A fuel-efficient cruising boat is desirable today for many reasons. I asked friend and colleague Paul Bieker for help designing such a boat in 1998. We felt strongly that there was a need for a Jess-is-more approach to a power boat, in contrast to the ever-increasing speed. weight. complexity and horsepower commonly encountered in the market.
Personal experiences with an Ultimate 30 highperformance sailing skiff that Paul converted to a power boat contributed to ideas for the light-weight cruising boat design. Refinement of the design eventually culminated in die building of a 25-foot (7 .6 m) light-weight high efficiency cruiser prototype. The 25-foot prototype is trailer-able, outboard powered, has a floodable ballast tank and uses building methods and materials more commonly found in high-performance racing sailboats.
Launched in fall 2006, the prototype hit the target design weight, floats on its lines, and meets the desired cruising speed and top speed. Fuel consumption is low for a picnic-boat type design of this size. Setting a moderate top speed of twenty knots and making weight reduction paramount resulted in a positive design spiral where less horsepower, less fuel and less structure was required to achieve the desired performance.
It remains to be seen whether the economics of using light-weight composites are viable for a production boat of this size and type; the extra cost would pay for a lot of fuel. If the 'external costs' of high fuel consumption are considered however, the case can easily be made.