Hello all from the other side of the world...Greece. Oh yes, we do a fair bit of boating in the warm waters of the Med - and we love our GW's too!
This is my first post in this forum, so thanks for hosting my question (and a -late- happy new year to all). Been studying hard all the interesting posts, so I felt it's time to start my questions too!
Here is my case: I recently went mad and bought a lovely used GW Adventure 208 with a Yamaha F225A (+a 15HP Yami kicker). Boat is in good condition, including factory Hard-Top, among other extras. It needs a bit of cosmetic work (will do myself - we are in the worst crisis ever over here), and was thinking of fine-tuning a few things here and there to try to get the most out of it. Will post some pictures after she's had the full-works "spa" this winter.
So, first of all, the prop choices seem to be... well... endless. I am totally confused and do not even where to start from. In the spring I will be able to do some real-life tests, although I dunno where to even start from.
At the moment there's a stock prop on: a 3-blade Stainless Yammy (?) prop with "17-M" written on it. Here's what I'm getting (100ltrs of gas and 2 light people on, GPS agrees):
3700rpm 20mph (US land miles, the ones you also use!)
4800rpm 29mph
5100rpm 32mph
Silly me, did not try WOT before I pulled out the boat for winter repairs...
Are these figures right? I am no speed demon by any means, but I imagined that I'd get a bit more speed at the 3900-4200 rpm range (which I believe is most economical) - 25 to 28 mph would be great.
Should I try some 4-blade props on? What pitch and diameter? Any fellow 208ers out there that have some proposals? Please note the hard top is on (I believe this makes a great difference in wind drag)... All I want is a great economic cruising speed increase!!!
sorry for the long post, but I'm a fresher and happy!
PS [My friends in the US (and elsewhere), gas prices are crazy this side of the world, that's why economy MATTERS - we're talking approx. 6 Euros per Gallon (8 USD)... But let's not get into this discussion, as most will agree that I should have bought a sailboat!].
This is my first post in this forum, so thanks for hosting my question (and a -late- happy new year to all). Been studying hard all the interesting posts, so I felt it's time to start my questions too!
Here is my case: I recently went mad and bought a lovely used GW Adventure 208 with a Yamaha F225A (+a 15HP Yami kicker). Boat is in good condition, including factory Hard-Top, among other extras. It needs a bit of cosmetic work (will do myself - we are in the worst crisis ever over here), and was thinking of fine-tuning a few things here and there to try to get the most out of it. Will post some pictures after she's had the full-works "spa" this winter.
So, first of all, the prop choices seem to be... well... endless. I am totally confused and do not even where to start from. In the spring I will be able to do some real-life tests, although I dunno where to even start from.
At the moment there's a stock prop on: a 3-blade Stainless Yammy (?) prop with "17-M" written on it. Here's what I'm getting (100ltrs of gas and 2 light people on, GPS agrees):
3700rpm 20mph (US land miles, the ones you also use!)
4800rpm 29mph
5100rpm 32mph
Silly me, did not try WOT before I pulled out the boat for winter repairs...
Are these figures right? I am no speed demon by any means, but I imagined that I'd get a bit more speed at the 3900-4200 rpm range (which I believe is most economical) - 25 to 28 mph would be great.
Should I try some 4-blade props on? What pitch and diameter? Any fellow 208ers out there that have some proposals? Please note the hard top is on (I believe this makes a great difference in wind drag)... All I want is a great economic cruising speed increase!!!
sorry for the long post, but I'm a fresher and happy!
PS [My friends in the US (and elsewhere), gas prices are crazy this side of the world, that's why economy MATTERS - we're talking approx. 6 Euros per Gallon (8 USD)... But let's not get into this discussion, as most will agree that I should have bought a sailboat!].