Interesting vid on Seakeeper gyro stabiliser system

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It's better suited to boats like Azimuts and Ferrettis which have a large engine room and no separate lazarette. If I lobbed my washing machine and water maker overboard, it would fit nicely on my boat. Yup 0.5t is a lot of weight but on a 50 footer only the difference between full fuel tanks and 2/3 full. Also, AFAIK, it's not critical that the Seakeeper is near the CoG, just somewhere aft of the CoG
But even external fin stabilizers require space for the hydraulic power pack and I guess they have to be mounted somewhere amidships for max effect. Also, they look a bit vulnerable and they must create drag which you don't want on a planing boat. There's also a question about their reliability. Reading about the experiences of Nordhavn owners, one of their biggest complaints is stabilizer failure
 
Agreed. But you can't chuck the washing machine overboard*. I'd rather lose an engine.

*TCM actually did this literally, mid Atlantic, on his eastbound crossing this spring
 
We hardly use ours. SWMBO refuses citing the fact that she's on holiday too and she doesn't want to do on holiday what she hates doing at home. Fair point really

I can well imagine tcm doing that and possibly regretting it later!
 
He did regret it. Mrs TCM told him off big time when he got to France and he had to borrow my car and go to Ubaldi (French for Currys) and get a new one :-)
 
[ QUOTE ]
Reading about the experiences of Nordhavn owners, one of their biggest complaints is stabilizer failure

[/ QUOTE ]Really? In my personal experience (Naiad), and also according to a couple of other fellow boaters (Wesmar), they are VERY reliable. I can't tell by heart what's normally installed on Nordhavn, maybe Trac?
Of course, the owner of that 62' which sunk after a fin stab hit a rock might be a tad biased, but it was the Nordhavn hull structure to be blamed - if anything. Surely not the stabs.
I fully agree on the rest, fwiw (space, location, vulnerability, drag): I wouldn't want fins on a 30 kts boat, particularly for the last two points.
 
Hello all. I am with Seakeeper and happened upon this thread. I would be happy to answer any questions regarding gyro stabilizers and the applications around the world.

While the video was good, the results were lower than typically experienced due to captain error on starting and stopping the unit for the demo. The gyro was actually spooling down during the shoot which affected its performance.

The rule of thumb is 1 Seakeeper gyro will handle vessels up to ~30 tons. More than that and the performance will begin to deteriorate. Therefore the number of gyros should increased accordingly for each 30 tons of displacement.

For reference, the Seakeeper Viking video shows about 80% roll reduction from a single unit (~20 ton displacement). We typically see roll reductions between 60 and 80% in actual sea trials.

Examples of successful installations include: Azimut, Pershing, Couach, Marquis, Marlow, Terranova, Zeelander, and Viking. Many of the D and SD brand are now working with us in trialing boats with this style of stabilization based on owner preference, hull design limitation, and low / zero speed roll requirements.

I'm here to help and answer any questions. Happy motoring.
 
Good stuff, thanks for posting. Personally i'd fit one tomorrow if I was confident it would work to the 60-80% you say, and I could find someone locally (South of France) to fit it. I have space, but would need to move domestic batteries, and some GRP work.

I'm guessing you're maybe busy enough with new builds, but if you were trying to promote the retro-fit side, then an approved installer network would make all the difference I reckon.

Do you have any video of the unit operating properly on 50'+ flybridge? If so, you could post a link to it here.

What boat speed can you run the unit at?
 
Let me try and answer all your questions:

We can guarantee performance by doing a full roll simulation of your exact boat in a variety of sea states. You will know what to expect before buying. We expect to be fitted on Princess vessels in the coming months as well.

We have worked closely with an excellent yard for retrofit work in the South of France of which I can send the contact info if requested. They did the MY Kadimos (121' Couach) 5 gyro install on our website.

I do have a video of the unit properly running on an Azimut 50. They are achieving about 65% roll reduction in medium sea conditions on that boat. I will try to load it on our website and will post a link shortly. Also, in the next few weeks, we are taking a video of a new Azimut 62 with 2 units fitted which should give excellent results (70%+). As for your Princess, you really have a choice between 1 & 2 units as it comes down to your use of the boat and the typical sea states in which you use it.
 
Just seen this post and thread.

My Fleming 55 has the TRAC system, and we wouldn't be without it. Virtually all roll is eliminated unless in really foul seas, and I mean foul.

I can drive the hydraulics from either engine, just in case.

It took some time to fine tune the (many) parameters, but the system is simply stunning.

The system calculates the boat's speed from the prop shaft revolutions, and adjusts the fin deflection accordingly. However, sometimes we take it out of the auto mode and manually insert the fwd speed.

In calm weather, I only have to take the fins off for a few seconds before my wife notices...

Last point, I believe you will find that in Sunseeker's trials, the fins increased the top speed - interesting. The reason was that by keeping the boat stable, less surface area of the hull was in contact with the sea, and therefore there was less drag. I think the figure was an extra 1.5 knots on a large Predator.
 
Seakeeper Gyro, having two units fitted to new Marlow, due for launching in May this year, have done a lot of homework on available gyro systems, this is by far the best, been to the factory and out on there test boat. Quiet running virtually no maintenance.
 
Keep us posted please. Pics of Marlow would be great. Which one have you got?
 
Commissioned a single Seakeeper gyro on a Sunseeker 70 a couple of weeks ago. It had a very noticeable affect on roll. Unit installed under one of the bunks in the crew cabin. New boat with the unit installed at the factory.
 
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Sundays_Child said:
Interesting. Any idea about cost? A friend is having one (don't know from which maker) put into his upcoming Sunseeker 70 and mentioned around US$50K. Small change on a big boat, but quite a lot on something worth less.
Click to expand...

It's probably a trac, they have started fitting them to Sunseekers. They work well; I believe that the trac stabs fitted to Eos (our boat) were the first in the UK.
 
Gyros

Had the option when building the pred 92 however did a sea trial on a 90 yacht fitted with the trak system. worked fantastic. however speaking to the manufacturer they said that if you use the system whilst on anchor you can not swim around the boat!! whilst on trial we stopped and watched over the side watching the stabalizers flip a 100 ton boat around very impressive however you would not like to be swimming around the boat with these things active one swipe to a child would be enough to cause serious harm. As when in callas on anchor you cant realy control who swims in the vacinity of the boat, was one reason I decided not to fit. the other was that, what is the point of having a high performance boat that swoops and turns in excess of 35 knots and then take the swooping and turning ability away with stabalisers. As Mapis M says if you want that then go displacement. So as it's a Pred we decided to keep it so, I must say that in 3500+ miles this year we have not needed stabalisers at all.

On the trip down from the UK we set of with a 90 yacht with stabalisers. they said they were great but did the whole trip at around 20 knots. We were cruising at 27 Knots and as steady as a rock and I recon considering the drag factors of the two huge wings under the vessel we will probably burnt the same fuel. We certainly seemed to visit all the same fuel bays on the way down although a day in time apart. Also I note that the hydrolic pumps for the system were under the master cabin and what a noise when running. wouldn't fancy a hyrolic failure either with the fins flipped out in one direction you would probably be able to do nothoing more than drive around in circles until you drove up your own ass. So its still out on test for me. People love them on Sunseeker yachts but that client is buying a big distance flybridge cruiser, as against a Predator owner who is going for speed and performance on tap and loves the wow factor.

As far as Gyros I dont know any more than the options available to steady a 100 ton Sunseeker were massive and expensive. and we could not come up with a suitable site within the boat to fit such units. Nothing was ever mentioned regarding multiple units so I'm all ears on this one and would love to see and hear these units run. It seems a good alternative to the trak system and without the extra drag. also just switch off when the need arises for a quick blast.
 
Hi Seakeeper,

Do you have a UK or Med/Europe based agent or office for installations, surveys and maintenance/service? Do you supply the generators as well as a complete package?

How do they compare to the seagyro? www.seagyro.com

Thanks
 
i have the trac system on my 92 and it is just fantastic.
have been in horrible beamy seas and just turned them off to see the diff....worlds apart.

as said by soem one below...you can see the fins really work if you look over the side.

not sure if they pose any safety risk tho.
also havent noticed it make any diff to the handling or speed.

i believe on of the p 92 before mine was fitted with 3 X gyro system.
the test team said the performance was not a aptch on the trac system.
IIRC when the 92 line was started the trac system was not available if you had the MTU m93 engines.

would defo reccomend them to any one.
 
bigmoose said:
i have the trac system on my 92 and it is just fantastic.
have been in horrible beamy seas and just turned them off to see the diff....worlds apart.

as said by soem one below...you can see the fins really work if you look over the side.

not sure if they pose any safety risk tho.
also havent noticed it make any diff to the handling or speed.

i believe on of the p 92 before mine was fitted with 3 X gyro system.
the test team said the performance was not a aptch on the trac system.
IIRC when the 92 line was started the trac system was not available if you had the MTU m93 engines.

would defo reccomend them to any one.
Click to expand...

I recall that the pred82 Champneys was one of the first preds to have them. Possibly a 2005 boat? Anyway they stuck large decals on the hull sides above the fins saying "Danger, no swimming here!" or something, to help with the swimmer safety risk. It's ok for your own guest party cos you can tellem; the problem in the Med (rahter than in your cruising grounds Bigmoose) is that the boats are so tightly packed into anchorages that you can't rule out that someone from a neighbouring boat will swim over and get clouted by the fins
 
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