I'm LOVIN' my Rinker

Willhound

The Admiral and I are in a very happy spot right now. Being our first cruiser, our 2000 FV270 seemed very daunting at the beginning of the season. An initial issue with a drive reservoir oil leak dragged on waayyy too long, but was finally rectified to our satisfaction by the selling broker. An intermittent issue with the ignition momentarily cutting out, that got better, and then worse again, was solved by the very able mechanic at our marina. The problem was finally traced down to a wire that runs from the positive terminal on the starter, to the coil, that supplies direct 12v to the coil to enhance spark. There was a heavy 30 amp fuse in a holder that was shaking loose from time to time with vibration causing a cutout in spark. I feel the mechanic treated us very fairly in that he only charged us 3 hours labour for what I know was at least a 5 or more hour trouble shoot. He took it on as a personal challenge. Included changing out the spark plugs in that time too. And as an added bonus, he literally went over every single connector, wire, pin etc in the system and pulled them apart, lubed, tightened etc, as needed.
The boat has never run so good, I'm sure, in the last five years. 
I love the way that high bow and deep V handles the water. A bit of chop, boat wake and even a few times we got caught out in a flash thunderstorm with 40 mile an hour winds and she handled it all with ease.
I know, I know,....don't get too happy, something else is bound to happen sometime...it is after all a 17 year boat. BOAT....
Here are some shots from a recent run. Growing up in Northern Ontario (not freakin' Muskoka, think 400 miles further north...) we always learned that you don't go anywhere without a full tank of fuel. As a result, at half a tank I always start thinking of re-fueling. Extra weight be damned. Same with our fresh water tank. Our marina doesn't have treated water available, so its' either drag it in 5 gallon cans, or whenever I get a chance I fill 'er up and keep it full. So a bit of weight. I usually run with trim tabs at least half down, drive trimmed down. Maybe the starboard tab trimmed down a touch more to compensate for the slight port list that seems to be inherent, but also because all my passengers are on that side, and a full water tank. Here is my usual cruising speed. Around 3400 RPM, boat planes just slightly bow proud, usually around 22.5 to 24 mph depending on wind and bottom condition. No bottom paint, original gel-coat. The engine sounds happy and relaxed and I think I get my best fuel consumption at this speed. (for being on plane)


At around 3600 RPM I get a little more, not much more speed, but slightly flatter ride. Usually 26 - 27 mph.

And at around 3800 RPM I usually see around 28 to sometimes even 30 mph, nice stable flat ride, engine has a nice growl to it. You can tell it's thirsty, but just flexing it's muscle a bit.

My engine doesn't allow for VV or even Smartcraft hook up, so I don't get to see live fuel burn. Admiral is happy, because she knows that if it was compatible there would be $$Boat Units spent on installing it. But I have been tracking my fill ups and hours for the season.

Initial fill:April 19, 2017

Supreme (Top) 278.475 L  (73.5 USG)

$1.349 L

$375.66  ($294.66 USD)

12.9 Hours

June 8, 2017          14.82L/H        (3.915 USG/H)

Gold (Mid) 191.191 L       $19.56/H ($15.34 USD/H)

$1.321 L

$252.56  ($198.03 USD)

26.5 Hours

June 30, 2017 22.99L/H   (6.073 USG/H)

Gold (Mid) 268.349 L $29.43/H  ($23.07 USD/H)

$1.281 L

$343.76 ($269 USD)

35.5 Hours

20.9L/H  (5.52 USG/H)

Silver (Reg) 188.227L $24.80/H  ($19.44 USD/H)

$1.186 L

$223.24 ($175 USD)

44.4 Hours

August 11, 2017 24.79L/H  (6.549 USG/H)

Silver (Reg) 220.605L $31.38/H  ($24.58 USD/H)

$1.266 L

$279.29 ($218.32 USD)

Average Fuel Cost for Season thus far $28.53/H     or  ($22.35 USD/H)

22.89L/H   or   (6.047 USG/H)

I got these averages from just the last three fill ups as I feel they are more indicative of real world use. The first fill up at 12.9 hours was artificially low because there was a lot of time at idle at the dock while we tested and fixed various things, and lot more low speed running as I got used to the boat and the handling, docking practice etc. The last couple of fill ups include a couple of good long runs on plane, a few of at least two hours duration (with some slow downs for no wake zones etc) but a better indication of regular use on plane.

Sorry, a long post, but maybe some useful info for other 270 owners.

tk1973

Great post...thanks for sharing 

luvinlife

Your boat is faster than mine. I need about 3700 rpm to get 24 mph. Liked about 3900 the best at 26 mph. 

skennelly

Rpms are right where my 2002 is.  3800 = ~27mph gps

Willhound

luvinlife said:

Your boat is faster than mine. I need about 3700 rpm to get 24 mph. Liked about 3900 the best at 26 mph. 

Hmmm. Wonder what the difference is? What's your top end and what's red line considered? I'm able to get 40mph out of her if trimmed up a bit at about 44-4500 RPM but don't like to beat the crap out of a 17 year old engine, even one with only 300 hours on it.

luvinlife

37.7 mph was my max at 5300.  350
mpi with 280 hp. Mine is a 2006.  Must be the props? 

luvinlife

Volvo engine and duo props 

reneechris14

@luvinlife the bottom paint could cost you a couple mph but your numbers are close.

luvinlife

Yes my bottom is painted. I am happy with the performance. Just not sure running at 3900 for a long time is healthy for the 5.7. My smaller boats cruised at 3000 or less 

Willhound

I'm a 5.7L EFI Gen+ Mercruiser with Bravo 3 with stock 22 P props. I think around 290 hp.

luvinlife

I will check my props in the fall when my boat comes out

rkinross

I too just purchased my boat in January 2017 and have been working thru similar issues getting to know the boat.  I was surprised at how much gas these use - I have been a sailor my entire life and the wind is free.  After running out of gas on Deep Creek Lake MD, I now make it a rule to leave the dock with a full tank of gas.  I also was thrilled the first time I pushed this little Rinker to wide open throttle.  With a 75 hp outboard this little open bow is scary fast.  I like the way you track your fuel consumption.  I will have to start doing it that way.  Down at Deep Creek I was spending about $15 a day to fill my 6 gallon tank while using the boat all day.   

Willhound

@rkinross it's all relative. If you were used to having zero gas costs it would seem like $15 a day is costly. I used to see similar consumption on my previous 90hp four stroke.
To be honest I'm surprised how good this Rinker is on gas considering the size of the boat. I expected higher consumption. I knew getting into a cruiser would be costly but I consider it a good trade off for the enjoyment and the sense of accomplishment we get out of it. We worked hard for a lot of years to get here. My buddy scoffs at what I spend boating, yet he smokes like a chimney and spends $5G's plus a year on golf memberships. For what he spends I could afford a 342.

Black_Diamond

My sailor friends will say gas is expensive, but so is a ripped sail. It all equals out.  A friend of mine got demasted last year..mast, rigging and all the sails lost: $80k to replace.