Thessaloniki – Naples
The idea
The Rib Of Our Mission - The Engines - Preparation - Rib’s Tests
It’s about Corsair 31, which is produced by the company of TOP LINE. It’s a Rib of Greek designers and producers with many and great achievements in speed races in Greece as well as international too. With no doubt it is one of the best Ribs in its category throughout the world.
The reasons for which it has been chosen:
- It’s a Rib with strong construction and excessive quality, a fact that protects us from any possible problems during the journey.
- It’s famous for its speed and very economical hull.
- Its navigation even under tough weather is extremely soft, making our definitely hard trip quite more restful.
- It’s most economic cruise speed is about 32 knots, ensuring our fast approaching to our destinations, letting us more time for the required rest.
- The combination of Corsair’s economic hull with the extremely low fuel consumptions of Suzuki’s outboard engines will give us the lowest possible consumptions, something really important, especially at the great crossing of 800 nautical miles from Lisbon to Azores.
- Another very important reason is that we estimate to reach 32 knots of cruise speed with the engines only at 3500 rpm. That means the engines will work «restful» during all the time of the journey.
ENGINES
For our mission we chose two new engines DF300AP of Suzuki, in which there have been very important and technologically significant interventions.
Let's see some of them:
- First of all we have to point out that the new DF300AP engine can operate as clockwise or counterclockwise depending on our desires, with a simple electronic intervention alone. This is something that is applied to the technology of outboard engines, for the first time, and we believe that this global originality of Suzuki will redefine the construction of future four-stroke engines
- With the lean burn technology fuel consumption is improved even more at low and medium revolutions, resulting in new engines being 14% more economical than previous models, without even affecting its explosive torque. By using an oxygen sensor in the exhaust, the optimum air-fuel ratio is achieved, resulting in better combustion and fuel economy.
In the lower unit of the new engines we will observe several substantive changes
- Maintaining the same gear ratio, gears in the lower unit have been redesigned aiming in greater resistance to high temperatures and greater endurance to mechanical stresses.
- The water inlets for cooling the engine are now four, while there were two in the previous model. The two new entries are placed in front of the cone of the gearbox, thereby greatly increasing the flow of water particularly at high speeds, improving the cooling of the engine and at the same time allowing even higher positions and higher trim angles.
- To the gearbox has been redesigned from the outset to create the proper space for the new gears of the selective rotation system. In this way , the box may be larger in volume, its design however, as well as its much studied hydrodynamic shape , allow it to move with less resistance to water, which increases the engine performance.
«Needless to say, that the reliability of the engines is of utmost importance, especially during long journeys. This is why we have chosen to use the two new Suzuki’s DF 300 AP engines, which have undergone very important and remarkable interventions. These interventions seem to be extremely useful for our journey. A really important factor which will play a determinant role in the passage of 800 nautical miles, is the very low consumption of the engines in low and medium rpm.
In this journey, we will be carrying more than 2 tones of fuels and, thus, the high torque in low rpm as well as the big diameter propellers that only Suzuki’s engines can accommodate with absolute safety, are essential factors. The Suzuki’s 16" propellers will have the minimum possible slip regarding the movement of the heavy-loaded rib, which in turn will guarantee higher cruise speeds and lower fuel consumption compared to the engines of other manufacturers.»
PREPARATION - RIB'S TESTS
...keep Ribbing!
