Future Sportfisherman Looks like the Past?

[juiceclark]

About 150+ miles off Sanibel Island, FL is a fastastic fishing grounds. If you follow the water temperature charts, you can get into everything from swordfish to marlin, tuna, and fill-up on reef fish all the way back to shore. Not everyone wants a go-fast Viking or Bertram for this expensive trip - especially when those deep V hulls make you want to puke at slow speeds.

So, I can't help but wonder if boats like this "sportfisherman" for sale on YachtWorld are the way of the future. It's not nearly sportfisherman-like enough for my tastes but it's economy is tempting. Perhaps about 5 more feet of beam:

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...oat_id=1205567

Someone is going to hit the jackpot by putting the best qualities of an efficient trawler, comfortable cruiser, practical and tough sportfisherman together with some sailing capability....perhaps old tech or the new "ship sails". I'm not capable of such imagination, but I'll take your company public when you draw it! In case any of you rag boaters don't know, this is a sportfisherman:
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi..._id=11384&url=

Here's Nordhavn's try and miss:
http://www.nordhavn.com/75/overview.php

Tony in Sw FL

[lewisboats]

What do you need 8' more beam for?...slim and sleek make for better efficiency anyways and that has more sheer (and shear) CLASS than I have seen in a long time.

Steve

[Tad]

Unfortunately the beautiful "Hawksbill" will remain on the market a long time. This is because owning any yacht is more about status than actual use. She shows 400 engine hours in 18 years, an average of 22 hours use per year. I think the average for all power boats is about 25 hours under way!

I have recently had conversations with a potential client about changing a PL46 to suit deep ocean sportfishing and long ocean transits. Below is a quick revision of a recent PL motorsailor sketch. This boat is designed for sheathed strip construction but could be also built in aluminum. The fishing cockpit is about 9' fore & aft and 11' wide. The owner's cabin is aft, opening off the cockpit. 1600 usg of fuel is amidships under the pilothouse with small (80-100HP) twin engines. Galley, lower dining, head and one or two more cabins forward.

For those who would like to try fishing the Azores or Midway!

[charmc]

Nice design, Tad.

Brian Eiland, another forum contributer, did a motorsail cat-hulled sportfishing design: http://www.runningtideyachts.com/gamefishing/

These concepts all make sense. While there will always be a wealthy few willing to pay huge fuel bills, there is no reason not to enjoy fishing with more comfort and less environmental impact.

[buckknekkid]

how do you back down on a Marlin when the sails are up?? I liked the tiffany

[skullhooker]

The problem with slow and 120 miles offshore.......you'll get worked.

Tuna fishing on the east coast, and forecasting the weather 120 miles out is like guessing what conditions will be like on your coast driving across the state from mine. We've got lucky, and got beat up plenty too. Boats have gone down out there, it gets too rough and they run out of fuel. Microbursts in thunderstorms with whiteout conditions and the occaisional rouge waves can do you in. So any travel that far needs to be taken real seriously. With speed you can get back, dodge heavy weather with radar, etc. However, there are planty of commercial fishing vessels lumbering along doin' just fine, it's just a long..... hard..... trip.

I went on a long range fishing trip out of Tarpon Springs on the Viking party boat a couple of winters ago, and man, the middle grounds got real rough. Luckily we were on a big steel boat that was quite the stable fishing platform. The shallower waters off your coast make the chop worse.

Good luck!

[Tad]

When fuel hits $5-6.00 a gallon the use of the monster high-speed boats will be somewhat curtailed, (I hope!). Personally I'll be happy if the fish 120 miles out are left alone to prosper.

The conversion of these big fuel hogs is going to be a growth industry someday, perhaps soon. The addition of wave-piercing bow extensions, stern fairings, and changing the big MTU's to a smaller single engine will be interesting work. Perhaps just cut the crankshaft to run on four cylinders instead of 16!

Tad

[buckknekkid]

i was tootleing along in a 58 hatteras Yacht fish coming home from a trip around the keys.. every 60+ unit that went blasting by me would give me a woody.. Now I sit at the dock or putter around on one engine, BUT Im still boating !!!!!!!

[brian eiland]

Originally Posted by buckknekkid

how do you back down on a Marlin when the sails are up??

Excerpts from a Sea Trial Article by Professional Capt. Rick Gaffney:

"The designer " was asked to grapple with some of the unique requirements of a good sportfishing machine--the ability to back up quickly and maneuver with agility--then mesh them with a hull design that would not only perform well under sail, but also under power alone. The results are probably as close as anyone could come to the perfect compromise."

"She converts into a highly maneuverable powerboat in about as much time as it takes to drop a bait back and hook a billfish in her teasers, and once under diesel power, her widely separated, fully reversible props allow her to pursue even the most agile billfish with impressive agility."

"She backs down at over 10 knots without burying her two transom doors."

"Modern roller-furling sails roll up automatically like old-time window shades, ready for deployment at the pull of a line."

Rick Gaffney: A saltwater fly-rod world record holder, Capt. Gaffney has pursued big-game fish as an angler, charter boat captain, and photojournalist for well over 30 years.

Tara Vana: A custom-designed 50 ft gamefishing/sailing catamaran operating out of the Pacific island of Bora Bora



....want to read more?

http://www.runningtideyachts.com/archives/TaraTour1.html

[brian eiland]

Originally Posted by Tad

Unfortunately the beautiful "Hawksbill" will remain on the market a long time.

I was so tempted to buy this vessel as a liveboard a few years ago when she was first offered by her long time owner. Unfortuntely I was also planning to move to Thailand, and the two thoughts were in conflict.

[brian eiland]

Originally Posted by juiceclark

... Someone is going to hit the jackpot by putting the best qualities of an efficient trawler, comfortable cruiser, practical and tough sportfisherman together with some sailing capability....perhaps old tech or the new "ship sails". I'm not capable of such imagination, but I'll take your company public when you draw it! In case any of you rag boaters don't know, this is a sportfisherman:[Tony in Sw FL

I'll take that 'funding', but I think its going to be a tough jackpot to win, even if it makes sense. I've pushed the concept for awhile now....unsuccesfully.

A few other forum discussions:

Gamefishing for Sail Under Sail
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/ge...ail-power.html

Offshore Sportfishing Motorsailer, innovations & alternatives
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/ge...ernatives.html

Offshore Sportfishing Motorsailer, innovations & alternatives

[Pericles]

Tad,

You are fortunate that you are outside the EU and the UK. We pay £4-72 per UK gallon, which is 4.54 litres and at today's rate that is $9.27 Canadian for petrol (gas). Diesel is even more per gallon and access to Red diesel (lower tax) for pleasure craft will be curtailed at the end of this year. An element of UK tax on petrol and DERV (road diesel) is for the privilege of maintaining our roads, so the boating fraternity pays directly for something their boats can't use. Most UK motor cruisers over 40 feet are houseboats.

The really fast sailing catamaran will soon be essential for sport fishing. Where have I heard that before Brian?

Regards,

Pericles

[brian eiland]

Originally Posted by Tad

.....The conversion of these big fuel hogs is going to be a growth industry someday, perhaps soon. The addition of wave-piercing bow extensions, stern fairings, and changing the big MTU's to a smaller single engine will be interesting work. Perhaps just cut the crankshaft to run on four cylinders instead of 16!
Tad

That's an interesting thought, Tad

Meantime, I am still baffled by the fuel consumption and cost these guys care willing to endure....just BIG money in the sport of gamefishing.

I'll bet the first guys in this group to adopt new ways will be the charter guys. Reference this posting:
http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/4891-post7.html

[FAST FRED]

"Perhaps just cut the crankshaft to run on four cylinders instead of 16!"

Not really a need to anymore, with the modern electronic control if the injectors the Black Box can run it as a 2,3,4,5,6,7 what ever you need.

The box fires different cylinders each time , keeping the engine up to temperature.

I think M-B now does this in their passenger cars , so a bit of software to do it with any electronic engine is just a phone call to an Indian software shop away.

FF

[buckknekkid]

Its certainly interesting but can you give us a run down on the procedure, crew involved and where is the darn fish while youre doing all this,??