Friday, February 24, 2012

Re: [Electric Boats] Re: Newbie Question- Converting a 45' catamaran

 

electric units are sealed
driving with an engine you have the problem auto mfr have of sealing against pressure
if your home fridge had seals that failed in 1 to 2 thousand hours you would be annoyed
 

Nemo dat quod non habet

From: Eric <ewdysar@yahoo.com>
To: electricboats@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Friday, February 24, 2012 2:36 PM
Subject: [Electric Boats] Re: Newbie Question- Converting a 45' catamaran

 
Hi Sean,

I've got an F-27 trimaran that I once considered coverting to electric. For the weight, performance and cost, there's no way that any electric installation could compete with an outboard. It's got a new 4 stroke 9.8Hp Tohatsu.

I've worked on some other large multihulls, I've helped drive a 25+ year old 40' homebuilt cat in a few Newport-Ensenada races, we typically finish in the top 10 out of 250+ boats, only behind the multi-million dollar sleds with professional crews. The owner would love to switch to electric, but again, a pair of 25HP outboards are cheap, light and powerful. Electric just isn't practical for that boat, especially for the 125nm uphill return home from Ensenada every year.

You've got a different case with the need for lots of house power and A/C. But if you're not trying to drive the boat on electric, I'm guessing that your house power generation can be sized down a bit.

Land based systems are finding that cogeneration is more efficient, driving the A/C compressors directly from the generator ICE as well as cranking an alternator rather than generate only electricity and then run electric A/C units. But I haven't seen any company that is doing that in the marine market yet. I'm sure that if there is a company out there that has an off-the-shelf, somebody in the group will identify that company.

But if I owned your boat, I'd go with outboards and deal with your house demand for power and cooling seperately. that way you've got independant systems that can be dealt with on a case by case basis. Especially important in a charter business, an outboard can be easily removed for service and parts are available almost anywhere. Take this from a huge proponent of electric drives. They are a great alternative to ICE, but only in the right situations.

Fair winds,
Eric
Marina del Rey, CA

--- In electricboats@yahoogroups.com, "seansullivanjobs" <seansullivanjobs@...> wrote:
>
> Replying to all discussions in this single post... thanks, guys!
>
> Steve:
>
> Hi Steve. I have a very high performance Kurt Hughes cruising catamaran which has no engines at all. To give you an idea of the type, it's just like a Gunboat 48. Very similar numbers. It's a blank canvas. Brand new build... which is the reason I'm considering the electric propulsion. There are major advantages to being able to support massive HVAC loads easily if already producing power to move the boat.
>
> My wife and I do charters for a living and this is our new charter boat. We run a professional galley in the "crew hull" and serve 3 gourmet meals per day, plus snacks. Our guests also run hair dryers, we microwave and guest comfort (massive HVAC systems) is a top priority.
>
> We charter in North America and the Caribbean. I've consecutively owned a boat for the past 20+ years and have lived aboard full time since the early 2000's when we started chartering. So "world cruising" with extra demands for charter guests is probably the best way to sum up the usage.
>
> Budget? I'd have to say no more than a typical diesel installation. Same cost as installing a pair of Yanmar 3YM30's and a genset. That would be my maximum budget. That means the packaged products are not in my price range. If I go electric, I have to build it myself using industrial components, not overpriced marine stuff.
>
> I actually agree with those naysayers... sorry! :) Performance is my top consideration here. My goal is to have props clear of the water when sailing. It makes a huge difference... a coupe knots... having no props there. A couple knots is nothing at 20 knots, but it's quite a big deal at 6 knots. My main goals for going electric are:
>
> 1) Having props clear of the water when not in use
> 2) Producing enough electricity to run HVAC - for instance, shut down one side's propulsion and send the extra energy into HVAC.
>



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