272 Sailfish

T

Tucker

GreatGrady Captain
Joined
May 22, 2009
Messages
799
Reaction score
3
Points
18
Location
Port Deposit, Maryland
Gents,
I'm upgrading and have lots of questions. Yea, I'm searching and reading tons of info. Looks like the Sailfish was Grady's flagship model for a long time. In my price range I'm looking at model years 1997-2001 and I do prefer the 2-strokes.
1) I've read the hull was changed in 1999 to accomodate heavier 4-strokes. Other than it's intended purpose are there any adverse effects?

2) Most boats availabe with twin 225 OX66. Anybody see any with OX 250's?

3) Are the 225's & 250's both oil feed via the VST?

4) What are the quirks with the 225's & 250's? My 150 OX66 runs great and I would want similar reliability.

5) I've been tolk AC is a must. Most don't have it. Is it a big deal to install? Is it worth the expense and work over one of those thru-the-hatch units?

Putting the Escape up for sail soon. Thanks Guys!!
 
Where are you located? I have a 28 Sailfish, that I use all summer, without AC. Water here (on Long Island) is always cool enough that AC is not necessary, I have overnighted on the boat many times and all but 1 needed a blanket. If you live further south, it becomes more necessary and less of a luxury. My boat has twin 225 OX66's. I love the motors and performance, couldn't imagine having greater horsepower. I don't run them over 3900 rpm's and cruise at 34mph, with about 1.6 mpg economy. The motors are bulletproof, just louder and smokier than the 4 stroke version. If you are anywhere near by, I would be happy to take you out on the boat and let you get a feel for it. BTW what is your price range? I am moving up to a Marlin and will need to sell this boat.
 
I bought my 1998 272 in 2006. Lightly used by a diver, in great shape. I had the Grady dealer install shore power and ac/heat/dehumid. The cost for the adds was about $4,000. Cheap compared to the benefits. I use a Honda 2000 EU for power when away from shore power.
 
I have a 95 272 with the step hull and twin 200 hpdi motors. I couldnt be happier. I replaced the 200 hp OX motors with the hpdi motors. The speed has increased by about 4 mph, the fuel use rate has increased from 1.1 mpg th 1.6 mpg at 4200 rpm, and there is a lot less smoke.The 200 hpdi motors give me better preformance numbers than a friends 272 with the 225 hp ox motors
 
Thanks George, I'm in North East Maryland. I need to get a good deal on the boat because I have to buy a trailer. Not many for sale with a trailer and that's going to add about 7K to the budget. Thanks for the ride offer; bet it's beautiful up there now. I knew those 225's were screamers.
Ahill, that's good to know and a reasonable price. The wife's diggin' in on the air conditioning. What brand & size unit did you install?
Marty, what was the reason to replace one 2-stroke with another? What makes those HPDI's better than the OX's?
Thanks Guys!
 
Tucker. I threw a rod through the block, and needed a new power head on one 200OX motor and I had 1125 hours on the other. At the cost of a new power head and the expectation of having to re-do the other in the near future, I decided to replace both. I found a set of 2 year old 200 HPDI Yamaha motors, one with 125 hours and one with a brand new powerhead for less $ than the cost ot the 2 powerheads and that included all materials to do the swap. The Yamaha HPDI uses about 700 psi injection/atomization when putting fuel in to the cylinders. This gives much better fuel efficiency. It has been tested and found that the HPDI is as fuel efficient as 4 strokes under most operating conditions and they dont weigh as much as the 4 strokes. At about 100 hours run time per year I figured that a would need to keep the boat for 132 years to make up for the cost of the oil. The HPDI motors are EPA 2 star rated. Marty
 
Tucker - there is a trailer in the for sale section, asking 4k - taking offers. I sold my trailer, as I found it wasn't worth keeping around and maintaining for the 2X/year that I used it. I only used it to take the boat out and put it in - rather pay someone now. I get to use my whole driveway. The boat is on the verge of untrailerable unless you have a very capable truck and permits.
 
What year is your boat George? What are your initial thoughts of an asking price? Yea, the trailer thing has me concerned. I got the truck. That permit thing may be a pain.
 
Tucker - send me an email: georgemjr@hotmail.com I can send you pictures, more information as well as a complete listing of Sailfish's sold from yachtworld so you cen get an idea of the range. I still haven't figured out how to post a picture here, although I spent 2 hours last Sundy trying:)
 
Tucker, I purchased a 97 back in the spring. It has the 0x66 yamaha 2 strokes. They smoke alot at start up but personally I like the smell of 2 strokes so it does not bother me. Here in NC I don't think the AC is necessary. That is one of those items that if you don't ever have it then you won't know any different. JMO. With the 225s and ablative bottom paint I get about 1.2 mpg with a full load in mostly moderate(2-3ft) sea conditions.
 
Thanks Josh,
Pretty good fuel usage. What RPM's you running and speed? Quite frankly I like the 2-strokes; BUT with these older girls I would definately disconnect the oil pump and premix. I'm always reading about failures that cause catastrophic engine failure. The 4-stroke guys claim that their 250's perform much better than the 225 OX66's. IMO I think that's a crock. What do you guys think?
 
I put in a Cruisair Self contained unit. It's a little over 6000 BTU on cool and higher than that on heat.
I'm docked in Homestead FL and during the summer it takes a little while to cool down the cabin at my west facing dock. Usually set it at 76 degrees. Holds temp pretty well. I'm considering a bow sunshade that another owner posted recently.
 
I usually run around 4000 rpms and cruise is about 28-34 depending on conditions. I think you would need a 250 4stroke to match the 225 2 strokes.
 
1.2 sounds low. I get 1.5 to 1.6 from planing RPM up until about 4000 rpm, where I am running at about 35mph. The economy goes down from there as the rpm's increase. My numbers are mph not knots...geo
 
If you intend to hang out in the cabin in the daytime summer hot sun, it does get hot, like sitting in a car with the windows open, hot is hot, particularly difficult on hot and HUMID days. We don't have many on LI but can be unbearable in the daytime. It always cools off at night on the shore, so sleeping it's OK w/o it.

You are more likely to need blankets and even an electric heater in the the summer nights more than A/C. Perhaps just a blanket will do.

If you shower / cook (boiler water) in the cabin, the A/C will dry the cabin of the humidity, running in reverse cycle mode it will also add some heat as well as dry if the temp is cooler out.

On LI, it's similar to the need for all wheel drive due to snow, very rarely needed these days. Less than 1 or 2 days per year on average for many years now.

To keep the Admiral happy, nonetheless, I think you already know what you have to do, so just do it for that reason, the others above really don't matter when the Admiral is around.
 
Ahill where is you AC mounted? Ok, Gents here's a tough one: I'm looking at an '97 with 225 OX66's 800hrs and a '94 repowered with 'O4 HPDI 200's 125 hrs. Both boats are the same price. What boat is better and why?

Thanks Guys!
 
Mine is under the galley. Return air in aft cabin, Supplies in aft cabin, head and top step riser in main cabin. Thermostat is in forward outboard end of galley. It interferes with pillow when sleeping but hasn't seemed to pose aproblem. My wife sleeps on that side and adjustments require disturbing the chief at night,
 
You must log in or register to reply here.