RIBCO Venom 44 – Twin V12 600hp Verados
RIBCO Seafarer 36X – Twin 2.6L 400hp Verados
FUNKY 500 – DF 90hp Suzuki
Bigger doesn’t always mean better!
A larger boat certainly offers more spaciousness and greater ease of movement on deck, more storage space, comfort during the ride and of course prestige, but a smaller one also has many important advantages.
In recent years, the size of inflatable boats may have reached very high numbers, to such an extent that a 10-meter boat is now considered medium-sized, but the category of 5-meter inflatable boats will never cease to be very popular.
The category of 5-meter boats has its own large share in the market, offering a multitude of advantages, mainly the low cost of purchase and use.
And of course, a well-built 5-meter inflatable boat is not only intended for short coastal rides but has the ability to travel long distances safely on the high seas.
The skills and experience of the captain are more important while the size of the boat less.
In a previous article we presented new Funky 500 with its wave piercing bow, which was designed by Paris G. Design and had a 140hp Suzuki engine mounted on its transom. You can see its detailed presentation at: FUNKY 500 – 140hp Suzuki
Because many readers were interested in learning about the performance of Funky 500 with a lower horsepower engine, we present to you the test we did with the inflatable boat equipped with a 90 hp Suzuki engine.
In our present test, the 90hp Suzuki engine with a range of 5300 - 6300 rpm and a gear ratio of 2.59:1 was turning a 13¾"x21" Suzuki aluminum propeller.
The weather conditions were very good, we were 2 crew members and we had 30 liters of fuel in the boat tank.
In general, I had the feeling that this set up was moving more lightly and was standing better on the water, compared to the 140hp, without even lagging in accelerations while the throttle response was very good.
Without anyhesitation, we recommend Funky 500 with 90 horses on its transom unless you belong to the category of those whose priority is to achieve the highest possible top speed.
Because the flow-scan had a problem we could not see the fuel consumption, but according to the owner of the boat who was present at the sea trial, at 3000 rpm Funky 500 developed a speed of 16 knots with a fuel consumption of 0.44 liters per nautical mile, while at 3500 rpm it travelled at 19 knots with the engine asking for 0.48 of a liter per mile.
At 4000 rpm the speed reached 24 knots and the consumption 0.46 of the liter for each mile, while at 4500 rpm Funky 500 run with 27 knots burning 0.52 of the liter per mile.
The above figures show that Funky 500 is capable of traveling at 20 to 25 knots at medium rpm with very low fuel consumption that does not exceed half a liter per nautical mile.
At full throttle, the engine reached 5650 rpm and the boat 33 knots at top speed, consuming 0.86 liters per mile.
If we study the slip percentages, we will see that they are consistently at 10% from 4000 to 5000 rpm, while at WOT they reach 12%.
This means that there is plenty of room for improvement in this particular set up.
In fact, given that the engine is far from the maximum rpm limit, a very good choice seems to be the use of a 14" x 18" Suzuki propeller which will allow the engine to reach 6000 rpm while reducing slip percentages.
This practically means that it is possible to lose 1-1.5 knots of final speed, but on the other hand it is certain that we will have more explosive accelerations, the boat will stand planed at lower rpm while its handling will be significantly improved especially when traveling with bad weather conditions.
Manufacturer:
PARIS G. DESIGN
8ο klm Paianias – Markopoulou, Koropi - 19400
Tel: +30 693 6603997 / 693 6603899 / 210 6620644
www.parisgdesign.gr
Email: giannikosp55@gmail.com
