22 Jan. 9, 1998

Low Profile Engines For Fast Crew Boat

"I started out with a little wooden lugger back about 1965," says Dale Pellegrin of JWP Marine in Chauvin, Louisiana. Today he operates a modern six-vessel fleet of crew boats. Most of the time, Dale's fleet operates in the bayou waters and inside the barrier islands hauling passengers and light cargoes of a few drums or groceries. It is a niche that he knows well and business is good. He is currently building the third in a series of 47.4X15.1-foot aluminum crew boats. With a 7-foot moulded depth, the new boats are 33 gross tons and 26 net. All three boats have the same 1/4-inch aluminum bottoms with the aft 20 feet beefed to 3/8ths and sides of 3/16 plate. They weigh around 16 tons. The design has worked well and Dale has made few modifications except in the engine room. The first in the series was powered by a pair of GM V-8s, the second by Cummins C series rated at 350 hp each turning 28X35-inch props through 2.5:1 reduction gears. At a combined 700 hp, this boat is making 31 knots and Dale thinks slight prop modifications will gain a little more speed from of the boat's potential.

For the third boats he has stayed with Cummins, but opted for the new 14 litre (855 cu.in.) displacement N14-M with the medium duty rating of 525 hp at 2100 RPM. Like it's predecessor the Cummins 855, this is a much beefier engine. "But the old 855 wouldn't have worked in this boat, because the turbos were on top and it would have messed up my deck line," explained Dale, "The N14 has the turbos on the rear of the engine for a lower profile. Then we went with an angle drive ZF RM350A gear to allow us to bring the front of the engine down. So we get high horsepower and low weight all fitted into small spaces."

The extra 175 hp, over the previous boat's 350 hp engines, has allowed a 1.5:1 gear ratio and larger diameter 30X35-inch propellers. With a total of 1050 hp pushing 16 tons of boat, Dale Pellegrin is expecting 35 to 37 knots at sea trials of the new boat, which will be Coast Guard certified for operations up to 20 miles off shore. Building in his own yard to his own design, Dale expects to have the new boat on the job this April, but he won't be stopping his fleet upgrade there.

"My objective is to get rid of all the other engines and have my fleet straight Cummins. Lately I find my old engine supplier has not kept up with the market. Most of their engines have not been improved on," says Pellegrin, "That's why I wanted to make a move. Now I've made the move to Cummins and I like what I've done."

For further information on this boat:

Dale Pellegrin
JWP Marine Inc.
Chauvin, Louisiana
Phone: (504) 594-5831 Fax: (504) 594-9949

Joe Gregory
Marine Sales
Cummins Mid-South Inc.
110 E. Airline Highway
Kenner, LA 70062
Phone: (504) 465-3403
Fax: (504) 465-3408

For media package and photos of the Cummins N14-M:

Rachel Bridges
Commercial Marine Sales
4500 Leeds Ave. Suite 301

Charleston , S.C. 29405-8521
Phone:(803) 745-1585 Fax: (803) 745-1549

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