How does he do it? Dashew's new 77 foot powerboat cheaper to run than Beowulf.

Latest FPB 64 updates:
http://www.setsail.com/dashew/64_update_6.html

From the photos, one can see a few of the things that make these boats somewhat pricier than their mass-produced fibreglass counterparts. Such as:
- Enormous reinforcing all around the stabilizers, and these welds being tested for porosity and penetration
- Scantlings way beyond Lloyd's or ABS requirements
- Heavy one-piece hatch frames, hinges, etc.
- Huge, easily accessible engine room, filled with the best big-name equipment
- Absolutely gorgeous woodwork

OK, so you get pretty interiors in production boats too- but could you drop a Selene off the side of a 20-metre rogue wave, dust yourself off, make a note in the log and keep on going?

 

Hey Steve
I was aboard your, I believe, first alloy, electric, sailboat in MDR, some years back.
Loved your KISS philosophy then, still live by it today.
Am ramping-up to build a 80' powerboat real soon in Phuket.
Very different from yours.
That boat of yours left me with the same 'feel good' factor many an evening as I cruised the marina to or on my way to the Cheese Cake Factory.
Thanks & take care in Arizona - cool place in winter.
BR>Jack

 

Another update
http://www.setsail.com/dashew/fpb64-update7.html
Wish they were longer and more frequent.
Good read as always.

 

Thanks

Kruse - thanks for the update on Dashews boat build - very interesting - very heavy too - but thats the downside of displacement boating.
After looking at my 2 x 1500HP mills, his mains are positively minute - same as my AC gensets.
I am not interested in crossing oceans under 24/7 power - 747 work better for moi - or a quiet sled slide from LA to Hawaii - but as most of our cruising will be in the Phuket region, nothing will be more than the next gas station away. What his project has done for long distance motoring in the slow lane, mine will do in the diamond lane.
I have always believed that the 'destination' is everything - getting there after the first day or three becomes a drag or at least very ho-hum.
The construction pix were amazing - Steve always gave great engineering.
I also will be using Li-On instead of those +3,600lb wet cell jobs!!!
Be interesting to see what 'green' power he has - one would have thought he would almost be at those 'perpetual motion' levels.
On my very large sail cat, with AC motors, we will be totally diesel-free.
Take care.
BR>Jack

 

I have always believed that the 'destination' is everything - getting there after the first day or three becomes a drag or at least very ho-hum.

Perhaps you haven't spent enough time at sea?

On a nice trip we sailed up from St Thomas to NY , ans if we could have had a half hour at the grocery (out of ice cream) would have been happy to leave , same day.

FF

 

FF....
Is that all ya got?!
To the contrary - too many years - which might possible explain my predisposition to fast ULDB sailboats & even faster Scarabs.
BR>Jack

 

Hey Jack Daniel (Esq. )
I have been following the Dashew's FPB development from the first revelation on the Windhorse.
The more compact 64 has some benefits in energy efficiency. Does not really loose in stowage space to it big sister.
The Dashew's tend to go for tested and what they know as reliable technology.
Fully agree with you about the batteries...
My choice would be Valence Safeion: A safe (No fire risk) Lithium Iron Magnesium Phosphate batteries: http://www.valence.com.
Those are both more compact, lighter and safer. Adv. tech.; will even compensate for a faulty cell within each battery automaticly.
100% duty cycle, 2000+ charges. Totally sealed. No explosive fire if damaged.
I would also consider a DC Generator instead of the AC Gen.
A hybrid solution with the option of trolling or maneuver in harbor with an electric drive may have been a good idea as well (mechanical clutch?).
Even though 10 knots eventually get you somewhere and 15 or 20 sound really nice . Just not very easy with a full displacement boat in this size.
What I like from the Dashew FPB and do not seem to find anywhere else is the designed robustness and seaworthiness.
Even though I see the benefits of the smaller boat I still want a bigger one.
Does anyone else make something similar?
I strongly feel that an open ocean boat should be watertight, very strongly build and self righting by deign.

 

Well, I buy that...........................................
Scarabs, häh.......? And naturally, Diesel free sailboats..................
Not a bit off topic?

 

my predisposition to fast ULDB sailboats

The cruise speed is always ruined by needing to go back and find the keel after it has fallen off , and re install it while underway.

So much easier to change out a fuel filter,

Do it your way,

FF

 

Kruse - I get your PM - but cannot find your post?!
Am I that special?!
BR>Jack

 

?? Jack
I did not send you a PM.
What post are you looking for??
I have only posted a few a few times on this forum.

 

Definitely interesting reading.

http://dashewoffshore.com/fuel_costs_sept08.asp

But if you can afford a $4m+ boat, travel 10,000 miles, the $30,000 of fuel for the year is spare change.

If I had the money I would love a FPB63. The only concern I have looking at the drawings is the lack of shade and heat gain through the large windows. Living here in the tropics, good shade is essential. I know they have removable shades but who wants to be putting them up and down every day?

 

Now and then I hear someone quote an old rule of thumb that a crewed yacht typically has operating costs of about 10% per year of its capital cost, and an owner-operated yacht around 5%.

The Dashews' figures suggest that the FPB's fuel cost is on the order of 0.75% per year of her capital value. They don't seem to carry crew except when transiting canals, and the boat's systems- while expensive and complex by the standards of most casual boaters- are really quite simple and robust when compared against yachts of similar value. So I would not be at all surprised if the total ownership costs for Wind Horse are working out to be perhaps 2 to 3% per year of her capital cost, ie. half what a normal motoryacht of the same price would cost to maintain and use. Of course, I don't have exact figures on which to base this guess.

The FPB 64, from what I've seen so far, is pretty close to my idea of an "ideal" power yacht- simple, efficient, robust, seaworthy, easy to run shorthanded, and can transit the historic canals of Canada, the US and coastal Europe as easily as it can cross the North Atlantic.

 

A little late off the mark but addressing the idea of traveling fast to get to a destination etc. in a boat. As soon as I get in my boat and untie from the dock I have arrived. For me I'm already there.

 

Of course that is the right philosophy but a safe boat is a fast boat. When you are unable to "escape" a severe weather you sooner or later run in trouble. And getting out of way (or at least into the "safe" quadrant) means being able to do some 250 miles in 24hrs.

The EU canals you cannot cruise with a FPB! Except you have a license for each and every single canal and river, you are restricted to 15m length on EU waterways!

Regards
Richard