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Carver 370 Voyageur Ideal Cruise settings

Discussion in 'Carver Yacht' started by gbutch, Dec 29, 2010.

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  1. gbutch, Dec 29, 2010
    #1
    gbutch

    gbutch New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2010
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    Location:
    Orillia ( Trent Severn Waterway)
    Folks, I am new to big boats( big to me, we left a 24 foot Chaparrel) to get this Carver. She is a 1995 ( low hours ~310)with twin fuel injected 454 Crusaders. I am trying to figure out what the ideal cruise speed is for best economy. A lot of our running is in a canal system but we our home port is on a big lake and I would like to open her up without taking out another mortgage. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I wonder if Voyageurs are not very popular as I have not seen any postings?
    Grant
  2. Pascal, Dec 30, 2010
    #2
    Pascal

    Pascal Senior Member

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    Location:
    Miami, FL
    Best economy will be just below hull speed, around 7kts or so. Second best will be fully on plane but not too fast, guessing around 18kts. Make sure your tabs are working and fully down while getting on plane. Once on plane, at a set rpm, adjust them to get best speed (gps)

    The worst speed is above hull speed but not fully on plane. Ex 2 kts above hull speed gets you 25% more speed but cost you nearly twice the fuel

    One good way to optimize perf/Eco is to installmfuel meters. On a heavy gasser they can pay for themselves in a couple or year
  3. tommyfmu, Dec 30, 2010
    #3
    tommyfmu

    tommyfmu Member

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    Here's the formula for hull speed as Pascal described: square root of length of hull at waterline x 1.34 . If your boat at waterline is 37 ft, then 6.083 x 1.34 = 8.15 knots. Of course getting anywhere would take way long, so it's a trade off between fuel efficiency and time.
  4. pasogrande, Dec 31, 2010
    #4
    pasogrande

    pasogrande New Member

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    Nov 3, 2010
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    Location:
    Southeast Florida
    Hi Grant,

    You may also want to check the Carvermitch forum which is dedicated to 28' Mariners. It is a very active site and many owners of other Carvers join in. There is a lot of expertise there too.

    Wilf.
  5. Fireman431, Dec 31, 2010
    #5
    Fireman431

    Fireman431 Senior Member

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    Jan 11, 2010
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    Location:
    East central Florida
    I posted this in the Carver forum, so I'll just copy & paste it here.

    I run a Carver 374 gas boat with twin 7.4L Mercruisers. Depending of speed, wind/weather, and tuning you can expect anywhere from 0.8 MPG to 1.7 MPG. I find that 8-10 MPH is a nice cruising speed, the engines don't load up (1800 RPM) and I get ~1.2 MPG

    This is a bit longer than I like to post, but it should provide you with some additional information if you're not already familiar with it.

    Generally, if you're going for best economy (MPG), running at hull speed is best.

    Hull speed (Knots):
    Sq. root of waterline length (LWL) multiplied by 1.3.
    Example, a 28' LOA boat having a waterline length of 25' is sq. root of 25 (5) multiplied by 1.3 = 6.5 Knots.

    Knots to MPH = Knots X 1.15, in this case, 6.5 X 1.15 = 7.48 MPH.

    OR:
    Sq. root of LWL X 1.495 = 7.48 MPH

    Other than that, running in the "Sweet-spot" (usually 1800 to 2400 RPM) will provide the best compromise between consumption and time. I like to cruise (slowly) with mine at ~9-10 mph. Seems to like that RPM & speed for a nice, relaxing run. Averages 6 GPH total fuel burn at that speed, so I'm getting about 1.4 MPG. Not bad for 21,000 lbs.

    Although you didn't mention the weight of your Carver, more to your point:

    Therefore, extrapolating from known data and applying it against the unknown/assumed, I suspect your Carver could get around .9 to 1 MPG, which is really about average. Obviously there are other factors like tuning, hull condition, weight-to-power ratios, weather, wind, boat loading, etc.

    Hope this helps.