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Hello Sharphooks, Sorry for hi-jacking the thread but thanks for your input to my earlier thread about re powering a 27 Skagit Orca. I believe Armstrong now makes a pod that continues the bottom of the hull as you describe. As I am a green rookie when it comes to these Skagit Orcas, can you give me an idea of what sort of performance I might get with a single Suziki DF350 and a proper pod? Basically cruise,WOT, and fuel consumption.With the Vancouver Boat Show coming up I might find an offer I can't refuse... Thanks
I was talking to the builders of Skagit Orca a few months ago---I was ready to pull the trigger on a 2019 Skagit Orca 27 footer. My intention was to power with a Suzuki DF350. The Skagit Orca guys said that would be a perfect single outboard for that size boat. Most guys power that boat with doubles but I've been a single outboard guy for my last three boats and I'm not going to change that approach to boating now. I never pulled the trigger on the 27 footer or the DF350 because I couldn't get asking price for my 24 footer ------ I stepped away from the new-boat table and thus, have no experience with DF350 performance
But.....As far as fuel consumption goes--the DF350 has been around for awhile now---my recommendation would be to do some Google searches and try and find fuel-burn results from a similar sized/similar weight boat as a 27 foot Orca. I recommend The Hull Truth--- lots of DF350 feed-back on that site, lots of fuel burn info on that site
I'm running a DF300 on a 24 foot Orca so my results would not be pertinent, though I can confirm that the lean-burn Suzuki's have a good reputation for modest fuel burn.
FWIW, I'm thinking you'll be absolutely thrilled with a DF350 on a 27 footer---perfect match, but take tremendous care to have the boat podded properly (which I presume is part of your re-model plan).
As ReelSlim mentioned above, every boat is different and whatever pod is attached should be designed specifically for the hull config you're hanging it on. I'm a big believer in having the lower portion of the pod extend all the way to the keel though I'm aware that some boat manufacturer's don't pod all the way to the keel and still seem to get good performance.
Two reasons to have a pod run deep and meet the keel---extra floatation as has been mentioned before but just as important, nice clean laminar flow of water feeding over the flukes of the prop--- I might be misinformed but I'm thinking that water passing over the keel and then boiling up under a pod that might be sitting higher then the keel doesn't exactly promote that laminar flow
The leg length of the outboard in relation to the pod it's hung on is also important. Based on my experience with the DF300, if I was hanging a DF350 on an Orca hull, I'd go for the 30" leg, NOT the 25" leg. Suzuki's perform better when run deep....not just my experience---seems to be supported by other guys running that brand who write up their performance numbers.
And have an experienced guy doing the pod work on your Orca!!!! There is a horror story of a guy who had a $ 300,000 Cutwater sink at his dock. It was a podded boat with two big Yamahas on it----it appears there was water intrusion into the pod, then into his boat, and the bilge pump was either inoperable or couldn't keep up with the intrusion.
I believe the boat was outfitted on Vancouver Island.... I'm sure there's been lot's of finger-pointing as to who was liable for the faulty pod construction and (as reported after the accident) leaky inspection hatches in the pod. Good luck