Jarrett Bay 70 an Ideal Test Bed for New High Horsepower Engines

To follow through on the years of development of the B series power systems back at Cat headquarters in Germany, the company invested heavily into testing and demonstrating their new C32B engines to the U.S. marine market. Jarrett Bay custom hull number 48, a 70-footer, was one of the first boats in North America to be chosen for this demo program, and was the first repowered boat to hit the water with the new power plants in 2021.

A Perfect Platform

“What’s unique about hull 48 is it was originally built [launched in 2006] as a test platform for another engine manufacturer,” explains Jarrett Bay Engineer Peyton Lanier. In fact, it was the first boat and hull form the company was able to send overseas to the MARIN laboratory in the Netherlands to be tank tested. “This is really awesome because we get to take the data from the original engine manufacturer’s test platform, and compare it with the C32Bs,” says Lanier. Smith and his colleagues at Caterpillar wholeheartedly agree, “We found it fitting when the C32B was ready for tests, that we would have this particular 70-foot Jarrett Bay to test out our own 2400 horsepower engines.”

Caterpillar’s documentation states that these engines are more powerful, quieter, and feature new long-life filter technologies, all while fitting into the same general footprint as the prior C32 models.

Despite the C32Bs being designed to be a drop-in replacement and ideal repower solution, there is still a lot of work that goes into these repower projects. When considering a repower, especially one that adds more horsepower, there are a plethora of items to be considered, including everything connected to the engine. In a nutshell, more horsepower likely means different back-pressures and thus exhaust, plus stronger shafts, struts, tubes, and bearings. Basically, most of the running gear, including propellers and rudders, are going to be beefed up or updated, and that can take a considerable amount of mechanical modifications in that area of the hull bottom.

Of course, every modern engine also relies on new technology and updated electronics—the wiring, control modules, and auxiliary systems are all replaced and likely have different footprints and wire chases to plan out. From the engine room to control stations and down to multifunction displays used to interact with the engines, all the equipment is new and their connections need to be reconfigured and perhaps rerouted.

The repower of hull 48 was carried out at Safe Harbor Jarrett Bay in Beaufort, North Carolina throughout 2021 and even showcased in a three-part series of their award-winning YouTube video series, the Jarrett Bay Insider. Despite supply and shipping delays affecting the original completion goal, the new Iron Leader debuted in the Fall to rave reviews and over 135,000 YouTube views! “We are really looking forward to this upcoming fishing season and using her through the winter too, just accruing more hours and making this product just as good as it can be,” says Smith.

Proof Positive