Sports Cruiser

[RB-T]

Need info on sports cruisers, where they can go, canals, rivers, Norfolk broads, sea. Is the licence cost different. Are they good value for money and higher build quality than like a grp river cruiser. What engines are in these things. Will there be problems if you want to convert to electric eventually. Are they petrol or diesel. And any tiny little thing you can think of. Thanks 

[Tony1]

 

This sort of thing really interested me for a while, back in the days when we had free access, free healthcare, and could stay indefinitely in Europe. 

I wondered about whether you could find a craft that could do it all- canals, rivers and a channel crossing.

I reckoned you'd need something that had

- a V shaped hull and powerful enough engine(s) to safely cross the channel

- a low enough air draft to go under some UK canal bridges (perhaps with windscreens and canvas covers that all fold down)

- a shallow enough water draft that it could cruise the canal system without having its bottom damaged by debris, trolleys, bricks, or whatever else ends up in there. 

- spacious and practical accommodation to liveaboard full time in relative comfort

 

I think its possible to find a craft that will do it, but the ones I found that met all the criteria were a bit expensive compared to narrowboats of similar age. 

Naughty Cal might be able to help- they cruised with a sport boat for years, so will know all the issues.

 

Having an offshore capability means going wide beam, or at least wider than the 7ft or so of narrow beam boats, so that means a significant amount of the canal system in the Midlands and Northwest cant be done in your boat. The UK canal map will show you exactly where will be navigable and where will not. 

 

Maybe you could compromise and get something like a Viking 26 widebeam, which is a river cruiser but can go offshore- in very mild conditions. Or maybe the viking seamaster 28?

I think it has a fold down windscreen so it might go under some of the canal bridges, but I'm not sure how you'd find out which bridges were ok and which were not, until you got to them.

 

I guess it depends what your intended use is for the craft? Do you want to cruise offshore a lot? 

If you do, you should also take a look at the relevant boating forums. 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2022 by Tony1

[Bacchus]

3 hours ago, RB-T said:

Need info on sports cruisers, where they can go, canals, rivers, Norfolk broads, sea. Is the licence cost different. Are they good value for money and higher build quality than like a grp river cruiser. What engines are in these things. Will there be problems if you want to convert to electric eventually. Are they petrol or diesel. And any tiny little thing you can think of. Thanks 

 

 

I love sports cruisers - this is what's great about them:-

 

• er...

 

 

 

IMHO they are generally built "to a price" for people to impress their friends with their flash new boat. They are lightweight GRP layup with lightweight (generally petrol) engines, designed to blat out of a coastal marina, bump around for a while at high speed, and then go back to moor up and head off to do "something more interesting". Generally there would be the capacity to stay aboard, but "the wife" would probably prefer a hotel.

 

The hulls are designed to plane and kick up a horrible wake at low speeds at which they have virtually zero directional stability; regardless of dimensions, they are completely unsuitable for any inland waterways.

 

conversion to electric would be largely pointless with current tech, because this type of boat is designed for 20+ knots which you just won't get in any meaningful way from electric.

 

Side decks are important when inland, but are virtually non-existent. They are the ultimate example of form over function on inland waterways, and even at sea they are mere toys - they will not look after you in any kind of bad weather, and they will not take you long distances like a sail-boat

 

On the positive side, "there's one born every minute" so they seem to hold a reasonable value for when you come to sell them and get a proper boat. Also in fairness, as mentioned above, @Naughty Cal did seem to get an awful lot of use and pleasure out of hers, but now has a van instead.

 

 

 

[Tony Brooks]

I would much prefer and feel safer in something like a Seamaster 27 or Elysian than any modern sports cruisers. I am sure their layup is far thicker and the hull stronger. However as far as I know there are no sports cruisers narrow enough for the narrow canals. I also think anything designed to plane will be uncomfortable and quiet possibly harder to handle at displacement speeds.

 

If you want a boat to plane under electric propulsion I think you will need absolutely huge batteries to provide the power needed for even a half decent amount of time.

[Naughty Cal]

We cruised our Sealine S23 for 13 years inland and on the coast. 

 

Low speed handling could be a pain, they have a tenancy to wander around but you get used to that.

 

They can be petrol or diesel powered. Ours was diesel. You pay more for a diesel boat but they hold their value better.

 

Our boat had side decks but a lot of the US boats don't and have through windscreen access. We didn't like that and much preferred the decks on ours which made bow access easy and safe when working through locks.

 

Air draft will depend on the boat. With the arch folded ours was 6'6" to the top of the screens so low bridges were not an issue.

 

Water draft was more of an issue. At 3ft it was a bit deep for some places and would knock the bottom. The props were the lowest point so often took the damage. We had lots of them repaired in the 13 years we had the boat.

 

We took NC to the Broads four times. It was a good run from our base on the Fossdyke. 

[Alan de Enfield]

A 'couple' of Sports Cruisers we had - both outboard powered and both totally unsuitable for the canals or rivers.

 

Bayliner on the left with no 'walk around gunwales' and a Benetau on the right which had a proper walk way all around the cabin (hence the WA in the model name).

 

 

 

 

 

 

And a Dell Quay Trihedral Hullwith twin 50hp outboards

Edited April 18, 2022 by Alan de Enfield

[MartynG]

On 17/04/2022 at 21:47, Bacchus said:

 

 

I love sports cruisers - this is what's great about them:-

 

• er...

 

 

 

IMHO they are generally built "to a price" for people to impress their friends with their flash new boat. They are lightweight GRP layup with lightweight (generally petrol) engines, designed to blat out of a coastal marina, bump around for a while at high speed, and then go back to moor up and head off to do "something more interesting". Generally there would be the capacity to stay aboard, but "the wife" would probably prefer a hotel.

 

The hulls are designed to plane and kick up a horrible wake at low speeds at which they have virtually zero directional stability; regardless of dimensions, they are completely unsuitable for any inland waterways.

 

conversion to electric would be largely pointless with current tech, because this type of boat is designed for 20+ knots which you just won't get in any meaningful way from electric.

 

Side decks are important when inland, but are virtually non-existent. They are the ultimate example of form over function on inland waterways, and even at sea they are mere toys - they will not look after you in any kind of bad weather, and they will not take you long distances like a sail-boat

 

On the positive side, "there's one born every minute" so they seem to hold a reasonable value for when you come to sell them and get a proper boat. Also in fairness, as mentioned above, @Naughty Cal did seem to get an awful lot of use and pleasure out of hers, but now has a van instead.

 

 

 

 

You views are clearly biased and in some ways completely wrong.

 

 

A sports cruiser f 30ft and over is more likley diesel than petrol engined 

Edited April 22, 2022 by MartynG
will respond later - have to go to work

[MartynG]

On 17/04/2022 at 21:47, Bacchus said:

 

 

 

 

IMHO they are generally built "to a price" for people to impress their friends with their flash new boat. They are lightweight GRP layup with lightweight (generally petrol) engines, designed to blat out of a coastal marina, bump around for a while at high speed, and then go back to moor up and head off to do "something more interesting". Generally there would be the capacity to stay aboard, but "the wife" would probably prefer a hotel.

 

 

 

Are they built to a price ? I think an inland waterways  boat will probably be cheaper.

They are built for the sea so in anything have to be better engineered  than a canal or river boat needs to be .

 

I had a  25ft sports cruiser  6 years , used on the river , and never stayed in a hotel while out boating . Now have a 33ft flybridge boat which has very acceptable accommodation.

 

Many sports cruisers have diesel engines - especially those above 30ft . Diesel is the preferred  fuel as petrol is not always easily available.

Handling at slow speed make take some learning especially with a single engine  , but once learned , is not a major issue .

Power is far in excess of that required on inland waterways and is better to take a sports cruiser where its full potential can be used , like a or estuary river with no speed restriction in order to give it a good blast  at least on an occasional basis .

 

Side decks tend to be absent from North American designed sports cruisers but are the norm on most UK designed boats like Sealine, Princess  and Fairline .

I have noticed  side decks and suitable guard rails are often absent on inland waterways boats.

 

Sports cruisers  are not at all well suited to most canals  but they can be taken on certain canals like the  Aire and Calder  and on rivers like the River Trent , where I keep my boat.

On the tidal river sports cruisers and the like with planning hulls are very common . Such boats are considerably better suited to  the river than narrowboats .