Boat Maintenance: Remember, a boat aint a car

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	Name:	Ulysses E. McGill -
	Subject:	Remember, a boat aint a car
	Date:	4/5/2010 1:33:04 AM

I did considerable performance analysis while I was looking at boats a few month ago, and getting 4 MPG gallon (as you are) in a boat running at 25-30 MPH isn't bad at all. As an example, my new boat (250HP)will get 3.2 MPG at 28.4 MPH and this is it's most efficient cruise at plane speed. The same boat would get about 3.8 MPG with a 150HP motor at 24 MPH. These numbers were collected by the manufacturer (Evinrude) and are on their web site and I'm sure they are under almost ideal conditions. The numbers I looked at for other manufacturers were similar and there were not considerable differences. My ski boat has a 350 engine and gets between 3 and 4 MPG too. And remember, just a few minutes of running at full throttle can drive efficiency numbers down quickly.

Each boat will be different and will have a different optimal speed that depends on Hull, Motor, prop, boat size, and load, but from my experience you are doing average or better for a boat with a 305 or 350 engine and I doubt you will find a way to improve it much. Making sure your hull is clean and leaving unneeded weight at home will probably be your best ways to conserve.