How much fuel does your boat use?

[JohnnieMo]

I've been trying to track how various surf systems affect fuel usage. I'd be curious if you could post your REAL WORLD statistics.

I realize that engine, hull, ballast and surf systems all have varying impacts but I figure if enough of us post results we can find some trends. Ultimately I'm try to decipher the negative impact of newer surf apparatuses.

So here is mine:

Boat: 2013 Z1
Engine: PCM EX343
Prop: Acme 1433
Setup: 2150lbs, listed (800 front, 1350 surf side)
Surf System: Vx
Usage: 4.5 GPH (US Gallon) surfing (less than 4 GPH of mixed use)

Put differently I spend about $15 USD per hour at today's prices.





Sent from my BlackBerry Priv

[IDBoating]

One of the features we programmed into our WakeTouch tablet helm system was fuel consumption (including a resettable fuel meter, so you can track how much is used in a given session and thus fairly divide costs amongst a group if desired). That gives us VERY accurate information on how much fuel is used. On our 2009 24Ve, fully ballasted and surfing 100% of the time during a session, we average ~4.5 gallons per engine hour. It varies a bit with passenger load and such, but "one gas can per hour" is a very safe estimate with a roughly 10% margin built in. So our number pretty much agrees with yours.

2009 24Ve
PCM EX343 w/ CAT Exhaust
Acme 1235
~2500# on surf side, ~300# off side, 400# bow
~4.5 GPH (actual engine hours)

FuelScreenShot.jpg

(Yes, I know the photo doesn't say "4.5 GPH". It's a frame extraction from one of our promo videos so we were probably not ballasted for surfing.)

[IDBoating]

More: It's worth noting, though, that this ~4.5GPH really IS an average - which means it includes idling back to a fallen rider, idling when switching riders, etc. The GPH while actually generating a surfable wave can be 10GPH+, but your engine doesn't do that 100% of the time.

[PaceWithGrace]

Boat: 2014 R20
Engine: Indmar 5.7 335 HP
Prop: Acme 537
Setup: 1400 lbs, listed (400 front, 1000 surf side)
Surf System: None
Usage: 4.542 GPH (US Gallon) mixed use (40% wakeboarding, 40% wakesurfing, 20% other)
Elevation: Sea Level
Passengers: driver + 2-4

On average I have spent CAN$20.25 per hour over the last 60 hours.

So, pretty much the same as everyone


Severin

[Germaine Marine]

2016 z3

3800lbs of ballast plus people,

5.5 gph with the bow loaded at 3050 rpms

6.8 gph with light crew and 60% bow weight..

[JohnnieMo]

Thanks for those posting so far.

So it looks like TAPS3 has an impact, but there are a lot of variables there.

[IDBoating]

Like SurfGate, I would expect intentionally dragging a side tab - and then cranking the rudder to compensate for the induced yaw - would have a HUGE impact on fuel consumption. You're basically asking the hull to proceed somewhat sideways through the water!

What I'd really like to see is some sort of comparison between listed and tabbed/gated boats generating (roughly) similar surfing waves. I bet I know the answer....

[Germaine Marine]

I definitely think it has an impact as stated above my ID but to be honest, I think its way over hyped. As Id says, his 24 was 4.5 gph which was probably not ballasted for surfing, other then his boat at 24 feet there isnt much here to compare to mine as I have been the only other one posting with a taps 3 boat that is over 21 feet in length.

My taps 3 boat has to work less as hard as all my other boats that I have slammed with big water and leaned over, to be its a little less efficient but it isent much, most every boat goes around 6-8 hours of straight surfing, this boat is no different thus far...and I think that we actually surf more since we dont have to spend time dumping and filling bags 5x or so..

[Wagonhound]

Like SurfGate, I would expect intentionally dragging a side tab - and then cranking the rudder to compensate for the induced yaw - would have a HUGE impact on fuel consumption. You're basically asking the hull to proceed somewhat sideways through the water!

What I'd really like to see is some sort of comparison between listed and tabbed/gated boats generating (roughly) similar surfing waves. I bet I know the answer....

I installed a wakeshaper on my RZ2 and when we surfed hard an entire day I used 45 gallons (most ever). The next time out when a rider was dropped, I completely dropped the throttle, and spun the boat back 180 degrees to the rider instead of looping around. I noticed the wake shaper creates a huge amount of drag when making a turn the opposite side the shaper is placed on. Second time out we used about 35 gallons in about the same amount of time.