Home › Forum › Ask A Member › ’57 Golden Javelin – fuel consumption question › Re: ’57 Golden Javelin – fuel consumption question
So the SMC52 showed up last night….nice prop in great shape! I’m looking forward to trying it out.
Driving to work this morning, I got to thinking: Yes, I want to get a TinyTach so I can best "dial in" my engine / props / boat, but as I plan to do so, it makes me wonder. TinyTach is a very new invention (with respect to these old engines). Back in the day (I’m talking outboards, pre-dashboard tachs), the guy at the marina clamped the engine to the transom and said "have fun" as we went on our boating way. We neither knew about…or cared about…RPM@WOT. The HP@RPM plaque on the engine meant something to someone, but I suspect it was pretty meaningless to most recreational boaters. I know it was meaningless to me. Some boats ran better than others, and that was pretty much the end of it.
Yes, I understand the consequences of under-or-overloading the engine, and I’m by no means poo-pooing what technology can do for us today, but I can’t help but wonder: for the history of boating in the ’50s – ’60s, did anyone know HP@RPM@WOT? Did anyone care? How was RPM even determined in the absence of a tank & a dyno? Strobe light? Certainly not something 99% of recreational boaters knew anything about…
Are we chasing the perfection point to a decimal that really doesn’t matter just because we can? Are we obsessing when we should be having fun?
Don’t misread: I’m not looking for a "pass" from getting my boat/engine/prop tuned in as best as we can, and with the tools to do so being as inexpensive as they are, I’m looking forward to it. But it still makes me wonder….are we chasing something that needn’t be chased? Would our time be better spent "boating" rather than "tweaking"? I’m not sure.
Either way, it’s a fun journey!