pksace
28.05.2021 13:35:03
Q: Your boats are known for fuel efficiency. In terms of nautical miles per gallon, can you give an example? here
See full version: Talkin Boats with John Livingston president, Fluid Motion
Q: Your boats are known for fuel efficiency. In terms of nautical miles per gallon, can you give an example? here
John Livingston is the president of Fluid Motion, the builder of Ranger Tugs and Cutwater Boats. The Kent, Wash., company employs more than 100 and builds nine models from 21 to 31 feet.
Livingston’s father, Dave, is known for his design and production work for Regal, Reinell and Bayliner, where he served as president in 1988 and 1989. “He’s designed more boats than anyone in the industry,” his son says.
The desire to design and build boats burns within John Livingston, 45, just as it did with his father. In his mid-20s, he and his father began constructing a 21-foot runabout in John’s basement. At a trade show later that year “my dad was talking to Paul Kuck [the founder of Regal Boats] about our 21-foot runabout, and the next thing you know our project boat was headed to the Regal factory in Orlando,” Livingston says.
Q: What materials and methods are used to build your boats?
This fuel economy and a generous 150-gallon fuel tank give the boat a range of 270 miles, after subtracting a 10 percent reserve. To really stretch the boat’s reach, 1000 rpm yields 4.33 mpg at 5.2 mph, according to Yamaha tests, which translates to a theoretical range of 585 miles. more
On a boat where versatility is key, the helm bench seat converts to face aft and becomes part of the dinette. more
The bow houses a settee and a table. here
While one might think the relatively narrow beam would make for cramped quarters within the pilothouse’s salon (yacht-speak for the enclosed social area), the interior feels spacious. Of course something had to give, and in this case it’s the narrow perimeter walkaround. But Ranger Tugs found a workaround to this by bolting on a Starboard strip overhang that’s slightly canted inward to the walkway to provide sure footing. The combination of that strip, tall grabrails and a bowrail along the way provides a secure feeling during the transit forward. And on the bow is one of the boat’s coolest features, a tall doublewide lounge seat.
From there I started building boats. My dad had space in his garage and started building a little 21-foot runabout that had a stepped bottom. Our little claim with that one was that if we could make this ride more efficient, then we can get the same performance with a V6 that everyone gets in a V8 and have a real cost advantage. [links]
“We hit a niche with the tugboat style, but mainly we made a small, trailerable, diesel-powered cruising boat that no one was offering at the time,” Livingston says. “We had a ton of customers that were downsizing — getting out of bigger boats.”
I basically traveled everywhere after that. I visited almost every single boat company in the United States, peddling boat parts — steering wheels, cables, parts — I probably did that for six or seven years. At that point I decided I didn’t want to travel all over the world anymore and sell boat parts anymore. So I left, and Bill Michaels came in behind me, and they have since moved to Sarasota, but are still going strong today. [links]
We were the old test dummies for a lot of boat companies. We had No. 1 of many, many boats. We would just go for the summer, and the note pad would stay on the table. If we found stuff that didn’t work, we jotted it down on the note pad. And then when we got back, dad would take it to work and it would be corrected. We learned a lot, and how to fix many, many things (laughs.) here
That was the original Ranger Boats here. Howard “Smitty” Smithson started it in 1958. Ranger was actually his dog. It was a boxer who used to fly with him in his P-40 (Warhawk) plane in the Air Force. So that’s where the name Ranger came from. Anyway, in 1998 I went in to talk with him, and he said, ‘I want to move to Florida, so I’m going to sell you this whole thing at a price you can’t refuse and keep everyone working here.’ So lo and behold, now we have Ranger Tugs.
So, dad was at Reinell and then Bayliner, so we always had a boat as far back as I can remember. We were always running around somewhere when the sun was out and we could go. We’d go on the Sound around Seattle, up in the San Juans, up into Canada and the Queen Charlotte Straits. [links]
I grew up pummeled with the aphorism, “If it sounds too good to be true then it probably is,” and in the years I’ve spent in the marine industry my belief in it has been repeatedly reinforced. Indeed, the boating world has taught me that if something sounds too good to be true, you can pretty much bank on the fact that it is.
From the lower station, you’ll find superb sightlines forward, thanks to a curved, three-panel windshield that offers a truly panoramic view; the view aft is almost as good, but if you don’t want to take any chances order the aft steering station for $4,970. Cheap insurance, I’d say. The fact that both helm seats accommodate two people is proof that Ranger knows the core market for this boat: couples. There’s also a single passenger seat below and to port for those times when you just need your space.
But the 29’s most intriguing feature is its affordability, which is partly due to factory-direct sales and partly to standardization. There are two basic packages: the Northwest and the Luxury Edition. They share many features; the main difference is that the Northwest ($264,937) comes with a diesel heating system and Force 10 propane three-burner stove and oven. The Luxury ($279,937), basically aimed at anyone who doesn’t live in the Pacific Northwest, replaces those features with a 3.5-kilowatt Next-Gen diesel generator to power a Force 10 three-burner electric stove and oven, and reverse-cycle air conditioning. There are a few options but even without them you get an anchor and chain, windlass, Garmin navigation electronics and autopilot, and of course, the aforementioned bow and stern thrusters. You also get AIS, AGM batteries, a 150-watt solar panel, underwater lights, and even a wireless remote for the thrusters. In other words, the R-29 is an honest-to-goodness sailaway package.