Playboy's GT Weekend Boat

In this amazing age of OPEC blackmails and big-car blues, the possession of a so-called gas guzzler can plummet one to social grottoes formerly occupied only by the Baader-Meinhof gang, skid-row regulars and high-ranking members of the Nixon Administration. That once-celebrated act of American patriotism wherein a solid citizen climbed aboard his car, boat or plane powered by a monster engine and joyously consumed various petrochemical distillates is now looked upon with the same revulsion as turning redwoods into roofing shingles for fast-food emporiums or clubbing baby seals for their coats.

Why, then, you might ponder, is Playboy trying to lure you into reading a story about a high-powered speedboat? Surely, one does not have to be a charter member of the Sierra Club to know that those awesome devices are designed only for wastrels and throttle-mashing sybarites. Those macho boats, as they are referred to in some circles, appear to have no redeeming value other than to thrill, titillate and sometimes terrify their passengers with wondrous bursts of wave-hopping speed. Yet within the dimensions of their rakish hulls--ranging from about 24 to 35 feet in length, depending on the manufacturer--there is potential for substantial utility.

First of all, these boats, with their deep-V hulls bred for offshore powerboat racing in nasty, turbulent water, are amazingly seaworthy. Moreover, their narrow beam (eight feet) permits them to be legally trailered in all states. That means the craft can be hauled by land-borne vehicles to the desired cruising grounds and launched for a weekend of sport without the expenditure of massive amounts of time (and fuel) trying to reach the same destination by water. Beyond that, boats of this type can accommodate a couple for two or three days of reasonably comfortable living. Certainly, the levels of luxury will never be confused with those of the QE II, but then, with on-board head, small galley, cozy berthing, stereo, refrigerator, etc., one is not exactly tented in an open field, either.

Yes, boats of this genre can be useful and pleasurable pocket cruisers, provided their one bad habit can be tamed; i.e., in stock form, they literally inhale gasoline. Equipped with their customary big-displacement V8 engines, a short ride around the bay can bring tears to the eyes of the most affluent boaters and cause gasoline credit cards to shrivel and melt. We speak not of miles per gallon but of gallons per mile. We are talking about gasoline-consumption levels in the context that opening the throttles is akin to flushing a toilet. Bad mileage gains a whole new dimension when discussing this subject. Therefore, in this fuel-fevered time of booming prices and shaky supplies, a boat of this type seems an anathema to anyone with an ounce of sense or social conscience.

But the problem lies not with the boat but with the engines that power it. Deep-V hulls are among the cleanest, most efficient in the world. However, their traditional mode of power has been big-displacement versions of Detroit-built V8 passenger-car engines. The motors, ranging in size from 350 cubic inches to 455 cubic inches, are heavy iron units, and when connected to standard marine outdrives, can weigh from 1200 to 1600 pounds each. Mount a pair of those brutes in the stern of your 30-footer and they will supply you with between 660 and 740 horsepower in short bursts, but the fuel costs will be awesome. Moreover, the great lumps of dead weight in the stern make the boat sluggish and cumbersome to operate at low speeds.

Since the price of gasoline began to spiral upward, boat manufacturers have been looking for smaller, lighter, less avaricious power sources for motorboats of all types. In the course of their search, outboards were largely ignored, because it was believed that they were as gluttonous as the big V8s. Then Outboard Marine Corporation, the manufacturer of Evinrude and Johnson outboard motors, developed an amazing experimental boat that obliterated the old industry superstitions.

It modified a 28-foot Bertram deep-V sports convertible hull to accommodate a pair of 200-hp Evinrude outboards, replacing the standard 233-hp V8s in the process. The results were staggering. The outboards not only upped the boat's speed from 34 mph to more than 48 mph but increased fuel economy by as much as 83 percent. What's more, the cruising range of the boat was increased from 200 to 500 miles. The massive improvements were attributed to weight reduction (less than 700 pounds for the two outboards vs. more than 2500 pounds for the pair of V8s), as well as better weight distribution and more efficient drive angle (i.e., better bite for the propellers as they pass through the water). The Evinrude folks were also quick to point out that the outboard-equipped boat could run in shallower water, would run 28 mph on a single engine and encouraged simple maintenance because of the accessibility of the power plants.

With the results of that demonstration pulsing in our brains, we decided that the world was waiting for a truly contemporary weekend GT boat--a craft that could carry a couple (or a very friendly foursome) on a few days of cruising, water-skiing, skindiving or general hedonism without affecting the international monetary fund.

To do this, Playboy solicited the cooperation of the Wellcraft Marine Corporation of Sarasota, Florida, one of the most aggressive and successful young companies in the boating industry. Under a new, promotion-minded management, the company has been transformed from the maker of a line of undistinguished small runabouts to a top-line manufacturer of high-performance sports boats and middleweight family cruisers. Its magnificent 38-foot Scarab has won the World Offshore Racing Championship, as well as numerous major powerboat races. Smaller 30-foot versions of the arrow-shaped, 90-mph 38-footer are also manufactured, and it is one of those models we chose to develop into our energy-conscious, environmentally responsible but still-thrilling superboat. Our chosen hull was the Wellcraft Scarab II, a 30-footer with a slightly raised fore-deck to permit more interior headroom. With an eight-foot beam, the Scarab II is able to be trailered. It carries a Coast Guard--approved head (no overboard discharge), a refrigerator, fresh-water supply and the provision for light electric cooking utensils. There is a large two-person V berth forward and a small lounge area that can be converted to sleep two more.

Working in concert with the Evinrude engineers, the folks at Wellcraft modified the transom and rear-deck areas in order to position a pair of light (410 pounds each), compact 235-hp Evinrude outboards in place of the original-equipment 330-hp V8s (actually Mercruiser-modified, 454-cubic-inch G.M./Chevrolet passenger-and-light-truck engines).

The results were splendid. For openers, the boat was substantially easier to handle at modest speeds, thanks to the elimination of nearly a ton of weight lumped in the stern. While it lost a few mph in outright speed, our Evinrude-powered Scarab II would still nibble at 60 mph, depending on sea conditions, and would cruise at 45--50 mph for hours on end. The economy was excellent. While two miles to the gallon would trigger complete mental breakdown for a normal car owner, it is a quite satisfactory figure in marine terms (remember that a boat, being shoved through liquid as opposed to rolling across a hard surface, requires a great deal more energy to propel it than a comparably sized land vehicle). Our Scarab II consumed gasoline and oil (the standard two-cycle outboard mixture) at the rate of 2.2 miles per gallon at a steady 35 mph. When the speed was bumped to 50 mph, mileage dropped to an even two mpg. If those numbers sound shocking, consider that a stock Scarab II with 330-hp V8s gets 1.9 mpg at 35 mph and a mere 1.6 mpg at 50 mph. It should also be noted that Wellcraft offers the 30-foot Scarabs with optional 370-hp V8s, and the mileage numbers with those brutes are truly staggering. At full bore--over 70 mph--a Wellcraft equipped with those monsters will get in the neighborhood of 1.1 to 1.2 miles to the gallon!

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Also take note of the fact that our figures are preliminary and appear to hold substantial potential for improvement. The Wellcraft engineers commented that the lightweight outboards reduced the hull's running angle somewhat, which affected both mileage and top speed. A 100-gallon auxiliary fuel tank will be installed in the vacant engine bay and should provide three payoffs: (1) speeds in the mid-60-mph range, (2) somewhat improved fuel economy, perhaps over 2.5 mpg at 35 mph, and (3) coupled with the present 160-gallon stock fuel tank, a range of nearly 500 miles. Moreover, further experimentation with trim tabs and different propellers for the outboards may further add to the boat's over-all performance.

We also equipped the boat with two state-of-the-art electronic instruments to enhance its usefulness as a weekend sports boat. A Datamarine Sandpiper III digital depth sounder and a Datamarine digital speedometer log (for measuring speed and distance) were considered important for safe navigation, as were a standard marine V.H.F. radio and a C.B. for short-range, informal communication on the water. Those items, plus beer and ice cubes, liquor and mixers, suntan lotion, stereo tapes and some light foodstuffs, made us ready for sea.

If anything has been proved by this exercise, it is that great potential for relatively economical but high-performance boating lies ahead. Our Wellcraft Scarab II-Evinrude is just the beginning of a whole new generation of energy-efficient sports boats. Wellcraft will soon announce a production version of the outboard Scarab, to be powered by 200-hp Mercurys or 235-hp Johnsons or Evinrudes. Smaller outboard setups can also be used, but with a serious penalty in performance. The interesting bonus in this new boat is that it will be not only considerably more economical to operate but significantly cheaper to buy. Wellcraft officials claim the outboard Scarab will cost less than $25,000 without engines, whereas a fully equipped version with 330-hp V8s will cost over $50,000. Add to the $25,000 approximately $10,000--$13,000 for two big outboards and the price advantage is still clear.

It isn't bargain-basement cheap, and the mileage won't win any awards from the EPA, but our Wellcraft/Evinrude indicates that the exquisite kick of riding a thoroughbred hull across the waves at 50 mph may be one thing the Khomeini crazies and the Saudi sheiks won't snatch away from us after all.

Gentlemen, start your outboards.