Princess 30DS performance

[Leighb]

One of the types of boat we are considering in our switch to motor boating is the above.

We definitely don't want petrol engines, mainly because of difficulty getting fuel on the East Coast and also because they all seem to have outdrives which is another NoNo.

I have read various old reviews, but when talking about performance, such as cruising and max speed they are all refer to the most powerful diesel engines available at the time of the review.

However a number seem to have been fitted with lower powered twin Volvos of about 80/85 hp.

Whats sort of cruise and max speed would this give? Any guess on fuel consumtion at cruising speed? Our cruising will mainly be at sea on the East Coast with some trips up rivers, so a good sea performance is essential.

 

[oldgit]

We did go and look at a couple of these with the weeny engines and decided they were simply too slow.
Two or three in our club.One with 165 hp on an outdrive,one with twin 165hp on shafts.
the last has twin 130 hp on shaft.
According to my book, twin 130hp diesels were the most popular choice which gave around 25 knots.
About 900 were built up to 1989.
The boat with the twin 165hp engines has been taken just about everywhere in Europe form the Med to the Baltic via Paris and Berlin.
The hull by Mr Olesinki was regarded as the first of his really successful hulls with excellent sea keeping.

 

[volvopaul]

Get one with TAMD 40 b in they do top 20 knots

 

[Mexican wave]

We have twin 130hp TMD40's on shafts will cruise all day at 12 to 14 knots 2700rpm depending on tide and top out when very clean and light at 22 knots with tide 18 knots heavy. On recent two week trip up the Thames from the Medway we used 420 ltrs of diesel which included 140 nautical miles between 9 and 14 knots and 120 nautical miles at river speed 4 knots.
She handles very well at sea and we do go out in some rough stuff during the winter and have never felt unsafe.
Handling is also excellent at low speeds and when waiting for locks etc when there is no where to moor up.
Hope this helps.

 

[Leighb]

Thanks to those who have replied. I was hoping that someone with actual experience of the twin 80HP engines might give me some information.

I would really like to get the higher powered model, but wondered if the 80s were reasonably practical for sea conditions.

 

[Divemaster1]

If twin 130's cruise at 12 - 14 knots and max out at 18 fully laden, even with lighter engines, you will be struggling to reach much more than 10 - 12 cruise and 14 - 16 Max pending load.

With 10 cruise, you practically would be better off (from a fuel economy perspective) cruising at 6 - 8 knots, which with 2 knot tide against you will practically mean 4 - 6 knot cruise ...

You do not mention shafts or sterndrives ...

Suggest that the twin 80's would be better for non-tidal areas, but if you are comfortable with 6 -10 knot cruise, then perfectly good hull for the area you wish to cruise... just plan your journeys...