Trojan Boat Forum

I've been reading a lot about props and upgrades to 4 blades. I just spent a week on the boat with my wife touring the finger lakes and canal system in NY. I'm a little disappointed with the top end on this girl. Has anyone successfully gotten a mid cabin to hit 30MPH? I don't need to go that fast, I just want the option. Right now, at 4k, with a full moon and the wind at my back, she will do about 23.

We cruised all the way down Seneca lake to Watkins glen this week. I had a really hard time keeping up with my buddy's Regal Commodore 402...

What will it take? Another boat? 4 blades? 502s? Yanmars? Or is it simply not possible?

A pair of Cummins 370B will fix it . While your boat maybe a little slower then it should be , the 10 meter is not a Fast boat .
I found a boat test on a similar 10 meter . its top speed was 26 .8 so faster then yours but still well below 30 MPH . Remember your boat was loaded to cruse . Every boat is different . RWS's 10 meter seems to be faster then most . A 10 meter that belonged to a Late friend was slow . A lot slower then yours and many props were tried .

While I don't believe 4 blades will help top end ( may hurt it slightly ) it may help the cruse some what it won't IMO be much . making sure the props are in A-1 condition is more important .

What can you do ? Tell the wife not to pack so much .( good luck with that as I have Tried it ) Try playing with the trim tabs and see if that helps . Make sure the running gear and bottom is clean clean clean .

Remember tides and currents will effect speeds ( a lot in some cases )

As far as keep up with your frend How hard was he running vs how hard were you running ? Some folks think nothing about running at near WOT for cruse . WOT at 4000 cruse at 3800 or something like that scares the hell out of me

Boat test http://www.usboattest.com/boat-tests/ex ... cabin.html

The link was found on RWS's site trojanboat.net

Also boats are faster in salt water then fresh FWIW

He was running at cruise for his boat which is around 25 mph...

I'll start shredding weight immediately....

I totally understand she's not a fast boat and I don't want her to be. It just seems that she should be a little faster. I got passed by an 85 40' Sea Ray yesterday and it made me green with envy....certainly not of the aesthetics of the boat. It has twin 454s btw.

Thanks for the tips....turbo diesels it is!

Don't feel so bad. Last year coming back from the Chesapeake I got passed by a seagull! I was cruising with a ground speed of 16 mph against the tide (18 mph through the water) and a seagull was flying behind me having me break the wind for him. He eventually got tired of going so slow and flew right past me. There was no denying it at that point. These are slow boats.

Hi, I just got your PM and will reply. I'm sitting in a bar in Block Island now (part of Rhode Island for the non locals).
With the tide, I cruised at 18-19k at 28-30 gph over about 75 miles. I have a video on youtube that I posted when I switched from 3-4 blade 4-5 years ago.

30? Not going to happen. I think the last WOT I did last year was 26-27. I love a million things about the mid cabin and have a very short list of things I dont like. Speed is #1 on that list. But, it took me an extra 30 mins to get here today compared to my buddy. In the grand scheme of things, not that big a deal.
Bob

zedtwentyate wrote:I got passed by an 85 40' Sea Ray yesterday and it made me green with envy....certainly not of the aesthetics of the boat. It has twin 454s btw.

Hull size has an effect on cruise speed (obviously). Both boats you are worried about out-cruising you have 7-10' more LOA, and have flatter and less 'architected' bottoms than the Delta-Conic hull on the Internationals, so it only makes sense that they may have a higher cruise. Unless you have a specifically performance oriented boat (ie offshore racing / speed design), 26-32 knots is what to expect in a 26-36' hull, no matter what you have for power.

My old Four Winns Liberator (26' offshore style, twin 350 magnums, 1/3 of the boat weight was the engines) cruised best at about 35knots. Contrast that to my F32, twin Chrysler 360's, cruising around 16-22 at 2800-3200 RPM. My father's 1969 28' Sea Skiff ran best around 2500-3000 RPM, again around 18 knots +/- a couple of knots.

If your thing is speed, pick a different boat. If your thing is awesome boats, with awesome sea-keeping ability, stick with Trojan and accept the performance curve you get.

Any similar sized cruising boats will get very similar performance to what you are seeing.

BobCT wrote:Hi, I just got your PM and will reply. I'm sitting in a bar in Block Island now (part of Rhode Island for the non locals).
With the tide, I cruised at 18-19k at 28-30 gph over about 75 miles. I have a video on youtube that I posted when I switched from 3-4 blade 4-5 years ago.

30? Not going to happen. I think the last WOT I did last year was 26-27. I love a million things about the mid cabin and have a very short list of things I dont like. Speed is #1 on that list. But, it took me an extra 30 mins to get here today compared to my buddy. In the grand scheme of things, not that big a deal.
Bob

I think i'd be happy with a cruise speed close to 20...right now, she seems most happy around 17. I did see your 4 blade video and i think i'll be doing that at some point soon.

I love the mid cabin. I have only a few things on my list and it's mainly cosmetic and a few bolts ons...A/C being a big one, the shower situation being another one. Speed isn't the most important thing for me, I just want to know what's possible...

No rush on that PM, I'm just trying to get some ideas for the platform. Mine is in pretty rough shape right now.

captainmaniac wrote:

zedtwentyate wrote:I got passed by an 85 40' Sea Ray yesterday and it made me green with envy....certainly not of the aesthetics of the boat. It has twin 454s btw.

Hull size has an effect on cruise speed (obviously). Both boats you are worried about out-cruising you have 7-10' more LOA, and have flatter and less 'architected' bottoms than the Delta-Conic hull on the Internationals, so it only makes sense that they may have a higher cruise. Unless you have a specifically performance oriented boat (ie offshore racing / speed design), 26-32 knots is what to expect in a 26-36' hull, no matter what you have for power.

My old Four Winns Liberator (26' offshore style, twin 350 magnums, 1/3 of the boat weight was the engines) cruised best at about 35knots. Contrast that to my F32, twin Chrysler 360's, cruising around 16-22 at 2800-3200 RPM. My father's 1969 28' Sea Skiff ran best around 2500-3000 RPM, again around 18 knots +/- a couple of knots.

If your thing is speed, pick a different boat. If your thing is awesome boats, with awesome sea-keeping ability, stick with Trojan and accept the performance curve you get.

Any similar sized cruising boats will get very similar performance to what you are seeing.

Makes total sense. I'm just trying to understand the why behind the speeds. I'm a big fan of her sea-worthy-ness and not overly concerned with her speed. I think the manual my boat came with was not for the this boat. It actually didnt list the cruise speeds for the mid cabin, just the express and sedan/aft cabin models.

My thing is certainly awesome boats!

This weekend on vacation i met a guy with a 51' foot Bluewater Costal Cruiser powered by 454s that cruised at 18 mph...just got me thinking about this old girl and what she could be capable of...

Thanks for all the replies!

The blue water is a pretty flat bottom and easy to push hull . Also do you know what rpm they truly cruse at ? With gasers I like 3000 , some folks think 3800 is a good cruse rpm others like 2800 and even some that think wot is ok all day long so that's very relevant .

prowlersfish wrote:The blue water is a pretty flat bottom and easy to push hull . Also do you know what rpm they truly cruse at ? With gasers I like 3000 , some folks think 3800 is a good cruse rpm others like 2800 and even some that think wot is ok all day long so that's very relevant .

Thanks Prowlerfish...if you haven't noticed, my comparisons are illogical! I appreciate all the insight.

I plan on pulling both motors this winter for a rebuild. The main reason is the starboard motor has a leaky rear main seal. While I have one out, why not take two? And while fixing a seal, I might as well give the girls a refresh. Maybe I'll squeeze a little extra juice out of them too...

just did a sea trial while selling my mid cabin 21mph at 3000k rpm . i will add that we only got 4000k wot. props may need to be tweaked a bit but think the timing is slightly off. You should be getting better then 23 wot. I hit 33mph at 4300rpm running with the tide before my renovation. It was right after I had my props redone.

yorklyn wrote:just did a sea trial while selling my mid cabin 21mph at 3000k rpm . i will add that we only got 4000k wot. props may need to be tweaked a bit but think the timing is slightly off. You should be getting better then 23 wot. I hit 33mph at 4300rpm running with the tide before my renovation. It was right after I had my props redone.

What do you have for props? I haven't checked timing on the boat, but I guess I should do that too.

I'm interested in upgrading the ignition system too. I think it has a Prestolite system in there now...

3 blade props. 17x17. had mallory dist with electronic conversion kits originally. switched to delco voyager electronic ignition .
I would first make sure your engine is tuned properly. spark plugs and wires good , spark arrestor clean, timing etc. make sure the boats bottom is clean. Then get the engines up to temperature, get up to cruising speed then run wot with the tabs all the way up. it may take her a bit to max out the rpms but usually 15 to 20 seconds will do. write down your max rpms for both engines and try to be as exact as possible. I believe you should be between 4200-4600? dont have my engine manual with me to check but im sure someone can confirm for you. if you are off on your rpms either higher or lower a prop shop can adjust your props to let your engines operate at the correct rpm which should help.