Rik I have not forgooten to call you I have just been busy with everything else since returning and this thread supports my intentions we discussed at the show.

Beau

Outerlimits has built a few w/ cat diesels & arnesens that run 80, and cruise all day at 70. The extra weight makes the boats run through anything.

Need 2 speed zf trannies to spool up the turbo's, but they work nice. Get right on plane, and run forever.

Stern drive porn!

OK, so who sells this motor/drive package with a 23' boat?

Can you get financing on a custom built boat?

The problem with Volvo is that their drives have been a bit problematic to say the least. Engines are not bad, they have steadily progressed from 180/200hp to 230 on KAD42 then 260 on KAD43, then 300 and now 310. (KAD41, 43, 44 and KAD300 now) The trouble is, the progression from say 230 to 300 took a while, probably 6 or 7 years so I don't think that a 400hp version is going to appear very soon. These engines are very popular in Europe and I've seen a fair share of drive problems, even with 260hp versions. How reliable will the new Volvo outdrive be when hooked up to a 400hp diesel? Not sure it will deliver what is promised. I have better experience with MerCruiser D-Tronic 300 diesels hooked up to Bravo 3 or XR drives. For once, Mercury seems to have done a better job, in my opinion... And besides, why would you want to go for Volvo or Merc when the Yanmar 315-Bravo XR package is reliable and the motor is better than the other two? This would be my pick... But the problem remains the same. There is still nothing out there in the form of a shiftable outdrive requiring no trannie capable of handling a 440 Yanmar with ease...

BTW Beau, what are your intentions? Still thinking about Seateks?

Super: still hung on the seateks. I am just taking my time getting this thing off of the ground and have my main business to tend to so I am still gathering research and will begin on the 21 foot boats first. I have some design changes to make to the larger ones still and hope to get some weight calculations soon.

Beau

Super Trem-- Nice to see you here again. Asked about you at the Miami Boat show (Hustler) was told you could not make it down.


I hate to throw one more parameter if we are discussing costs for the US Performance boat market. But an offshore boat with diesels will not attract buyers when you want to sell it and this will affect re-sale significantly.

Diesels will become more popular as they have in the past couple of years as reliability, fuel consumption, and performance all become factors. We have seen this happen in just a few years with diesel trucks as well. Until the cummins and the powerstroke craze nobody would be caught dead with the under powered diesels we were offered. GM even has a decent diesel now and diesels make up for a majority of the truck market. It used to be a diesel hurt re-sell of trucks and now most would not consider one without diesel. If Caterpillar and Cummins can start trimming some weight off of their engines you will see it become alot more competitive.

They already are popular for a myriad of other boating applications I am just worried in the short term resale for a Formula, Fountain, Cigarette and so forth in the US market.

When someone asks me why I am so fond of diesels I tell them it is like finally having your cake and eating it too.
A good friend of mine who recently passed away and myself were traveling from Atlanta to Destin a few years back and upon leaving he kept asking how I can drive that "rattling, smoking, POS". I was driving a 99 f350 PSD and he was driving a 99 F350 V 10. Just before we got into columbus he called and asked when I planned on getting fuel. I had a little over half a tank and he was on empty. I was pulling a 24 python a 110 additionals of fuel in a tank on the back not in line with the truck and 4 people. He had himself and one more plus 4 sea doos. I told how much fuel I had and he then told me he would call me back in a minute. He called back to say he had called his Ford dealer in Atlanta and told them to order him a diesel that he was done with this gas truck with less than 5k miles on it. I not only got better mileage but could pull away from him with a heavier load.

Get ready diesels are coming!!!!!

habits are slow to change but if the respective innovation and progress rates of diesel and gas engines stay the way they are right now, more and more people will get into them. There is no logical explanation why diesel boats should have less resale value or be more difficult to sell. In Europe, it's quite the opposite because the engines are more durable and show less wear than an equivalent gas motor at a given number of hours/years of use and thus are more valuable than a gas motor at the point of resale. It's still the case in the US because it's still a marginal product in the performance segment of the market. But as soon as the number of diesel boats increases, the psychological block will surely dissapear and the difference in resale with it.