Cold Duck
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jul 8, 2022
- Messages
- 423
- Vessel Name
- Cold Duck
- Vessel Make
- MS 350 Trawler, 1997
Just saw an ad for MS390 on Yachtworld showing MS390 specs: cruise 14kts, max 15kts. At first, I thought this as over optimistic Sales BS. But I really don't know how everyone drives their MS350/390s. I just have my data. I bought my 350 in Santa Barbara and cruised it to the Sacramento Delta, about 350nm. I cruised at 1800-2000 rpm with my Cat 3116, nice long runs with fill ups so I got good fuel burn data. Did about 8.5kts getting 2.1nm/gal. Now in the Sac Delta I use the vessel totally different, normally 15-30nm runs (mostly 15nm) and just put 100 gal of fuel in at a time so I don't get any performance data. But, with these short runs, I even throttle back to 1600 rpm doing 7-7.5 kts. In the delta, the ride is as much fun as getting to our destination. I never got the MS350 for speed, never been WOT. Sooooo..... I would like to see what other owners cruise their MS350/390s at realizing there is no correct or optimum answer here, just getting a feel how the boats are used by different people. Does anyone do 14kts and if so, where and why? Realize a lot of boats have a Yanmar and many different hp combos but we should get a feeling for what feels best to everyone, single and twin engines, and how they use the boat. I know there's a lot of expert opinions on boat speeds and efficiency, but I would like to keep this to the MS350/390 only so we can compare apples to apples. So lets hear from you guys.