But again, it's not clear how these engines, and outboards in general, have applicability in "trawlers" (whatever THAT means). These boats are typically designed for long distance, open water (which includes coastal) voyaging, carrying significant hotel loads and significant hull volume for comfortable passagemaking. Is it reasonable that an outboard will ever be suitable for this market?
It appears there is a subset of the "trawler" market that values high speed, albeit at VERY high cost compared to more traditional cruising powerboats.
And a subset that values overland transport to reach cruising destinations. And a subset that is willing to forgo amenities in favor of reduced cost. I get all that. And for these markets, perhaps such a high-speed diesel outboard makes some sense.
And unless and until the outboard motor manufacturers, the "trawler" designers, and the builders decide to collaborate on suitable hull and powertrain variants that can accomodate outboard power for coastal and offshore voyaging in a "trawler", this topic is moot and simply academic to me. Introducing this topic to this forum is fine, and that's what this forum does best. But for what my opinion is worth, I suspect it will remain a topic outside the mainstream, at least in this forum, and certainly for me.
Regards,
Pete
First, in the world at large, outboards are the most common propulsion system and recently have been gaining share. How does that fall into the trawler world? Well, Beneteau is spending tons of money to build and promote their new Antares line. That's 21 to 27' and in effect a smaller, less expensive cruising boat than the Swift Trawler. Wasn't all that long ago, everyone laughed at the concept of a Swift Trawler, but it's become probably the largest selling trawler type boat on the market. We've seen more efforts into building trawler types with outboards. A 27' Antares comes with up to 2 x 200 hp so a single 300 hp diesel wouldn't be adding excessive weight. In fact, if a manufacturer were to work a deal with Beneteau for a special diesel version at no added cost, I suspect Beneteau could make it a success. Perhaps one of these diesel engine manufacturers ultimately is purchased by a boat builder.
I've heard many times on this site people say firmly they'd never own a gas powered boat. While I don't agree with that, I know there are a lot of people who feel that way so perhaps they'd like these.
A 27' Ranger Tug was matched with a 300 hp Yamaha. I don't see a real issue with a 300 hp diesel even with the extra weight if the boat weight distribution was right or made right.
Outboards are gaining everything. We now have center consoles up to 65' with five 627 hp outboards. Now, take that same boat and outfit it for slower cruising and place three 300 hp diesel outboard on the back and perhaps a nice boat.
Right now, I see the big issue original purchase price. However, life of engines is important to some outboard purchasers. Tow boats outfitted without outboards sure go through a lot of refits. We own a 39' Contender with triple 300's and it's had very high usage and the engines already exceeding normal lives. We're trying to decide whether to repower or replace the boat. I noted on the SeaVee web site looking at used boats they have that a lot of buyers are trading at around 1000 hours. A lot of used CC's are repowered so basically new engines. Would the owner have kept them if the engines were longer life engines?
Now, I don't think diesel outboards will ever be a success with the current companies offering them. They need a lot bigger money behind them. They need someone like Volvo or Mercury or Yamaha to jump on them. Before you say Volvo doesn't do outboards, they bought Seven Marine so they do very large outboards. Oh, a 627 weighs 1094 lbs.
Outboard power on coastal cruisers is very close and five years from today you'll see a lot of them out there. Another boat I'll mention is a 36' Aquila Power Catamaran. For those looking for loop boats, worth considering. Twin engines from 200 to 350 hp. Maximum speeds from 27 to 37 knots depending on engines. 2 cabins, 2 heads. Outboards are gaining everywhere. As to diesel outboards, I don't see anything happening there as long as it's just the current players.
