Steering Wheel wayyy off centre, 23 Venture

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Was at the boat show last weekend. My favorite boat is the 23 Venture. I liked the fish boxes in the cockpit for the kids to sit. Liked the finishing inside. Liked the SS rails came a bit farther back at the bow. Especially liked the new hull design.

I did notice though that the steering wheel was way, way off centre with the seat. (switches on starboard side of wheel?)

You Venture/Cape Cruiser owners, does this bother you on long cruises?

(Also spoke to the senior C-Dory rep and let him know I thought the numbers for fuel mileage on the website were incorrect. He said he would investigate as the numbers came from their actual tests)
 
On the Cape Cruiser 26 Marinaut, the seat is centered on the steering wheel. Concerning fuel economy, the following is a post that I made on Red Fox's site back in September. I edited the last paragraph slightly.

Well I finally did a test of my mileage when I wouldn't be using my kicker. The run was from Swantown Marina in Olympia to The Port of Everett Marina. I hit the Tacoma narrows at one hour and 15 minutes after low slack. That means I was going against a incoming tide from Tacoma to Everett. Here are the numbers:

I filled up on regular gas at local Shell Station
Total Run Time 3 hours 30 minutes (including tying up at Everett)
Flat calm to 1 foot wind chop during run (chop on Elliot Bay to Everett)
3400- 4100 RPM, which is 20 to 30 MPH
Motor trim was at 3-4
81.7 miles on GPS
79.2 miles on Honda gauge
23.1 gallons used according to Honda fuel flow gauge
Actual gallons to refill tank at Everett Gas dock, 19.91 gallons

On each fill up I let it go till gas came out the vent while filling. The only thing I can figure is the the 200 HP motor is running at a little over half throttle so it gets really good fuel economy just loafing along.
Forrest
 
Check out the jennykatz last page of photos pg 19 of c-brats album . My seat and steering wheel are centered to each other . yes the helm has a little more gauges on starboard side but it's no problem .

I did find the venture to be much improved I love the fishboxes in cockpit the extra storage in the v-berth and the extra cabinetry on starboard side (drawers etc)The only thing I didn't like was all that vinyl . Down here in florida that would be moldy mess the first rainy season . I wonder if we could delete that package .

The 06 cape crusier same hull a little lighter by 150lb then the venture I get consistently over 5mpg that's everything idling down the canals 4500rpm cruising and wide open runs about 34mph with lite load 1/2 gas 30gallons or so .plus no camping gear very lite .Birdman ,terry and I were out the other day for about 2 and 1/2 hours and we only burned 5 gallons of fuel we did a lot of idling but some high speed runs also .

I have changed the prop to a 13 and 3/4 by 15 pitch 3 blade s/s for my f-115 yami so far i'm very impressed with this boat I get the same fuel burn as I did with my cd-22 cruiser with 90 suzuki . The only downside I see is that it weighs about 700lb -800lb's more for towing purposes.
 
Forest's numbers are very believable--about 80 miles on 20 gallons, over 3.5 hours= about 22 miles an hour and 4 miles per gallon.

What is not believable is the current C Dory Venture site: (even though this was brought out in the forum last year)

17 mph, 2.5 gal an hour and 6.2 m/g (if you divide 17/2.5 you get 6.8!
19.8 mph, 3.1 gal an hour and 5.8 m/g (if divide 19.8/3.1 you get 6.4!

Over 6 miles a gallon just does not jive with most of our experience in the C D 22 or other similar boats. I do believe that you could get over 6 miles a gallon at very low speeds, but not at 20 mph.
 
Jay,
I was on a trip up to see my son and his wife and take them fishing.
Here's what I was carrying:
200 hp main (Honda)
15 HP kicker
Rear Helm
100 gallons fuel
30 gallons water
waste tank empty
Coleman Stainless Cooler with ice
Two Scotty downriggers, pole holders
Two 15 pound balls
Four 10 pound balls
Six poles and tackle
Magma barbeque
Set Magma cooking ware (made in America)
Coffee pot, cups, dishes, etc.
Fresh food for two/ four days worth
Misc. canned food that I always carry for backup
Furuno 4KW Radar
12 pack beer, bottled water
Wife's and mine clothes, blankets etc.
lines, fenders etc.
22 pound delta anchor, 20 feet chain, 400 feet rode (maybe 500)
I bought it from EQ I would have to look at the receipt
And wife
Plus all the other things you drag along when you cruise and camp
Forrest
 
I don't know where some of these numbers come from. On an extended (2000 mile) trip my CC 23 Venture with twin Yamaha 50's, very heavily loaded, averaged about 3 statute mpg. That's real world conditions ranging from big seas and nasty chop, to flat calm. When conditions were good, which was much of the time, actually, we ran at about 22 mph. I have measure carefully mpg in ideal conditions at optimum rpms (about 4300 according to my fuel flow meter). I can squeeze 4+ mpg.
 
Jim, yours is an 06 so its a cape cruiser? The wheel in your pic looks the same as the Venture at the boat show. Maybe the Venture has the seat pushed towards starboard?
 
forrest":2sakhl3q said:
Jay,
I was on a trip up to see my son and his wife and take them fishing.
Here's what I was carrying:
200 hp main (Honda)
15 HP kicker
Rear Helm
100 gallons fuel
30 gallons water
waste tank empty
Coleman Stainless Cooler with ice
Two Scotty downriggers, pole holders
Two 15 pound balls
Four 10 pound balls
Six poles and tackle
Magma barbeque
Set Magma cooking ware (made in America)
Coffee pot, cups, dishes, etc.
Fresh food for two/ four days worth
Misc. canned food that I always carry for backup
Furuno 4KW Radar
12 pack beer, bottled water
Wife's and mine clothes, blankets etc.
lines, fenders etc.
22 pound delta anchor, 20 feet chain, 400 feet rode (maybe 500)
I bought it from EQ I would have to look at the receipt
And wife
Plus all the other things you drag along when you cruise and camp
Forrest
Click to expand...

Forrest,

Wow, you definitely had a load on there.
I usually average close to 4mpg with my 22 pushed by a 06 Honda 90, guess I need to get a bigger motor or something.
You say "3400- 4100 RPM, which is 20 to 30 MPH", I’ve only achieved 30mph once and that was the first time I took the boat out light, 28mph at 5500 rpm is all I can achieve now.

Maybe it’s time to trade up to a bigger boat?

Sorry for hijacking the thread, my bad.
 
breausaw wrote:

"I usually average close to 4mpg with my 22 pushed by a 06 Honda 90, guess I need to get a bigger motor or something. "

breausaw-

IMHO, with a typically loaded up boat and average cruising and usage habits, you're right in the center of most folks real MPG figures, averaged over the long haul.

You now have permission to hand the checkbook back to the Admiral, unless, of course, she's all primed up and got that two-foot-itis hotsies you've always been hoping for.......!

Joe. :lol:
 
In the FWIW department-

The numbers on the 26 Venture were simply placeholder numbers for the layout. After the boat show we should be able to get our 26 Venture w/ 175 Suzuki out for some real world sea trials and get some good numbers.

We may also run some numbers on the 23V w/ 115 Suzuki.
 
Sea Wolf":29ruwsy4 said:
breausaw wrote:


IMHO, with a typically loaded up boat and average cruising and usage habits, you're right in the center of most folks real MPG figures, averaged over the long haul.


Joe. :lol:
Click to expand...

Joe,

Just suffering from a case of mpg/mph/hp envy, I’ll get over it.

Thanks for the clarification; it helps put things back into perspective.

I’m actually feeling better now… :D

Jay
 
The numbers on the 26 Venture were simply placeholder numbers for the layout. After the boat show we should be able to get our 26 Venture w/ 175 Suzuki out for some real world sea trials and get some good numbers.
Click to expand...

The current numbers on the C Dory site have been there since Feb 14, 2008 (almost a full year). If these are "placeholder" they should have been updated long ago!

Even more interesting--the numbers for the Venture 23 (twin 50's) and Venture 26 (single 150) are exactly the same!

The company (who ever owns it) has a responsibility to put accurate information on their web site. I hope that when testing is finally done, that calibrated flow meters and a radar gun or at least a GPS is used in the testing.
 
If overly optimistic "placeholder numbers" were used, they shuld have been identified as "est." or "estimates" outright.

We've been questioning those numbers off and on for a year now.

Credibility can be a fleeting thing, and should be protected.

My two cents for the hour!

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
The best I've done for and average over a typical 12 to 14 day cruise loaded cruising between 2000 and 5000 rpm's with one or two aboard is 3.8 mpg thats with a Suzuki 90. I've tweaked my prop played with various trim combinations, added a permatrim and raised the motor. None of these things made much of a difference. Probably raising the motor when I installed the SS prop and permatrim made the most noticable difference. Of course I'd like to see the 5 mpg they claimed but I'm content with my numbers. What's aggrevating is I was beginning to think there was something wrong with my set up. After reading this post I figure I'm right where I ought to be. I don't think I could average 5 MPG with nothing aboard and minimum fuel.
 
Most boat reviews and "tests" are overly optimistic, since the boat is new, light weight, usually has small amount of fuel and gear aboard and conditions are usually good. 10 to 20% poor "mileage" is not unusual and it may be worse than 25% in some cases...
 
Likewise with the Tomcat, I don't believe any of us have seen better than about 2.2 statute miles per gallon, nowhere near the 3.2 mpg referenced in the test sheet.
 
marvin4239":9hol6c76 said:
The best I've done for and average over a typical 12 to 14 day cruise loaded cruising between 2000 and 5000 rpm's with one or two aboard is 3.8 mpg thats with a Suzuki 90. I've tweaked my prop played with various trim combinations, added a permatrim and raised the motor. None of these things made much of a difference. Probably raising the motor when I installed the SS prop and permatrim made the most noticable difference. Of course I'd like to see the 5 mpg they claimed but I'm content with my numbers. What's aggrevating is I was beginning to think there was something wrong with my set up. After reading this post I figure I'm right where I ought to be. I don't think I could average 5 MPG with nothing aboard and minimum fuel.
Click to expand...

Thanks Marvin, I’m feeling way better now!

I’ve got almost the exact setup with the permatrim and 06 carbonated Honda BF90, except I haven’t opted for the stainless prop yet; I have however raising the motor. We generally cruise between 4200 and 5200 rpm depending on conditions, and pack her heavy. 4200 gets me 17 to 19 mph and 5200 tops out at around 23 to 25 mph. I quit trying to conserve fuel but found these are the two sweet spots for choppy vs. smooth water conditions. Over all I achieve 3.8 mpg, just about every trip. We commonly travel 80 to 100 miles a weekend, up to 160 on a three day weekends to get where we want to go and do the things we enjoy. Even when gas prices were way up last year it didn’t stop us, life is way too short and this moment won’t come again. With gas prices down this year the good karma should be flowing strong.
 
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