DE25 Ownership Log

[Matt Gent]

The boat doesn't plow. It does trim up a bit around 10-13mph, and lays a decent wake at those speeds. But I still wouldn't call it a plow. It would be nice to keep the nose down at higher speeds to cut into chop. It isn't particularly sensitive to engine trim, and does not have trim tabs.

Took it to the truck scales this afternoon. Had about 40 gallons of fuel on board, the two batteries, ground tackle. Not much else. 4660lb on the trailer, which is advertised at 775lb. So the complete boat is 3880 as it sat; 3250 less fuel and engine.

[Madgar]

First, congrats on the purchase. This is the actual boat that turned me on to bateau. The owner originally had it on craigslist back in November (I think) and I contacted him to learn more about it. He explained that he built the boat but his plans changed and he was going to build another one more conducive of long trips in shallow areas, I forget which boat that was but it was another bateau design ( probably still have the email somewhere (edit: he's building ST21 with small diesel)). Anyway, I loved it and really wanted it but couldn't justify selling my Parker for it since I had just gotten that. He talked briefly to me about the build but wouldn't elaborate except for to tell me I should consider buildin my own with all the questions I had for him.

It was at that point that I found this site and have been on it everyday since. It was your boat that inspired me to join the site, get ready to build a canoe (whenever my lumber will arrive), hopefully build a larger boat after canoe, all with the final plan to build your boat. I absolutely love the lines and overall design.

I'm not sure what you paid (and don't need to know) but the asking price with that motor and bracket certainly didn't leave him even the funds he paid to build that boat. I'm happy you got it and hope I see a lot of mods you plan on doing. I believe this is the first DE25 with bracket actually represented on this site. Again, congrats (a part of me is a little jealous , but happy for you)

[TomW1]

Matt I wrote plow when you had said squat in your post in the other thread. By changing the prop we can definitely get rid of most if not all of the squat effect. I have done some calculations with your basic boat and the numbers you have given. Your top speed according to Crouch should top out at around 33mph. This is based on your scale weight with fuel, motor, adding 2 people at 150 each plus 300 lbs. of gear(coolers, fishing equipment, ice, safety gear, etc.) and of course deducting the trailer weight. So total weight for the calculations were 4680lbs.

The prop I would look at would be the Power Tech PTR4. It has excellent lift and grip and load carrying capacities. Just what you are looking for in the DE25. It comes in a 13.5"diameter and I would start with a 17 pitch, to start dialing it in. A 16 pitch be a better place to start if I knew what you had on right now and knew what speeds you are reaching at each 1000 rpm's.

I really like the boat!

Tom

[Matt Gent]

This thing is gonna be a lot of fun, already getting use in a bunch of different modes.

Here's some performance info, will update as I gather more. Took the boat out over the weekend, two adults, a toddler, and some gear, about 4400lb running. Top speed of just under 34mph GPS puts the Crouch # at 190 with 140hp.

The prop is a Stiletto D811319, with what feels like a fairly heavy cup on it. The gearcase is 2.38:1. The motor is mounted HIGH! I talked with the builder, he said he put it way up to run in shallow water around his place. At rest, with half fuel but no people, the cavitation plate is just under the waterline. It is about 2-1/2" above the running surface, with a sketchy measurement (one person, not a good straight-edge).

The first thing I'll do is drop the engine 2 or 3 holes.

Here's the boat at just under 4000lb at the dock. Scuppers are well clear, and you can see how high the engine sits.

Speed & slip data

DE_perf_stiletto_high_4400.JPG (32.83 KiB) Viewed 1548 times

I used my phone level app to track trim. No idea how accurate that is, but the trim rises from zero at slow idle to about 3.7deg at 3500, and drops pretty promptly from there. I'll get some running and wake pictures when I have someone to help.

[TomW1]

Hi Matt you have a good prop. The Stiletto has some cupping and rake. Yours is a 13 1/4 diameter by 19 pitch. By dropping the motor 2 or 3 holes you should have a better handling boat. The one thing I noticed is when I ran your slip numbers through my calculator that your numbers were 5-6% higher than mine. Not a problem just a thing as formula's can be different and it doesn't affect the boat.

[Matt Gent]

Docking this thing is a real handful, its been so windy for the last few weeks. The bracket doesn't help, but it is really driven by the wind.

Managed to get an on-water pic from a friend

If you could deal with the noise while running at higher throttle settings, I'm convinced this thing would be fine with a 115 or even a 90. Also I forgot the dogs were with me, so the weight for the performance numbers above is more like 4550.

[Fuzz]

Boat looks really nice on the water. I really like that hull design.
Light boats give good performance but they are going to blow around more in the wind. All part of the trade off.

[topwater]

Yep looks good on the water. As you can see from the pic you are still a little light in the bow. Jacques told me at the last
builders meet that these boat are designed to carry some weight forward . As you accumulate more stuff over time it should
bring it down to its water line and help with the wind.

[Jeff]

She really looks nice in the water!! Jeff

[Matt Gent]

Short update on the DE25 as I've gotten more time on it, just completed a week trip around South FL.



Took 6 days, left from Port St Lucie, down to the Keys for mini-season, then back up around the West coast and across Lake O to home. 628 miles, ~170 gallons of fuel, 40 hours underway, 4 nights on the boat (plus 2 in a condo).

Some general notes about the boat's performance:
-I got the NMEA system hooked up to the engine so I now use the GPS for engine data and navigate by Navionics app on an Android tablet. This lets me get fuel burn / economy / remaining range real-time, which is pretty sweet. Also glad I did it since I thought the economy would be better than it is.


-Most of the running was probably around 4500lb, I haven't done any math to estimate more closely. Gets around 3.6mpg in flat water that way full of gas, then trends up to 4.0-4.2 when light. This is at 18-25mph or so, not too sensitive in that range. Offshore at 12-14mph it gets more like 3.0-3.2mpg.

-It is really unbearable above about 14mph into any quartering head sea. Of any size from 6" to 2', especially if it is a closely spaced chop. The full hull form just slaps like crazy, and my mechanical sympathy made me slow down. Planning for a trim-tab update, maybe over winter. Some water that I have to go 15mph in I could go 90mph over in our tunnel boat. I'm adjusting to just driving slower.

-It runs really well in a following sea. We went across Lake O with TS Emily chasing us, 2-2.5' chop on a ~12' period, just cruised over the backs of them at 22mph


-There is a resonance between 3800-4000rpm. I haven't chased down what it is, I can barely feel it on the main cabin bulkhead. Maybe its a helmholz deal with cabin volume, as it is much quieter with your head up in the v-berth area. Need earplugs in that range, but its easy to throttle up or down a little and avoid it. If I find something moving I can add a stiffener or three.

-Fantastic handling coming into a rough Jupiter inlet on an outgoing tide and SE wind, which can make for sketchy conditions. More than enough power, and between the bow form and the keel it does not want to broach. Buried the bow right up to the sprit into the next 4' standing wave and it just chugs along. So there is a pay-off for the chop slapping.

-Made a nice platform to cruise for a few days with my dad, even in late July. Fall cruising in FL is where its at! With the windows open its pretty comfortable underway, a little hot at night until about 2AM.


-We even slept 4 adults on it one night, camping over our lobster mini-season honey hole. Good thing we did as boats were cruising up to it starting around 3AM. Two in the v-berth, one in the companionway, one fell asleep fishing on the transom !!! I may make the port side convertible into another bunk.


-Cruising past East Cape


-I'm getting a little better around the docks, but it just doesn't want to turn (particularly up-wind). I've started using two big round balls as fenders, they work great. The regular cylinder ones like to tuck into the flare under the rubrail.

-A few more pics here http://mattgent.com/river-rovers-2-sout ... avigation/