The 52 Ovation also benefits in the stateroom department, with an remarkably roomy, full-beam master stateroom pushed aft under the salon and made possible in part by the extra room gained from the IPS installation.
CONTINUED INNOVATION
Looking ahead to 2008 and 2009, you can expect to see more and more engine/pod combinations. We have already seen Volvo Penta extend its IPS system both downwards into the gas engines and up into big new powerful diesels designed for mega-yachts.
Tom TrippPhoto of a Zeus gearset and propeller pod, showing the interface between the two.
At the Fort Lauderdale boat show, Volvo introduced the new IPS750 and IPS850 (the model numbers designate the company-derived horsepower equivalent of a conventional engine), intended for yachts up to about 80 feet. The new IPS500G is an IPS unit mated to Volvo's largest gas engine, which will extend availability into the smaller express cruiser market.
We can expect CMD to make similar moves, at least in the diesel market.
Of course, fitting these systems onto new boats is no ordinary repower. Each boat hull has to be designed for–or at least tuned for–a pod-drive system, and then tested to see how close the basic software algorithms come to the desired performance goals. It usually takes scores of sea trials and software iterations to get things right. But even as you read this, builders are working with both Volvo and CMD to incorporate the pod drive propulsion systems into their model lineups, new and old. At the Miami Boat Show in February, you can expect to see several new IPS and Zeus-equipped boats debut.
And there will be more innovation in the Pod Wars. Though twin installations dominate the market, triple and quad configurations are starting to appear. Even single pod-drive installations may be possible, if a bow or stern thruster becomes part of the computer-controlled system.
The next step is what many consider to be the ultimate in pod-based technology: diesel-electric pods. Used for many years now in cruise ships and commercial applications–though at sizes inconceivable for the recreation market–recent advances by companies like Glacier Bay's OSSA Powerlite division have made diesel-electric possible for the small-boat market.
The advantage of this configuration is that it disconnects power generation from the propeller system, resulting in an even cleaner and more flexible installation than today's IPS or Zeus drives. The OSSA Powerlite systems utilize state-of-the-art, electronically-controlled diesels manufactured by Mercedes, which are mated to extremely efficient direct-drive DC electric motors. That means that the big, heavy diesel, traditionally the heart of the weight and balance problem for a naval architect, can now become part of the solution. The big diesel can be placed wherever it fits and balances best, and connected to the pod system with heavy-duty electrical cables.
So, if pod drives continue to improve and companies like Silverton and Grand Banks are already offering them as options, does that mean they are the future of marine propulsion? Time will tell. And there are many naysayers. But those who advocate these systems tend to be effusive, people like Mike Usina, vice president for sales and marketing at Silverton.
"It absolutely is the wave of the future," he said.
