How much power is required?

Hello, all...

I have a Starcraft 19 footer aluminum cuddy deep V hull boat, maximum gross(loaded) weight 2640 pounds according to the label. Do any of you experienced folks know the calculation to figure out how much power I would need to get this boat 'on plane'...?

Thanks,

Andy

 

Andy
If you go to this site:
http://illustrations.marin.ntnu.no/hydrodynamics/resistance/planing/index.html
you can get your own answer. You will need a few boat measurements or some estimates. Don't forget to allow for the prop efficiency. The suggested figure of 70% is reasonable.

The weight seems light for a loaded 19' boat. You should check how much fuel, number of persons, motor weight, gear weight, fish, provisions, etc.

If you want to say you are planing then 15kts will be levelling out on a 19ft boat if it is trimmed OK. More realistically you would expect to be able to do 25kts.

The data indicates you could get it on the plane with 50HP if the boat is not loaded up. If you want to do a reasonable planing speed then you need more like 75HP and you would not want to be running the motor at full throttle all the time. I am thinking about 100HP would do the job adequately.

To some degree HP selection will depend on how economic you want to be and how fast you want to get places. It is a bit silly carrying extra weight around in a big motor if you do not enjoy paying the fuel bill or have concern for hydrocarbon conservation.

If you search around the web I am certain you will find some test results on your boat or something similar. I looked at the Starcraft site and the currect cuddy cabin 19' boat has a max rating of 150HP. This suggests to me that 100HP would be reasonably good.

Rick W.