Ranger and Cutwater owners Cruising Performance Data

[BB marine]

I am starting this thread based on a thread posted earlier on TugNuts. The Theme of this thread is to help present and future owners to know what performance numbers to expect with the specific model boat they are interested in. We all know that manufactures post these numbers but many times the numbers are best case for marketing reasons. This is not to say the numbers are incorrect but to say they are BEST CASE. I am a performance number guy! My boat is more than a boat to me. I like working on machinery and respect the way a machine operates and should be operated. When it comes to my boat I view it in the same way. I enjoy our boat and want it to perform to its full capability with the intent to preserve its integrity for my wife and I while we use it and for the next owner of the boat. When I hand the keys over I want the new owners to experience many years of trouble free operation. I believe this holds true for most Tug and Cut owners.

The data that would be great to collect is
Boat model, year, engine make and model, and prop if a change from factory prop is used.

(1) Use of the boat ( day cruising or weekend and long term cruising)
(2) Fuel, water, equipment, number of passengers on board
(3) Salt or fresh water
(4) bottom condition
(5) Normal operating RPM and speed MPH or KNOTS and GPH ( what rpm do you normally operate the boat at)
(6) Fuel and performance associated with engine rpm. example 1800, 2200, 2800, 3200, 3400, 3600, 4000.( these number ranges would be different based on the engine installed. A D3 150 max is 3000rpm so the ranges would be different from a D3 200 or 220. The Max for a D4 is 3500 or 3600. I believe all Yanmar and Cumins engines are also 4000 max. The outboards being 6000 rpm Max and cruising rpm close to 4000rpm.
(7) hours of engine operation recorded on the ECU
If there is a good response with this I can put together a spread sheet and post it. This can be used as a tool for new owners or present owners to compare real numbers with averages. True fuel consumption, true engine performance, true hull performance.


I have a similar request in another Thread but I started highjacking the original thread and the response was limited. Thank you Gavin for responding and JonR. With a good suggestion from Red Raven (Curt)

I will post my numbers.

2016 C26, D3 220 hp, with modified prop 17X17 .070 cup
Long term cruising
We have added equipment, normally cruise with max capacity of fuel and water, along with 20 gallons extra with aux fuel tank, Portable generator, portable 12V freezer, 60 lbs of tools, paddle board... 2 passengers,
Fresh and salt water
Bottom clean
Engine operation 2000 to 2250 rpm 60% , 3340 to 3500 35% of engine hours 3600 and above 5%

Averages
2230 rpm 2.6 gph 7kts
3220 rpm 7.8 gph 10.5 kts
3420 rpm 8.6 gph 13 kts
3500 rpm 9.0 gph 13.5 kts
3600 rpm 9.5 gph 14 kts
4050 rpm 12 gph 18.25

600 hrs

Thank you in advance to responding. Any input from the Fluid Motion Reps would be great.

 

[Red Raven]

These are the numbers from last spring, have not launched this year yet.

- 2014 R27, D3 200hp, Factory prop 17x17 .105 cup (I also now have a 17x17 .070 cup prop that I have not tried yet)
- 50/50 Mix of long and short term cruising
- Normal load includes full fuel, water, kayak, factory dinghy and 6hp Yamaha on swimstep, two electric bikes, 12V freezer, spare prop, spare anchor with 30 ft of chain and 200 ft of nylon, two persons. The following performance data did not include the bikes or the second person.
- Nearly 100% use in salt water
- Bottom clean (first week in the water for the season). (Note: these numbers were significantly poorer late in season, dirty bottom)
- Engine operation 1600-1800rpm 10%, 2200-2300rpm 55%, 3350-3400rpm 35%, greater than 3600rpm 5%

- Averages (average in same water, same time, both directions)
1600rpm 1.0gph 5.9kts
2250rpm 2.8gph 7.4kts
3000rpm 5.6gph 11.2kts
3400rpm 7.6gph 14.5kts
3500rpm 8.0gph 15.3kts
3600rpm 8.5gph 15.9kts
3940rpm 10.7gph 19.0kts

- 1148 Engine Hours

 

[marob]

Brian,

I think this is a great exercise would love to see what the results are for the C28. I loved the work you had done on your own boat the quality in the workmanship was second to none. If you don’t mind when we get our boat may need some expert advice in the future.

 

[Submariner]

2021 RT-27 OB, Yamaha 300HP

Mix of cruising and day trips fishing.
We usually cruise with fuel and water topped off. We have the cockpit refrigerator and the 9.9 kicker. 2, 3 or 4 passengers usually and 3 dogs, plus crab pots, shrimp pots, fishing gear... So we are heavy.

Salt water
Has bottom paint, and is clean.
Engine operation should be less than 2000RPM (<10kts) or greater than 4200RPM (>24 kts).
Faster than 10kts and slower than 24kts is less than 1mpg, burns a lot of fuel.
WOT is 5600 RPM, 27GPH, 35kts.

These are actual numbers taken off the Yamaha display.
Note: Wind and current not taken into consideration.
1300 RPM 1.6gph 6mph (3.8mpg)
1600 RPM 2.4gph 7mph (3.1mpg) <-- Ideal slowboating
1900 RPM 3.2gph 9mph (2.8mpg)
2500 RPM 5.1gph 10mph (1.9mpg)
2600 RPM - 4100 RPM is faster than hull speed, slower than planing speed. Less than 1mpg.
4500 RPM 15.8gph 30mph (1.6mpg) <-- Ideal cruiseing
5000 RPM 21.2gph 31mph (1.4mpg)
5600 RPM 27.0gph 38mph (1.4mpg) <-- WOT

Converted for kts and nmpg.
1300 RPM 1.6gph 5.2kts (3.25 nmpg)
1600 RPM 2.4gph 6.1kts (2.54 nmpg) <-- Ideal slowboating
1900 RPM 3.2gph 7.8kts (2.43 nmpg)
2500 RPM 5.1gph 8.7kts (1.71 nmpg)
2600 RPM - 4100 RPM is faster than hull speed, slower than planing speed. Less than 1nmpg.
4500 RPM 15.8gph 26 kts (1.65 nmpg) <-- Ideal cruiseing
5000 RPM 21.2gph 27 kts (1.27 nmpg)
5600 RPM 27.0gph 33kts (1.22 nmpg) <-- WOT

180 hours.

On the Yamaha 9.9 high thrust kicker. It'll go through 1gph at WOT. I see about 5kts at 3/4 throttle.

 

[Dubs]

2018 R31S, D4 300 HP, factory prop
70% long trip cruising, 25% trolling, 5% short day excursions
2.5hp outboard mounted on stern railing, King Marine cockpit enclosure
100% in salt water
Bottom clean
Engine operation: 700 rpm 25%, 1800-2200 rpm 25%, 2800-3000 rpm 25%, 3000-3250 rpm 25%

Averages
1500 rpm 1.8 gph 6.7 kts, 3.67 nmpg
1800 rpm 2.7 gph 7.5 kts, 2.83 nmpg
2000 rpm 4.0 gph 8.2 kts, 2.05 nmpg
2200 rpm 5.1 gph 8.6 kts, 1.70 nmpg
2800 rpm 9.3 gph 13.9 kts, 1.51 nmpg
3000 rpm 10.7 gph, 15.5 kts, 1.45 nmpg
3200 rpm 12.4 gph, 16.9 kts, 1.38 nmpg

420 hours

 

[BB marine]

Brian,

If you don’t mind when we get our boat may need some expert advice in the future.

PM me anytime.

 

[BB marine]

So far great information. We need more! There are so many Rangers and Cutwaters cruising the waters that can tell the story of how good their boats perform. The used boat market is strong with plenty of perspective buyers and plenty of present owners that have never collected this information. These numbers will not only be a tool for us (owners) but future owners. A great tool for dealers to refer to and the folks at Fluid Motion. Plus it is a good time to look back at last years log books and see what performances you were consistently getting.

 

[Rocky Lou]

I have collected quite a bit of performance data, but, it will take some time to assemble into a table. However, the results published in https://www.boatingmag.com/cutwater-302-coupe-boat-test/ are generally similar, albeit, a bit better than I get. In particular, my optimum (best) cruise RPM is 4100rpm; 27mph and 26.6gph, while it's more common that I get somewhere between 0.7 to 0.9 MPG at 4100 RPM, depending on water/wind conditions.
(1) Use of the boat ( day cruising or weekend and long term cruising): Offshore and Bay day fishing or cruising
(2) Fuel, water, equipment, number of passengers on board: Av. 200-300 gals.; 40 gals; 2-4 passengers
(3) Salt or fresh water: 100% salt
(4) bottom condition: painted, 1 year ago
(5) Normal operating RPM and speed MPH or KNOTS and GPH ( what rpm do you normally operate the boat at): 4100 RPM/26 MPH if possible, adjust for sea conditions
(6) Fuel and performance associated with engine rpm: see chart below
(7) hours of engine operation recorded on the ECU: 240 hours
Note: 1. 2019 Cutwater C302, Twin Yamaha 300 hp, standard props. 2. I have drop fins installed on Trim Tabs that slightly improved performance. I am actively evaluating Sharrow Props to improve performance and counteract stern heaviness.

 

[BB marine]

Come on Tug and Cut owners let's see some of your data. This is the best resource for performance stats. Tug and Cut owners sharing their boats performance numbers. A reference like this can be a great tool. There are several models with no data listed yet.

 

[SkookumR29]

OK, here is info for an R29 Classic based our experience since purchasing the boat in fall of 2019 and launching in Puget Sound in May 2020 - approximately 125 hours use so far.

Boat: 2011 R29; Yanmar 6by2-260; 620 hours; factory prop; bottom painted and clean.

Use: 100% cruising, no fishing; long and short trips. 5% at 1000 to 1800 RPM; 90% at 1800 to 2800 RPM; 5% at 2800 to 3200 RPM. We travel as light as possible with little extra gear on the boat. Typical is necessary tools, galley and cabin items; main fuel tank at 3/4 to full (90 to 120 gal); aux fuel tank at 100% (30 gal); rocket box lightly loaded; 70 gal water tank 1/2 to full.

Water: Always in salt water; 52 to 58 degrees F water temp.

Performance (calm water with no appreciable current):
1500 RPM; 5.8 kts; 1.3 gph; 4.5 km/gal
1800 RPM; 6.5 kts; 2.0 gph; 3.25 km/gal
2000 RPM; 7.1 kts; 2.6 gph; 2.7 km/gal
2200 RPM; 7.6 kts; 3.4 gph; 2.3 km/gal
2400 RPM; 8.3 kts; 4.2 gph; 1.9 km/gal
2800 RPM; 9.9 kts; 6.4 gph; 1.6 km/gal
3200 RPM; 13.1 kts; 9.1 gph; 1.4 km/gal
3600 RPM; 16.0 kts; 11.3 gph; 1.4 km/gal
3990 RPM (WOT); 19 kts; 14 gph; 1.4 km/gal

Another data point that should be considered is coolant temp. At my normal cruising speeds (1800 to 2800 RPM) we run from 192F to 198F which is normal. I have also measured my engine compartment temp on a couple of long runs and never reached temps above high 90's F.

Thanks for initiating this topic.

 

[j&amp;lgray]

2012 Ranger 27, Yanmar (BMW block) 4BY180, 580 hours

100% Cruising with moderate loading: 2 adults, folding bikes, dinghy, tanks 75% full: 20% at less than 2100 RPM (1300 is no wake speed), 40% at 2100-2400 RPM (slow speed sweet spot), 10% at 2400-3100 RPM, 30% at 3100 to 3550 RPM (fast speed sweet spot). Added Drop Fins to trim tabs in February 2021. The following numbers are pre-drop fins.

50% fresh water (Tennessee River System, Great Lakes, Erie Canal, Trent Severn Waterway, Rideau Canal, Lake Champlain). 50% salt water: ICW, and now Salish Sea in the Pacific Northwest

RPM KNOTS GALLONS PER HOUR
1400 5 0.7 (No wake speed)
1600 5.7 1.0
1800 6.0 1.2
2000 6.7 1.7
2100 7.1 1.8 (Start of slow speed sweet spot)
2200 7.3 1.8
2300 7.4 2.2
2400 7.6 2.3 (End of slow speed sweet spot)
2500 8.1 2.8
2600 8.4 3.0
2700 8.4 3.2
2800 8.6 3.6 (Slogging through chop speed-bow is up)
2900 8.7 3.9
3000 9.2 4.1 (Planing starts)
3100 9.8 4.6
3200 10.0 5.0 (Start of fast speed sweet spot)
3300 11.0 5.4
3400 11.5 5.9
3500 12.3 6.3
3600 13.0 6.5 (End of fast speed sweet spot & engine load is 78%)
3700 13.3 7.2
3800 14.0 7.3
3900 15.0 7.4
4000 Wide Open Throttle

 

[BB marine]

This data was recently posted in another thread. It was from an owner of a R-29S with a Volvo D4. Based on his comments the speed is Kts.

rpm speed mpg
r0950 4.0 6.9
r1210 5.5 7.8
r1460 6.0 5.4
r1500 6.1 4.8
r1560 6.4 4.2
r1700 6.7 3.5
r1810 7.2 3.3
r1900 7.4 2.7
r2020 7.8 2.3
r2390 8.2 1.7
r2460 8.7 1.4
r2680 10.0 1.2
r2910 11.4 1.2
r3130 14.1 1.2
r3190 14.4 1.2
r3230 14.6 1.2
r3330 15.6 1.2
r3610 17.4 1.1

 

[Submariner]

It felt like Spring out on the water yesterday. I took advantage of the flat seas and light wind to run some wide open throttle testing. Since I was there with few boats off in the distance, I figured I'd do some further engine testing with engine trim and document what my boat can do throughout the RPM range. I also played around a lot with the engine trim, bringing it up until either cavitation occurred or the boat began to slow or porpoise and found some better engine trim angles to use at the higher speeds which resulted in higher speed and better fuel economy.

This is better data than what I posted earlier in this thread.

Channel Surfing
2021 Ranger Tug R27-OB. (Yamaha F300 with 198 Hours)
Conditions: Calm/Flat seas. (Clean bottom of the boat)
Fuel: 70 Gallons, Water 35 Gallons, SAN empty. 2 People onboard. Bottom Paint.
Note: Engine trim is indicated by blue dash's. 1 is fully down, 10 is fully up.

We spend most of our time cruising at 4500 RPM, 16gph, 1.5nmpg.

To get the formatting to look correct/easy to read, I ended up just publishing this as a picture to my photo album.
http://www.tugnuts.com/gallery2.php?g2_itemId=78635&g2_imageViewsIndex=1

 

[Fitz]

That's really great data, thanks so much for taking the time to do it, especially for sharing, and hope to see you on the water in our '21 R27 OB (Hero Red) this summer.

 

[BB marine]

Martin thank you for taking the time to post that data. Well done! You have good performance numbers.

 

[Submariner]

Thanks Fitz and BB Marine. We're planning a SE Alaska trip so having numbers like this is beneficial to planning our trip which would be a mix of cruising and slowboating. Also, we're still in the 'learning our boat' phase of ownership, seeing how she performs under various conditions before we head off-grid.

I'd really like to see someone post similar for the R23-OB, and especially the R25-OB. Yamaha has performance data sheets on the R23 and R27 for Ranger Tug, but not the R25-OB.

I would expect the R25-OB to be similar to the R27-OB, but that's speculation at this point. Who's got an R25-OB that can help out here? 🙂

 

[JamesC28]

We use our Cutwater 28 for day trips and a few overnights.
These numbers are for about half full of fuel and water and 3 passengers and plenty of alcohol.
We are on the Chesapeake bay which is brackish
The bottom is clean, I added drop fins and the prop has been coated with PropSpeed, these two things made a HUGE difference
RPMs, Knots, gal/hr, nm/gal
1200, 6.3, 1.0, 6.6 - no wake
1600, 7.9, 2.1, 3.6
2000, 8.8, 4.0, 2.1
2400, 11.4, 6.5, 1.8
2800, 16.4, 8.6, 1.9 - planing
3000, 19.4, 9.9, 2.0 - cruising
3500, 25.0, 14.5, 1.9 - WOT

 

[Gin]

Here is my info for our R31 sedan with a Volvo D4-300. I included the percent of turbo boost at each RPM, which I like to keep an eye on as one measure of the load on the engine.

My use is about 50 percent short distance cruising at slower speeds (2-5 hrs at 5-7 knts), 25 percent day or weekend outings at mostly cruising speeds (12-14 knots), and 25 percent multi-day and multi-week cruises at a mix of slower and faster cruising speeds.

I recorded numbers going both against and with the current in the Columbia River. I then averaged the two sets of numbers. The current varied during the time I was out, and my best guess is that it ranged from a bit under 2.5 knots to a bit over 3.0 knots.

Details as of when the data was collected:
• Engine hrs: 265
• Factory prop
• Fresh bottom paint
• Fuel: 175 gals (180 gal tank)
• Water: 10-15 gals (60 gal tank)
• Lightly loaded: all regular galley and cabin items; limited extra gear; no dinghy or outboard; one adult
• Location: Columbia River on ebb current of about 2.5 to 3.0 knots; water surface smooth; wind calm.
• RPMs sometimes dialed in at 10 rpm on either side of the rpm listed.


Performance
950 RPM: 4.7 kts; 0.5 gph; 9.35 km/gal; 22% turbo
1200 RPM: 5.7 kts; 0.8 gph; 7.40 km/gal; 25% turbo
1500 RPM: 6.5 kts; 1.4 gph; 4.66 km/gal; 35% turbo
1700 RPM: 7.1 kts; 2.2 gph; 3.28 km/gal; 48% turbo
1900 RPM: 7.8 kts; 3.1 gph; 2.57 km/gal; 50% turbo
2300 RPM: 9.3 kts; 5.2 gph; 1.81 km/gal; 60% turbo
2700 RPM: 12.4 kts; 7.7 gph; 1.64 km/gal; 70% turbo
2900 RPM: 14.1 kts; 9.2 gph; 1.53 km/gal; 70% turbo
3100 RPM: 16.2 kts; 10.7 gph; 1.52 km/gal; 75% turbo
3400 RPM: 18.7 kts; 12.7 gph; 1.47 km/gal; 84% turbo
3630 RPM: 21.0 kts; 15.0 gph; 1.40 km/gal; 100% turbo

I have a few other rpm data points recorded, but these seemed like the most useful ones. It was an interesting exercise. I've known that, although gallons per hour sure seem excessive at high speeds, the efficiency at those speeds is fairly constant. The data makes that even more apparent. From about 2500 rpm on, the changes in efficiency are slight, even though the speed gains are substantial. It confirmed for me that whether I run at 12 knots or upwards of 18 knots makes little difference in terms of fuel usage for a given distance -- the economy at all those speeds is close. The difference is in the load on the engine and whether water conditions are suitable for those speeds. Personally, I don't really enjoy running above 15-16 knots. Much more relaxing and enjoyable to be at 12-15 for faster cruising. And dropping to 7-9 knots (especially running "downhill" with the current) is downright thrifty.

Good luck with your number crunching, Brian!

- Gini

 

[tmknight]

Mark