William Osborne Owners Club

[allafloat]

Hi everyone and a Happy New Year to all. Have you seen the new William Osborne Owners Club it is for anyone interested in Osborne boats
please visit http://williamosborneownersclub.co.uk and take a look. Thanks and please let me know what you think by answering here.

[catweazle]

What a great idea will watch with interest cheers cw.

[maccer01]

Hi all,
I am a new member and have just joined because I recently purchased a Osborne Kingswift 26 built in 1976. "Seajoy" has two Volvo penta AQD21A 75hp diesel engines with 270D legs but shes quite slow. The boat has trim tabs so I was expecting more dash. I am interested in what should be its expected top speed and the history of the class of boat. I have tried to join the dedicated Osborne site and having read other posts here experienced the same problems. Can anyone enlightened me? Boat weighs 3.5ton with fuel, water and us on board.

It is being used in the Solent and at low speed in choppy water it becomes more uncomfortable than expected.

I have considered re engining but would like to know more by way of advice and others experiences before the expense.

Thanks Mac

[Rapier]

Looking through the posts here, there's a Kingswift with twin petrol Volvos, probably over 100hp, possibly 130hp each, with a top speed of 20knots. Led to me to thinking about a friends 1980s Bayliner 2655, which had a single 5.7l V8 pushing out about 250hp, even then with full tanks and 5 of us aboard it did mid 20s. Different analogy I know, as I would assume the 2655 is much heavier with all it's internal grp mouldings etc, etc.

viewtopic.php?f=20&t=4810

[solitaire]

Hello - They are a lovely looking classic boats, - Just to add to other members comments, -

Over 40 years ago I was a service/warranty engineer for Volvo Penta and also attached to the UK Fjord boat importer.........

Your D21 engines are based on the Idenor (Peugeot) light truck/panel van motor (also the Peugeot 405/505 cars and some Ford car applications),
Back in the day! - they were quite innovative - with alloy cylinder heads, a massive 23:1 compression and indirect injection - but they needed to rev to get full power - I think these went to 4000 or 4200rpm and that's where they produced their 75hp....... (Overloaded - Dirty Bottom or poor engine condition will dramatically reduce performance to as much as a half!!)

The good points were they were smooth ,quiet and had good fuel consumption. - some of the down side - the valves seats have to be good condition and clearances adjusted perfectly ,(and at the correct temperature) - this can massively affect performance, obviously good injectors, - and the cylinder heads need re- torquing every couple of years (slacken each bolt in turn and re-torque - there were several service bulletins on this matter), due to the pre combustion chamber design - they will always require a lot of "glow" to start - even when warm..........

I would guess the Kingswift 26 is a hard chine design - but I have no experience with these engines in this particular hull, I think some were fitted with Volvo Penta petrol units - 110hp each).

But it may be worth comparing to boars I am familiar with: -
The Fjord 25ft Consul would really struggle to plane with a pair of the AQ32 engines - (similar engines to yours but with 6 cyls and 105hp - AQD32's.)
The Fjord 24ft with twin AQD32's would eventually plane and achieve about 24K max - but only with tabs down full to get it on the plane) - 2-3 people and 1/2 fuel load. -

AQD32 6 cly motors often come up for sale as people re-engine - but they are almost certainly worn out by now - If you were thinking of re- engine-ing with diesels for performance, then only later turbocharged engines - with hp >120 would be worth considering
Prior to turbo charging - diesels were not really an option for high speed boat performance boats unless they were big capacity, - Ford, Bedford and Perkins all had normally aspirated diesels that produced around 100hp but they were 6 cylinder units, 5/6 litre's and very heavy engines....... Now days, a 2.0l Golf diesel produces in the region of 150hp
Personally, I don't think the Kingswift at over 3 tons with engines that produced only 75 hp 40 years ago will ever get over the hump and plane! - The tabs will certainly lower the bow and make running her as a semi displacement boat more comfortable, but anything over 10/12K and you will be just be pushing a big wedge of water along under the boat.

[maccer01]

Solitaire,

Thank you for your interesting reply. I am slowly replacing old engine parts. The newly serviced injectors were well worth the service cost (£30 per injector and good as new). I have also replaced the glow plugs. The new ones have made the starting a lot easier. Does any one else have any history on the Kingswift class to share? thanks Maccer

[solitaire]

No problems - - I can remember for engine (non Marine Parts) they are much cheaper from a Peugeot garage (peugeot 504) than Volvo Penta - and they still can supply piston/ liner kits and gaskets............ but I can never remember a diesel engine so sensitive to absolute correct valve adjustment and must they be adjusted at the correct temperature, I can only think the skinny alloy head must have a lot of expansion - Good luck

[Airman]

Hi, we have set up a new Facebook site for William Osborne boats.

[Airman]

Hi,

We have set up a Facebook page covering William Osborne boats following the demise of the website.
It is called William Osborne owners group.
We are trying to establish how many Osbornes are still in operation