Maine Cat P-47 Update, January 22, 2008

MAINE CAT P-38 MORPHS INTO P-47

Following more than a year and a half of design work, model testing and finally three separate sea trials of our “one-off” prototype hull, Maine Cat is pleased to announce full production of the Maine Cat P-47 will begin as soon as molds and tooling have been completed this winter.   Our investment in building a full size prototype hull and the subsequent six month period of testing, modifying and retesting has paid off handsomely.  Our original goal of producing the most fuel efficient yacht on the market has been accomplished and we exceeded our wide open throttle performance goals by 20%.   With 200 less horsepower than our closest power catamaran competitor we are 10% faster and burn 30% less fuel.

We currently have eight contracts to build new Maine Cat P-47’s.  The first P-47 production hull will be launched in the fall of 2008 and be available for sea trials in Maine for prospective buyers and the press.  100% of our plant’s production capacity is being shifted to meet the growing demand for this high performance displacement catamaran. 

Our P-47 owners are making the change to our new handsome live aboard blue water yacht for more than just our superior fuel economy.  On a Maine Cat P-47 they gain more comfort in a seaway at higher speeds, wonderful 1200 n.m. range at 10.8 knot cruising speed, smaller engines to service and maintain, and the ability to out-run weather or get home in a hurry with a top speed close to 25 knots. 

The following chart illustrates the outstanding efficiency of the P-47’s unique hull design.  The fuel consumption numbers were taken on our prototype hull at her full load displacement of 22,800 lbs with a pair of Volvo 160 hp D-3 common-rail diesels.  Fuel burn was measured with vertical graduated tanks ensuring the gallons per hour are very accurate and not taken from the standard electronic sensors included with the Volvo D-3  EVC gauge package.  Speeds are a two way average in seas less than one foot. 

To highlight a couple of the exciting points on the chart below:

• 1750 rpms, speed 9.4 knots, total burn 2.6 gals/hr., 3.62 n.m. /gal.
•  2500 rpms, speed 14.5 knots, total burn 5 gals/hr., 2.90 n.m. /gal.
•  3500 rpms, speed 21.3 knots, total burn 12.4 gals/hr., 1.72 n.m. /gal.

The fuel efficiency of this new hull shape is outstanding, but what really blew our socks off was a wide open throttle of nearly 25 knots on an 11.4 ton displacement vessel with only a pair of 160 hp engines.  We believe we can achieve even higher speeds and better fuel efficiencies once our propellers have been fine-tuned to get the full 4000 rpms from the common-rail diesels in our production P-47’s.  During our sea trials with 20-inch DJX props, we only achieved 3900 rpms at WOT doing 24.5 knots and burned a total of 18.1 gals/hr.

What makes the P-47 design so different from other power cat models currently available and serviced in North America?  What is our secret formula?  Our prototype testing has proved the following works: 

• Long slender hulls with beam to length ratios approaching 13.35 to 1
• Large bridgedeck clearance, at full load, 2’-6” and no reduction of under wing width as the result of appendages inboard from the hulls
• Displacement hull design, semi-circular sections with no lifting strakes
• Fullness in the ends, reserve buoyancy, prismatic coefficient = .69
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If the beam to length ratio of the hulls can be optimized to a fineness ratio close to 13 to 1, like the P-47’s at 13.35 to 1, the benefits are incredible.  Our sea trial fuel burn numbers are impressive, but the comfort of the ride we experienced is even more impressive.  As the result of the P-47 having adequate bridgedeck, reserve buoyancy in the bows and a clean run between her hulls she never once slammed her under wing deck powering straight into 5 foot breaking waves.

Her displacement hull shape allowed us to pick a speed which “leveled-out” the wave pattern by slicing through the top half of the waves.  With a planing hull design you would have to maintain enough speed to stay on plane which may be too fast for the conditions.

The P-47 design allows you to infinitely adjust your speeds as conditions allow.

Engineering the new P-47 has been a blast and a huge success from this prospective, but there is more to producing a great yacht than engineering.  We wanted the new P-47 to have the classic good looks of traditional “Down East” lobster yachts and believe our styling will make any owner proud to own one of our beautiful cats.  Our interior bridgedeck plan is based on the “great room” concept and this entire space can be customized to meet the requirements of each individual owner.  Maine Cat benefits from eliminating some tooling costs and our owners benefit by having a layout with furniture and cabinetry built to their specifications.  The P-47 saloon, galley, helm station and open aft cockpit bridgedeck area is all on the same level and totals over 350 square feet.  The possibilities are unlimited on our stable catamaran platform.

If you have any questions or comments about the new P-47 from Maine Cat please give us a call at 207-529-6500 or email me at dick@mecat.com.

The next hull we sell will be number 9 and she will be launched in July of 2009.   The deposit is $50k and it is 100% refundable if you can find a better boat or just decide the P-47 is not the yacht you prefer.

Thank you for the opportunity to present this information.

                                                                        Dick  & Lynn Vermeulen

Maine Cat P-47 Update October/November, 2007

It has been a very busy summer for our shop launching and commissioning eight new Maine Cat sailing catamarans.  The crew has done an outstanding job (as always) and we have eight very happy owners sailing from Maine to the Bahamas.  Two of our new MC 30’s are on their way to Hope Town, Abaco, Bahamas to join our bareboat charter fleet.  With our backlog of sailing cats all in the water, it is time to get back 100% to the Maine Cat P-47 project and start building some beautiful fuel efficient power cats.

Maine Cat P-47 Update –  5/18/07

Round #1 - Sea Trials with OSSA Powerlite propulsion:

We launched the P-47 prototype hull on April 4 with the temperatures in the mid-30’s and a wet snow falling.  A cold raw day out on the water even by Maine standards.  It wasn’t the best day to launch a boat but we have had worst and the entire shop crew was more than eager to see how our new design would balance and perform.  It had been thirteen months since we had started the P-47 project with the last five of those months spent building our “one-off” Core-Cell bead and cove prototype hull.

The first test was to see how she would trim down to her 22,800 pound fully loaded design waterline.  I calculated our prototype hull was 9,000 lbs. out of the shop and we needed to add 13,800 pounds of water ballast.  We rented a large gasoline powered trash pump that moved 150 gallons of water per minute and in a little over 12 minutes the P-47 was nearly perfect on her lines.  Her bow was up about an inch and we fixed that during our sea trials with another 300 pounds of sand in the forepeak of each hull.

Our sea trial testing began on April 9^th after the Glacier Bay engineers had finished their final equipment software update and load testing at the dock.  Our first run out into the bay was to determine how our propellers should to re-pitched to get the best performance from the OSSA Powerlite equipment.  We had originally installed 20 by 20 three bladed Dyna Jet propellers knowing that they were going to be too aggressive, but wanted to start on the high side.  With both generators putting out their full power of 25 kW each the electric motors could only hit 70% of their rated 1100 rpms.  Our top speed was a disappointing 8.4 knots and the assumption that electric horsepower was some how more powerful than conventionally produce horsepower was in serious doubt.

We purchased a new set of 20-inch diameter propellers with only 14 inches of pitch to see if we could achieve the full 1100 rpms and better our speed.  On April 13 the new propellers where installed and we obtained very close to fully rated 1100 rpm maximum.  Top speed improved less than 10% to 9.1 knots.  We continued to make runs out into the bay, but cancelled most of our scheduled sea trials with potential customers since high-speed runs were not possible.

We recorded our fuel consumption numbers and found at 8 knots we averaged 1.5 gallons per hour and at 9.1 knots we burned 3 gallons per hour.  These are about the same speeds and fuel burns we get on our Maine Cat 41 sailing cat on a new boat with a little less weight.  The Maine Cat 41 is powered by twin 29 hp 3YM30 Yanmar diesels with saildrives and two bladed folding propellers.  Very close to the horsepower of the OSSA equipment we used on the P-47.

Conclusions from Round One P-47 sea trails:

1)     The P-47 looks great in the water and her hulls make almost no bow wave at 9.1 knots.   We never had a wave hit the underside of our bridgedeck.

2)     We need more horsepower and OSSA does not have larger equipment that has been designed or built at this time.  We have ordered twin Volvo 160 hp D-3 common-rail diesels for Round #2 P-47 sea trails in June and July.

3)      Our tunnel sections were too long and they have now been shortened.  We also gained another 2’-6” of waterline length by submersing our swim platform structures to continue the run of flattened tunnel to their aft face.  Both of these changes together have increased our buoyancy aft allowing more room and weight carrying capacity in our engine rooms.

4)     The P-47 handled wonderfully in tight maneuvering situations around the dock and picking up our mooring even in windy conditions.  We are designing a flybridge option for customers requesting this additional feature.

Maine Cat P-47 Update 2/04/07

Hull ready for interior glassing and bulkheads                  

The P-47 hull part was flipped over last week and the mold frames have been stripped-out and interior foam has been faired in preparation for glassing.  After two layers of Vector Ply +/– 45 degree and 0/90 degree bi-directional glass have been laid; she will be ready for bulkheads and machinery platforms.  Our target weight for this finished part with machinery is 4730 pounds.  We are on schedule for a March launch and sea trials for interested buyers here in Maine.  If you would like to attend and are not on our mailing list yet, please give me call at 1-888-832-2287 or send me an email at dick@mecat.com.  The whole crew is looking forward to a marvelously quiet ride out into the Gulf of Maine on this efficient catamaran cruiser.

Lynn and I had a very interesting trip out to Oakland, California, last week to visit Glacier Bay, Inc. the home of OSSA Powerlite.  This is the most impressive marine power equipment I have ever seen in my life.  The engineering and manufacturing excellence is evident in everything they are producing.  From employees on the shop floor to engineering, sales, marketing, and management, everyone we met was passionate about their products and their customers. Glacier Bay’s new 60,000 sq.ft. plant is a huge investment in the future for this promising technology.  Maine Cat is proud to be associated with this excellent organization and their highly advanced products.

As a result of our visit we have planned a Maine Cat P-47 / OSSA Powerlite meeting to be held during the Miami Boat Show for potential P-47 buyers who are interested in finding out more about both our boat and its unique integrated power system.   The meeting will be held Saturday night, February 17^th, at 7:00 PM at the Miami Yacht Club on Watson Island off the McArthur Causeway (I-395).   If you would like to attend please let me know so we can plan for enough seating and munchies.  We hope you can make this special event.

Thanks again and drop me an email if you require any additional information.

Hull up view

Hull-up view