Night cruising speed

[PCUK]

All my previous boats have been displacement or semi-D and we cruised at night at the same speed as during the day. My previous boat's cruising speed was ten knots and we did this day or night. Now I am preparing a planing cruiser for next season and wonder what the norm' is for night cruising. Do you slow to displacement speed or carry on at 25 knots when far enough out to sea to be away from pot markers?

 

[DavidJ]

All my previous boats have been displacement or semi-D and we cruised at night at the same speed as during the day. My previous boat's cruising speed was ten knots and we did this day or night. Now I am preparing a planing cruiser for next season and wonder what the norm' is for night cruising. Do you slow to displacement speed or carry on at 25 knots when far enough out to sea to be away from pot markers?

100 mile night time passages in the Med are a delight especially because the sea tends to be flatter than in the day.
So for me a planing speed of 20 to 25 knots is normal once I’m a few miles out. Beware though of long line fishing boats whose lines go out for hundreds of meters.

 

[Richard.C]

I have only done night passages on a sailing boat, haven't had the need in a planing motorboat but I wouldn't feel comfortable at planing speed and wouldn't do it. That is a personal choice though, with an average range of 250 miles at planing speed I can use all my diesel in the daylight (in the summer months) so I don't really have any need to go through the stress of low visibility at speed.

 

[SC35]

It would depend on where I was.
In the Solent, or near the shore, there are too many buoys and pots for my liking to plane. Also risk of a random kayaker having a night time paddle.
But the open sea, offshore, is a different matter ... if you have GPS, Radar, AIS, I'd be okay with doing 20kts in the dark. It's what ships do all the time.

 

[jfm]

Agree - offshore I do 20knots in med, with stacks of electronics running. Moon phase make a difference - driving towards a full ish moon with no clouds makes for visibility as good as broad daylight

Solent would be slower, with shallow waters/pots/steel buoys/etc

 

[Commercial Dave]

I did 25 knots across Plymouth sound during the night navigation exercise on my advanced powerboat exam, it was a thoroughly planned passage in an area I knew extremely well. No radar etc. The examiner didn't have a problem with it, and I passed, so...

 

[Elessar]

I boat at night often. Generally d speed for me. Because I rarely have the JFM described conditions where I may consider speeding up.

 

[DavidJ]

Lovely experience when you are say 20,30,40 miles out at night, to just switch off the engines and silently drift for a while. Always a huge relief when the engines fire back up again though.

 

[PowerYachtBlog]

I always did night cruising in slow displacement speeds of about eight knots.
Safety is paramount and while it is true that a bright moon really helps, black objects are harder to spot.
I am also a believer that if things go wrong at night it is always harder to think clearly also because of the reduced visibility.
So unless I really need to do it, I always prefer the night for its most basic routine of eating, drinking, and sleeping.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

Lovely experience when you are say 20,30,40 miles out at night, to just switch off the engines and silently drift for a while. Always a huge relief when the engines fire back up again though.

Have you thought how delightful it is to sail at night

We have a sailboat with 20 kn potential. We reef as the visibility closes in. I feel quite nervous at over 8 kn at night, small fishing boats on the south coast only have a candle in a brown bottle to show you where they are.

 

[Greg2]

The waters you are in and visibility are obviously a factors but unless there is a good moon the reality is that at planing speeds the risk is higher because you simply can’t see what is in the water ahead. How high that risk is will vary and appetite to take it is largely subjective. I have done 20+ knots in the dark but for leisure boating I would tend to agree with PowerYachtBlog and in our case lower speeds tend to be the norm anyway.

 

[Chiara’s slave]

The waters you are in and visibility are obviously a factors but unless there is a good moon the reality is that at planing speeds the risk is higher because you simply can’t see what is in the water ahead. How high that risk is will vary and appetite to take it is largely subjective. I have done 20+ knots in the dark but for leisure boating I would tend to agree PowerYachtBlog and in our case lower speeds tend to be the norm anyway.

We see motor boats when on night trips, more usually late evening tbh, we don’t sail through the night unless it's unavoidable. They are almost universally going much slower. Hopefully the few fast ones have radar and AIS, and are making good use of it.

 

[dunedin]

Kind of depends on location, as others have said, and ……… whether coming back from the pub.
The latter plus speed can end very badly. At a harbour we were at a RIB at speed in the dark hit rocks with dual fatal consequences on a Saturday evening / Sunday morning. Other occupants seriously hurt, and only saved as within sight of a lifeboat station. Very sad and very messy.

 

[PCUK]

I never drink and cruise. It's an unbreakable rule for me.

 

[jointventureII]

I've worked on superyachts where the captain was happy to cruise at 20 knots overnight, but I've never done it myself even though I wouldn't be that averse to it. On the Sunseeker 92, 10-11 kts at night (day cruise 21-22). Night cruising on the flybridge at 11 knots, cuppa in hand, was and still is one of my favorite parts of the job.

It affects everything - reaction time, movement around the boat, ability to keep a safe watch....

 

[PCUK]

Thanks all, I think the over-riding advice I have gleaned here is use common sense!