What is Yellowfin?

Firstly Yellowfin is completely unproven in any commercial application so I don't think the likes of Volvo are losing any sleep over it. Secondly you underestimate the strength of the commercial relationship between the big boat builders and the big engine manufacturers. Boats are designed around a specific engine and drive package and you cannot simply slot in another package without significantly changing the design of the boat. Secondly, boat builders are tied in to long term purchase deals on engines and drives which may run for years. Thirdly and perhaps most importantly, boat builders are not going to risk their reputation on unproven technology without it being backed by a pretty serious company behind it. If IPS takes off, it will be partly because it is backed by one of the biggest players in the market, Volvo. If IPS had been brought to the market by, say, Perkins, it would never have stood a chance and, similarly, Yellowfin won't stand much of a chance with a VW engine behind it. What they need to do is to licence or sell the technology to the likes of Mercruiser or Volvo but thats going to be difficult when they have their own drive products. The world is littered with great products that failed because the marketing was'nt right
 
Deleted User, I appreciate that.

But, stranger things have happened. It was only eight years ago that the second most dominant games console manufacturer Sega, which I hazard a guess was probably bigger than Volvo Marine in terms of turnover, suddenly shut up shop. Sega has since been reborn, but only as a software house.

I am sure Yellowfin will not be any threat to Volvo and the others, unless it actually works and a rich Japanese or Korean company steps in to finance it. Stranger things have happened and familiarity breeds contempt.

So, if it works, it is priced right, it only needs a half sized engine and it delivers 50% saving on fuel, I would never say never.

Anyway, as I am not in the superboat bracket, if they can produce a Yellowfin at the right price that works on a nice 25/27 footer, I would be tempted as I don't feel the need to have an engine branded Volvo or an IPS.

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Boats are designed around a specific engine and drive package and you cannot simply slot in another package without significantly changing the design of the boat.

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I must admit that I didn't know that shaft drive boats and IPS boats had to have two different hull designs.

I also assumed that Volvo was not that big in the USA and other petrol dominated boating areas.

Sorry.
 
I remember reading somewhere that the 50% fuel saving, etc. claim is based on comparison with a thirsty shaft drive. I wouldn't expect anything like that when compared to a modern sterndrive.

It seems that, like most marketing claims, the data are carefully selected.
 
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I remember reading somewhere that the 50% fuel saving, etc. claim is based on comparison with a thirsty shaft drive. I wouldn't expect anything like that when compared to a modern sterndrive.

It seems that, like most marketing claims, the data are carefully selected.

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Careful selection of course, but certainly the implication I grasped was that they were also offering the system as a retrofit to the said thirsty shaft drive. If that is, in fact, the case, that is where they would score highly. No, I don't see how it would work if the thing is a form of surface drive but if it is available as relatively simple retrofit then the potential could be very large. Hypothetically if you have, say a 35'+ flybridge cruiser then the option of roughly halving your fuel burn has got to be attractive (or getting 35 knots...)

And in the unliekely event of the company advising me "Retrofit to shaft drive 27 foot boat Sir. Certainly, £2500 back on the water." I'd give that pretty serious consideration.
 
So, unless a 'modern' sterndrive delivers a 50% saving on a 'thirsty' shaft drive, there will be an economy saving with Yellowfin. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Accepted, but the magnitude of saving will be very different.

My rule-of-thumb is that the same boat with shafts will require 50% more power than with outdrives for the same performance. That would result in an outdrive saving 33% over shafts. That makes a big dent in the Yellowfin's claimed 50% saving.
 
I can see that, but I just happen to like the small man treading on the toes of the big boys and it is often the arrogance of the large companies that leads to their downfall.

Deleted User made his assumptions based on the goliath he drives, I threw my hat into the ring based upon the 21 footer I drive and the small rib demonstrating the Yellowfin drive on their website and as far as I was concerned it didn't occur to me that it was capable of driving something bigger.

I don't give a hoot whether it could or not be a threat to Volvo, but if it offers something more exciting, economical and versatile than the current options available to the small boater, then they get my vote.

Not sure I really understand this opposition to new technology and I suspect that much of the defence of Volvo engines is something to do with not wanting to be seen driving a VW engine, unless it is in a Touareg.
 
I have no opposition to new technology. In fact, having made it my living by it and been the small guy treading on the toes of the big boys, I am all in favour.

If Yellowfin does only a part of what it claims, it will be welcome. I just want to be sure that I understand the real meaning of those claims.
 
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I must admit that I didn't know that shaft drive boats and IPS boats had to have two different hull designs.


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With IPS, the engines are significantly further aft than with a shaftdrive installation which may change the weight distribution in the hull and may necessitate layout changes. For example, I can't see how IPS could be fitted to an aft cabin boat because the engines would be just about where the bed is! The other problem is because the drive position is in a different location relative to the hull, the forces acting on the hull are different. I think 1 or 2 boat manufacturers have found this out already in that they've modified a hull for IPS and then found it does'nt handle in the way they predicted
And I believe it will be the same for Yellowfin. Even if you could leave the engines in the same location as for a shaftdrive installation and fit a long drive shaft to the transom where the Yellowfin prop is located, I believe the driving characteristics of the boat would be very different. Basically a boat builder would have to design a boat around the Yellowfin package not just plonk it into the boat instead of a shaftdrive package. This makes Yellowfin a major commitment for a builder which is why he wants to be sure that the design assistance, warranty and service back up of a large reputable company is behind it
 
I'm starting to understand some of the complexities involved in boat building, but I assumed that Yellowfin was only for small boats - as demonstrated on their website - so never thought of the consequences for bigger stuff.

Much like water jets, which are mostly seen in small stuff, except a few big military boats, but they are fuel inefficient. I just saw Yellowfin as a replacement for the engine and outdrive seen in many a sub 27 footer.

In my defence, I wasn't the one to introduce IPS into the thread and it was only after reading the article on Yellowfin posted by CapnJack First page and Second page that I saw something in it. The article certainly doesn't talk about it being a solution for the big stuff until, that is, I stumbled upon the second page of the article, which I have just read and wasn't posted by CapnJack. He prolly needs keelhauling for that.

I will retire to my little corner again and conitnue reading this interesting article about planes that use leaves for fuel............
 
Major no need for 'defence' /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif I agree with you that Yellowfin is potentially a major step forward and heaven knows we need it with the likely future price of fuel. It's just that there's always a huge leap between prototype and the market which many companies fail to negotiate
 
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