Last year, I went to the New York Boat Show, held yearly at the Javits Center in Manhattan. I found the visit to be frankly depressing. The endless rows of cookie cutter power boats, that often seemed as tall as they were long, was disheartening, to say the least. The amount of fuel these ugly ducklings would burn is bad enough, but more than anything, I was struck with the hope that many of these towering craft might never leave the dock, as they looked downright dangerous.
I recently came across yacht designer Tad Roberts‘ blog, Low Tide. He has posted a refreshingly straight-forward persepctive on the lack of seaworthiness of so many of today’s production powerboats:
THE TYPICAL POWERBOAT IS NOT SEAWORTHY
The typical production powerboat is far from seaworthy in even slightly adverse conditions. Above is a Cooper Prowler 42′ which is typical of boats intended to sell at boatshows because of impressive interior volume. These boats are huge inside for their length by being high off the water and beamy, both detrimental to seaworthiness.
Note a great deal of boat above waterline and very little below….This boat is not designed for heavy weather! In my opinion this boat is a textbook case of unseaworthiness. Note the flat and shallow bottom, blunt bow, tiny rudders and props, and no keel at all. Also note the huge windows well forward (where they are vulnerable to waves coming over the bow), low freeboard at the bow, and engine room vents below the sheer in the hull side (easily flooded).
As long as you can keep the speed up (at least 10-12 knots) this boat will be reasonably controllable and have adequate dynamic stability. In a big sea where you have to slow down she will make everybody sick with her fast rolling, plus wear you out trying to keep her pointed into the waves. The combination of tiny rudders, no keel (for directional stability), and very high windage will keep her out of control. Loose power and you are in real trouble.
She will probably be fine for inland cruising, but I would not recommend this type for any open water passages.
Sadly true I go to the Boat Show usually every two to three years. Mostly I have a quick walk amongst the boat display then spent my time examining safety gear (and I have strong viewsbout that) and electronics and navigational and training software. Now if these little boats are unsafe, and they are, you may imagine my feelings about all these cookie cutter cruise ships berthed on Dodge Island, Port of Miami each weekend.
Good Watch.
Rick, as a former 100 ton master and a veteran marine surveyor of some 30+ years in both the recreational and commercial realm of the industry, I agree with your statement of an un-seaworthy powerboat relative to your criteria of “seaworthiness”. However, I think there is some confusion here and needless criticism. The Cooper Yachts’ Prowler line, along with all others of its kind produced in North America are by no means intended for service that your criteria of seaworthiness applies to. These are near-shore and inland waters boats! Look at it this way; most are gasoline fueled. Can’t go very far, not intended for offshore voyaging.
We build plenty of long distance passagemaker powerboats that can and have proven to be able to safely transit the seven seas even at an advertised 38′ length. Just look at Nordhavn and Krogen for a few examples in the full displacement design sector.
Then there are your Viking, Hatteras and Buddy Davis planing hull sportfishing boats that can handle horrendous seas in the Gulf Stream and other places due to their power and intended service to go after fish in offshore regions. I know, I operated a few.
So, with all due respect, what I am trying to say is, the boats you refer to as “the typical powerboat not seaworthy”, is meant for dock hopping by yachties who may at most venture out to do the Americas Great Loop Cruse, never out of sight of land. These yachties care more about the capacity of the icemaker than what the prismatic coefficient of their hull is. Hell, they wouldn’t know what that meant if their life depended on it. And sure, it does, but they don’t go where that kind of thing matters.
After spending my whole life in the marine industry and having been involved with SAR organizations in the US, Canada, Mexico, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas, I can honestly say I have never been involved with nor can remember of the type of powerboat that you bring up as not seaworthy, being in need of assistance or in peril due to stability issues. It is usually a mechanical failure, fire or flooding and even at that rate, insurers such as Lloyds Of London will tell you that statistically, total loss events regarding the mentioned above-to-below waterline ratio challenged motoryachts is less than .001% of all powerboat claims.
Now, let me tell you this however, we do build a lot of structurally weak and less than adequately rigged sailboats. These are the ones that get in trouble more so than anything else on the high seas, due to the false sense of security in a vessel that some believe is meant to go anywhere just because it is a sailboat……
Capt. Joe Berta
Aboard the Motor Vessel Surveyor – currently icebound on the Great Lakes.
Blog: http://www.cruisingdog.com
Capt. Joseph G. Berta, MMS, CMS
Principal Surveyor
MSOL Marine Surveyors & Consultants
905 955-4449
http://www.marinesupportonline.com
http://www.bertamarineconsultants.com