Velocity 30 - Diesel Conversion candidate

OK, so I am digging around looking for a good candidate for a pair of 30 horse Yanmar marine diesels I have laying around and while I was looking, I noticed this gem in the back of Marine Dynamics in their Englewood, Florida yard.

Granted this is not a good candidate for my 2 engines but the price is reasonable enough that it would make an excellent candidate for a couple of other diesels that could be picked up cheaply enough. So naturally I had to get the props turning in my head and see what would be easy to do for a hardcore offshore racing vessel that would get pretty good fuel economy, even though I won't buy it because I have too many projects going already.

Since the outdrives and engines have already been removed down to nothing but the gimbals, let's operate on the thought of using beefy Merc W3 outdrives. Accept no substitutes - this boat deserves it. Now this is an 89 model boat that someone had started to have a lot of work done on and stopped for reasons of moola. The interior, paint and all the seats are in really good shape, sitting at the helm is not as respectable as say a Wellcraft Scarab but it gives you a feel of comfort and solid control. My old 91 handled like a knife, bit twitchy, not the razor-sharp smooth of a Scarab but not a sloppy hog like a Defever or a Donzi either. In her class, Velocity has not made a vessel that handles this well since the early 90's. So rather than elaborate on that, this is the Velocity the drug runners look for when they just can't afford a Wellcraft Scarab. It is a light, well laid out hull that can be hollowed out quickly for offshore racing. The guys running the Bahamas on a regular basis seem to prefer these for reason of when equipped with a couple of GM diesels they can generally make the trip in comfort, on very little fuel compared to a Scarab with triple outboards. Me I can't stand a damn GM piece of crap diesel ('cept a few older Detroits) so let us get on with some cheap engine options.

Now I have never been the "buy a new engine for an old boat" type of person. So I made a couple of calls just to see what was in our local junkyards that they would guarantee me would turn over... Glicks in Sarasota had a Ford 7.3l (444Cubic inch) out of a truck for 1500 bucks - guaranteed to start. Had to look in the newspaper but I found a 1 ton van with another 7.3l diesel for 3500 bucks (probably could talk them down but this was just a mental exercise anyway). Ok, so that's 5 grand in engines that i could stick in but hey a couple of used outdrives are going to run into some cash too, plus you are going to have to add in some of the nice heat exchangers - you know the flush mount aluminum ones to cool them because raw water cooling is not a viable option in saltwater. Risers are cheap enough. So that puts the entire engine and outdrive budget at around 15000 bucks and in the end you have a 70,000 dollar boat that will top around 85-90mph on about 10 gallons an hour. Kick in another 4 grand for Banks Turbos and you are back at 100mph on about 7.5 to 8 gallons an hour. Keep the speed down around 40-45 and you are sipping 3.1-3.8 gallons an hour - I have seen this firsthand in a '90 model velocity that had a pair of 7.3's with turbos.

But what about other options, say you wanted to do it right - OK, crate 7.3's are going to run you somewhere in the 8000 dollar range (apiece) definitely worth the investment since they will still be going long after you are not.

Nissan inline 6 Marine Diesels - keep them down around 150 horse apiece (that would be the same prop turning torque as 450 horse apiece if you went with gas engines) and you can throw 60-70mph no prob at all and the 120 horse Nissan Turbo diesel when turned up to a 150 (remember to crank the fuel to the injectors just a touch and only 2psi extra on the wastegate pop-off) pulls a whopping 2.7 gallons per hour (each) at 85% load - heck that is better mileage than my old truck! Remember, this thing has some big tanks - we are talking Tamalipas, Mexico range here - no sweat at all.

Could go with Iveco Marine diesels. Crank things up a whole lot too - a pair of inline 6 Iveco's throwing 200 horses apiece should set you back about 35000. You'd have to stretch the engine cowl 4 inches to get them in there but you are back to a torque monster boat that will hit the 90mph mark no problem while at the same time only sucking down 7.1 gallons an hour total. Back them off to loafing speed and you are cruising 40mph on maybe 3 gallons an hour total (could not find a complete enough performance chart to work all the math on the Iveco's so I am working from numbers from an industrial hydraulic pump application). Now that is full gulf range - shoot to the Bahamas for about the cost of driving your truck to Atlanta from Venice, FL. Cayman runner - Not a prob.

Now as an intellectual exercize I did use real numbers based on power (torque output) of the original engines vs speed in this hull - compared the torque output to the diesels vs fuel consumption at given torque. I rarely get the math wrong. So what we have here is a little hotrod boat that one could conceivably put together in a couple of weekends for far less than throwing in gas engines and would get way better fuel economy.. light enough to trailer. Hardcore enough to run offshore and with range to wander the Islands or the gulf without worrying about the fuel running out before you get there (diesel is way cheaper when you top off in Mexico too).

As a real world application I am seeing more and more Island runners converting to diesels because they are reliable, dependable and cost a lot less to run both in fuel and in parts. Of course I see a lot of guys buying these hulls, glassing in the back, adding a stinger tail and triple outboards too - but those guys always seem to be having some sort of work done on their boat while the diesel guys are out enjoying the water!

This hull is for sale at Marine Dynamics in Englewood, Florida. Call Mark at 941-716-4200 for a price - probably under 10 thousand or so .........less if you wave actual cash under their noses!