The Story Behind Ritchie Howell’s 61-Foot Sportfisher: Sea Fix

Ritchie Howell recently completed a 61 sportfisher and the result was a beautiful vessel that is currently fishing out of Los Suenos. There is, however, an interesting story to how the vessel came about. “I was building the boat for a customer from Venezuela. He was willing to take a chance with me. We wanted to design something exciting, something ultra-modern,” says builder Ritchie Howell.

Experimenting with Innovative Boat Design

I noticed some guys up north were achieving some great performance numbers and had always wanted to try it. This buyer gave me the opportunity. We set out to engineer a stepped bottom. We had the opportunity to perform some CFD analysis a computerized tank test, Howell describes. CFD is computational fluid dynamics analysis. CFD is a pretty complicated deal, but simply stated it is the use of applied mathematics, physics and computational software to view how a gas or liquid flows.

Achieving Optimal Performance with CFD Analysis

Howell’s interest in CFD analysis lay in determining the optimal position of the step to minimize friction between the boat hull and the surface of the water. We ran four computerized tank tests. These are pretty expensive. Wed run it and tweak the bottom. The goal was to reduce friction we go to the point that we achieved 50-knots, Howell describes.

The step introduces a break in the suction of the water to the hull. It not as much about introducing air as it is to bend the suction of the water, Ritchie relates, scientifically. The faster you run, the more water wants to suck the hull down into the water. The steps in the bottom allows you to break the attraction, freeing up the hull. With reduced suction and decreased friction comes greater speed.

The Future of Howell’s Step-Hulled Sportfishers

It is really awesome. We put a pair of C18A’s on the boat with four-blade wheels, Howell says. The boat top end is 39.3 knots. I am building a new 61 with the same hull technology. The next one will be powered with 1800 Manns we anticipate even more speed. Weve just started the hull and figure it to be a 20-month build.

Sea Fix: A Testament to Modern Boat Design

The new step-hulled 61 now fishes in Los Suenos. Its original buyer sold the boat upon completion, as the situation in Venezuela made it impossible for him to bring the boat there as he originally planned. It is the Sea Fix.

SPECIFICATIONS

LOA: 61’8″
Beam: 18′
Draft: 4′ 6″
Weight: 64,000 lbs
Fuel: 1350 gallons
Water: 250 gallons
Engines: Caterpillar C-18As, 1150 HP each
Gears: ZF 1.75:1
Generators: (2) Caterpillar 21 KWs with sound enclosures
Speed: WOT 38.5 knots faster with 4 blade wheels