The range of a sportfishing boat can be anywhere from a few hundred miles to a few thousand miles, but this all depends on several factors, such as fuel capacity, speed, and sea conditions.
Here’s a closer look at these factors:
Fuel Capacity:
The amount of fuel a sportfishing boat can carry plays a significant role in its range. Obviously, boats with larger fuel tanks can travel farther before requiring refueling.
However, it’s not all gain.
Carrying more fuel also means carrying more weight, which means the engines are working harder, and that means you’re actually going to burn more fuel.
As you look across the various brands of sportfishing boats, there are builders who tend to build boats to hold more fuel for range and those who build boats to be lighter for more speed.
Speed:
A sportfishing boat’s speed also has a significant impact on its range.
Traveling faster doesn’t always mean traveling farther.
The faster a boat travels, the more fuel it consumes, which reduces its range. It’s worth noting that each boat has a range of speeds that it operates at, and each of those speeds will have a specific amount of fuel it will burn.
In general: The higher the RPMs, the higher the burn, the shorter the range.
Sea Conditions:
Sea conditions are an ever-changing factor that can impact a boat’s fuel consumption and, therefore, its range.
Rough seas or strong currents can increase fuel consumption, which reduces the boat’s range, while calm seas and favorable currents can decrease fuel consumption and increase the boat’s range.
Sportfishing Boats’ Ranges (Examples)
Now that we’ve gone over the key factors that can affect a sportfishing boat’s range let’s look at some real-life examples to see how these factors play out in practice.
We’ve picked three different-sized Viking Sportfishers to give you a sense of how range can differ across various models.
All of these boats come from the same brand of sportfishing boats because we wanted some level of consistency, but they do have different speeds and capacities so that you can get a better idea of how the range can vary depending on these factors.
- 80-foot Viking Range 2,135 nautical miles at 7 knots but only 422 nautical miles at 35.7 knots
- Viking 46 Billfish range 442 nautical miles at 28.9 knots.
- 64-foot Viking range 400 nautical miles at 36 knots.
As you can see by our example, just because a sportfishing boat is bigger and has significantly more fuel capacity doesn’t always mean that it can travel farther.
Conclusion
To sum it up, it’s crucial to have a good understanding of a sportfishing boat’s range when you’re choosing the right vessel for your fishing needs. Several factors can affect a boat’s range, including fuel capacity, speed, and sea conditions. Taking these factors into account and familiarizing yourself with a boat’s range will help you make an informed decision and, ultimately, lead to a more enjoyable and successful fishing experience.
