

Though it is a good question concerning noise levels, etc.

 

[jfm]

But you don't expect government to be joined up. You have the MCA and IMO wanting loud horns on bigger boats which they decide is >20m, and you have elf'n'safety wanting peace and quiet. They each faff about and get their own laws passed. And we're left with the conflict. Ah well...!

The main use of these horns will actually be to toot "thank you" blasts at the end of South of France firework displays Proper fog will be a once-every-5-years event