By Marty McDonald

Here’s a question: what has elevators,zone air-conditioning, luxurious bath-rooms, electric fireplaces, entertain-ment centers, plasma and LCD TVsthroughout, exotic-wood floors, Jacu-zzis, hot tubs, and ceramic tile? Al-though this may sound like someone’sdream house, it isn’t. Here’s a hint:throw in a whole lot of shore power(sometimes 200 amps) and the answerto this question is abundantly clear—it’sa boat.In today’s marketplace, customized

boats with some or all of these ameni-ties aren’t that rare, and marina ownerstypically get requests from the ownersof these boats to supply them withneeded power.

One-stop data sourceOne of the major questions boat andaccessory manufacturers will have toaddress in their current and future busi-ness plans is what impact will the de-sign and amenities trends for boats ofthe future have on a marina’s powerrequirements?When HyPower pondered this ques-

tion last summer at a boat show, it real-ized there was no single source toresearch shore power data needs andthe current trends in today’s boat man-ufacturing and marina industries.Well, now there is. Beginning last

summer, several members of the Hy-Power staff began to research informa-tion about trends in boat lengths, boatbeams, and shore power requirementsfor boats that are commonly moored inthe United States.To obtain accurate information, Hy-

Power conducted personal interviewswith manufacturers’ representatives atboat shows, undertook phone inter-views with manufacturers, and visitedthe manufacturers’ Web sites to obtainboat specifications and owners’ man-uals. The boat manufacturers were verycooperative and helpful in providing theinformation in all these areas.After many months of research work

and data collection, we at HyPower are

proud to offer this article that highlightsdata on design trends and power re-quirements for new boat models. Usingdata collected from more than 80 man-ufacturers of 410 boats (2005/06models), including runabouts, powercruisers, motor yachts, houseboats andsailboats, HyPower has put together aone-stop data resource for the boat andmarina industry.

Runabouts and cruisersThe first type of boat this articleprofiles is smaller powerboats. Ingeneral, boats less than 25 ft. donot require shore power. So, asFig. 1 shows, we’re talking aboutsmaller powerboats between 25ft. to 45 ft.Fig. 1 shows that most boats

25–35 feet use 30 amps of shore

power, while 27% of 30-35-foot boatsare using twin 30s. Among the 35 ft. to45 ft. boats, power demand changesdramatically. As the chart notes, 65% ofthese boats now use 30A/30A, and 17%require 50A for shore power. Only 18%still use only 30A. So, among the 35–45footers, the industry can expect agrowing trend toward the twin 30s andthe single 50. It should be noted thatthe single 50 actually provides morepower than the 30A/30A.

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A review of current trends in boatamenities and shore power requirements

Boat Length 30A 30A/30A 50A 50A/50ALOA feet 125V 125V 125/250V 125/250V

25–30 86% 14%30–35 73% 27%35–40 18% 65% 17%40–45 2% 35% 57% 6%

Today’s boats offer luxury both inside and out. All the comforts of an elegant home, andmore, await the guests on this customized houseboat.

Runabouts and cruisers arerequiring more shore power.

Figure 1: Runabouts & Cruisers

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ouseboats

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obalt

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With the 40–45 footers, 57% now re-quire 50A, and a small number havegraduated to twin 50s.

Customized boatsTo validate what the data was revealing,HyPower talked to some of the indus-try’s top manufacturers for their per-spectives on this information.Paxson St. Clair, president of Cobalt

Boats in Neodesha, Kan., confirmed theaccuracy of the runabouts and cruiserfindings. “Boat builders used to buildboats the way they wanted to, and thebuyers bought them. Now successfulcompanies monitor the markets’ needsand desires and produce boats thebuyers want. This is why boats are get-ting wider and are requiring more shorepower,” said St. Clair. “You have to bevery flexible in today’s market to pleasethe consumer, because customers areasking for a more individual, cus-tomized product.”Established in 1968 by Pack St. Clair,

Cobalt Boats is one of the oldest pri-vately-held boat manufacturers in theU.S. The company builds about 2,500luxury boats per year, with runaboutsand performance cruisers ranging from20-ft. to 36-ft.“We’ve been responding to the de-

mand for wider boats for several yearsnow,” said Paxson St. Clair. “People aremoving up to larger, higher-quality boatsand not buying so many of the entry-level boats. More people are wantingmore options both for cuddies and openvessels, and we are seeing more smallerboats going with shore power.”When asked about the biggest change

in boat manufacturing, Paxson St. Clairsaid it was the short time frame betweenboat models. “The biggest change we’reseeing, however, is an acceleration ofboat manufacturing,” St. Clair said.“There used to be a seven- to 10-yearlife cycle of a product. Today, that time iscut in half, and that shorter life cycle re-ally makes it a lot harder on manufac-turers.”

Cruisers and sportfishermenOnce boats reach the 45- to 50-ft. size,the use of a single 30A disappears. Afew of these boats still use twin 30s,butabout a third have gone to 50A. Mostdramatically, a whopping 55% of theseboats now use 50A/50A.

Among the 50-55 footers, twin30s are very rare; the norm is for50A, and 40% use 50A/50A. The55-60 footers primarily use twin50s, but 40% still rely on a single50A for shore power.The trend among bigger boats is

quite clear. As boats get bigger,boaters want and have room for moreamenities, which demands more power.Boat manufacturers across the U.S.

want to meet the needs of their cus-tomers. Hence, the need for more powerto meet what customers want in all partsof the country.From the eastern shore of Lake

Michigan, Tiara Yachts Marketing Di-rector Dave Walsh remarked, “Onething that is never going to change is re-quests from customers to design boatswith an ever-increasing number of fea-tures and benefits that maximize the en-joyment of their stay on the water. Andas the manufacturer, we’re going to doour best to meet those requests.”Tiara Yachts has a boat-building her-

itage that extends over four decades ofmanufacturing high-quality power-boats—open, convertible, and cruisemodels. Chris Paropepe of Tiara tech-nical support commented that items thatwere options just five years ago are nowstandards that invariably increase thepower requirements.“Generally when someone adds an

amenity, the need for more electricalpower increases, too,” said Walsh. “Somanaging power to meet those requestsis an ongoing challenge. After all, we’reworking from a finite number of op-tions available—shore power, batterypower, and generators.”To keep power demands within

reason, Tiara looked to reduce powerusage in areas that currently draw sig-nificant amounts. “Examples includeusing LED lights instead of standardlights, appliances that are more efficient,and we’re always examining the mannerin which things operate. For example,we might convert some things that op-erate electrically, like hatches, and makethem hydraulic; however, the alternativemust be as convenient as the original tothe customer,” Walsh said.Growing power demands will remain

an issue for boat manufacturers andmarinas as long as boat owners’ imagi-nations remain active. For example,Walsh noted that at a recent Ren-dezvous, one customer had changed thevessel’s bait well into a Jacuzzi.

Motor YachtsFigure 3 on sportsfisherman and motoryachts reveals no surprises—the largerboats on the water need a lot more shorepower.As noted in Fig. 3, nearly every boat

60-ft. to 75-ft. long needs 50A/50A, andbeginning with 75 footers, the demandfor 100A begins. Then, with the new77-ft. Hatteras (new 77C model), powerrequirements took a new turn with theneed for 100A/100A. Wow!There is a tremendous increase in

power requirements for these biggerboats, because, quite simply, they can

22 MARINA DOCK AGE, MARCH 2006

Boat Length 30A/30A 50A 50A/50ALOA feet 125V 125/250V 125/250V

45–50 12% 33% 55%50–55 4% 56% 40%55–60 40% 60%60–65 10% 90%65–70 8% 92%

Figure 2: Cruisers & Sportfishermen

As customers’ expectations continueto grow, more and more amenities

are commonplace.

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accommodate more amenities and allmanner of electronics. It should bepointed out that one of the biggestpower drawers is the boat’s air-condi-tioning systems.

More shore power, pleaseAs noted in the beginning of this ar-ticle, the amenities found on many oftoday’s boats rival those seen in today’smost modern homes. “Anything youfind in a modern, custom-built house,you’ll find on one of our yachts,” saidWalt Hucks, senior electrical engineerfor Hatteras Yachts in New Bern, N.C.Hucks noted that customers’ expec-

tations continue to grow, and, as a re-sult, more and more amenities arecommonplace on the large yachts Hat-teras manufactures. Noting that tech-nology and electronics are definitelyright there, Hucks said, “If a customercan afford it, they’re going to want it.As far as amenities, we are really onlylimited by space and what they’rewilling to pay.”So what are the biggest power users

on a large yacht? “Probably the mostdemanding items onboard, power wise,are air-conditioning and refrigeration,”Hucks said. “Customers expect air andheat controls in most every stateroom orcompartment. The AC tonnage for somestaterooms on these yachts is more than

what would be required in an en-tire 2,000 sq. ft. home.”But customers don’t solely

focus on interior amenities. “Ex-pectations for performance andspeed also have increased, somaterials in all areas arechanging. Engines are becoming

more and more powerful, which also isputting a strain on space available on-board,” Hucks explained.Hatteras is at a point where there is no

more room to fit in any larger forms ofpower generation without some newtype of technology—whether in enginesor generators—to be able to producemore power output within thesame size footprint. Hucks noted,“It’s simply a tradeoff betweenengine space and usable livingspace.”

“We [Hatteras] are seeing nothing butan upward trend in demand for in-creased shore power capacity. We try todesign with enough onboard power ca-pacity (generators), but supplying dock-side power is really becoming achallenge for some of the marinas.”Hatteras Yachts produced its first

sportfishing yacht in 1960. Today, thecompany makes motor yachts rangingfrom 54 ft. to 100 ft. in length.

HouseboatsHouseboats’ use of shore power is pre-dominantly twin 50s. HyPower sur-veyed 96 houseboats, and all of those70 ft. or longer required twin 50s, andmore than 90% of 50–70 footers used50A/50A. This trend is a result not onlyof longer and wider houseboats, butalso of the request for more luxurious,amenities. As a result, some customhouseboats use up to four 50A shorepower cords.It should be pointed out these bigger

houseboats, requiring greater amountsof electricity, create issues for marinas,as well as for boat manufacturers.“Our customers are not restricted by

what we can build for them,” said SteveLochmueller, president of SumersetHouseboats, “but rather by the avail-ability of slips to accommodate thesewider, longer boats and by the diffi-

24 MARINA DOCK AGE, MARCH 2006

100A 100A 100A/100ABoat Length 50A 50A/50A Single- Three- Single-

LOA feet 125/250V 125/250V phase phase phase

65–70 8% 92%70–80 78% 11% 11%80–90 33% 33% 34%90–100 25% 75%

Figure 3: Sportfishermen & Motor Yachts

Air-conditioning tonnage forsome staterooms is often morethan an entire 2,000-square-foothome requires.

This customized “house on thewater” attracts attention whereverit goes. And when it docks, it has a

big appetite for shore power.

Boat Length 30A 30/30 50A 50A/50A Custom 50ALOA feet 125V 125V 125/250V 125/250V 125/250V

45–50 12% 12% 76%50–60 5% 95%60–70 9% 91%70–80 100%80–90 100%90–100 100%100 plus 100%Custom

Figure 4: Houseboats

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Photo courtesy of Sumerset Houseboats.

culty of transporting these luxury ves-sels throughout the United States.”Lochmueller said people want more

electronics and everything bigger andbetter. “In their houseboats, they wantceramic tile, plasma and LCD TVs,wallpaper, full-size baths, and the listgoes on and on. I recently had a requestto install an elevator, and we just com-pleted a 21- by 106-foot showboat thathas, among many other things, twoelectric fireplaces and a hot tub.”When it comes to recreation, people

not only know what they want, but theyexpect to see it on their vessels. “Withthe baby boomers reaching retirementage, we have seen a trend for biggerand better—the same as you see inhouse building, with infrastructures forwireless computers, and so forth,”Lochmueller noted.Lochmueller said these new, bigger

boats are creating a demand on the ma-rina industry for new or more upgradedmarinas to handle these bigger boats.He added that the marina industry needsto add just not more slips, but also largerones. Lochmueller recommended thatany marina considering a renovation or

expansion should consider putting in sixor seven 26-ft. by 100-ft. slips.“Houseboats, unlike powerboats

and cruisers, spend more time at thedock. About 85% of them don’t leavethe dock very often,” Lochmueller said.“When they’re away from the dock,they use the boat’s generator. When atthe dock, they use power provided bythe marina, and some of these boatsmay require four 50-amp power cords.”“The norm over the last five years

would be two 50-amp shore cordsfor 100-amp service, but the recenttrend to accommodate amenities onbigger custom houseboats has been toput in two panels for four 50-amp shorecords for 200-amp service. Not manyinland marinas offer 100-amp shorecords.”

Trends Web siteThe trend is clear—boaters want moreamenities and comforts aboard theirboats, and manufacturers are buildingthem accordingly. Shore power re-quirements and demands are also in-creasing with these larger boats. It issafe to say that any person designing a

marina today should anticipate thesedesign and manufacturing trends bybuilding larger slips and using heavierinfrastructure wiring.As noted earlier, one of the main

reasons for doing this research is toprovide marinas, manufacturers, engi-neers, architects, and others in the ma-rina and boating industries with aone-stop place for useful informationon boat-building trends and powerrequirements. Toward this goal, Hy-Power, a division of HydroHoist Inter-national, has developed charts anddata on boat lengths, boat beams, andshore power requirements for boatsmanufactured in the U.S. The companywill continue to make updates, revi-sions, and additions to this information,and Marina Dock Age readers canfind it available to them this fall at:www.powerpedestal.com.

Marty McDonald is vice president,HyPower, a Division of HydroHoistInternational, Claremore, Okla.He can be reached by phone at:800/677-0955 or via e-mail:marty@powerpedestal.com.

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