Welcome to Out Of Office Living! We are Karyn and Jesper, two outdoor and boating enthusiasts in the Seattle area. We are using this as a place to document some of our adventures and the things that make them possible. Many of the posts will be about our boat, a 2026 Ranger Tug R-43S, called Out Of Office, but we may talk about other things too. Our objective is merely to record what we do, and perhaps help others enjoy Out Of Office Living!
Fuel Consumption on a 2026 Ranger Tug R-43 S
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Since we recently took delivery of our Ranger Tug R-43 Sedan we have been learning more and more about the boat. This weekend, while cruising the San Juan Islands, we conducted a little bit of fuel economy testing. We had 3 adults on board, about 220 gallons of fuel, and about 75 gallons of freshwater. The water was flat calm and we had little current.
The 2026 R-43 comes with dual Volvo Penta D6 IPS 500 engines. These engines generate 380 horse power each and the IPS drives, facing forward, allegedly have better fuel consumption than a standard shaft drive with. While we were testing we were using the joystick driving mode on the IPS drives.
We did not test each of these speeds during extended cruising. What we did instead was use the cruise control feature to bump the throttle in 200 RPM increments and then leaving it for several minutes at each RPM to let it stabilize at the new speed. Once we were at that new speed, we recorded the data. The results are in the graph below.
There are some really interesting insights to glean from this data.
Displacement Efficiency: If you are not in a hurry, running the boat at 1250 RPM chugs along at just under 8 knots, getting about 2.1 NMPG. You won’t get there as fast as one of the Ranger Tug outboards, but you will have a nice relaxing cruise and use no more fuel than those do. You can get 567 nautical miles that way, although probably not in one day.
Linear performance transition: From 2200 RPM all the way up to 3000 RPM, the fuel economy remains nearly exactly the same, around 0.8 NMPG, at all speeds from 10 knots to 22 knots. In other words, as far as your fuel economy is concerned, you may as well go 22 knots as 10. Your range is unaffected.
Cruising speed cost: From about 3200 to wide open throttle, marginally economy suffers only, down to 0.68 NMPG.
If you’ve spent any time looking at boats, you know the engine is the heart of the upfront cost and the soul of your annual maintenance budget. In the Ranger Tugs world, we have two very different philosophies at play: the high-speed simplicity and speed of Yamaha outboards and the heavy-duty but slower Volvo Penta diesels. The dividing line is between the R-27, available in two different outboard gasoline options, and the R-29, the smallest of the diesel boats. The decision isn't just about fuel type; it's about how you want to cruise. Do you focus on the destination and need to get there fast, or do you prefer to enjoy the trip and take your time? Choosing Your Power: Outboard vs. Inboard Diesel Here is a breakdown of the different engine options across the fleet. Engine Type Primary Models Maintenance Complexity Performance Profile Yamaha F200/F250 R-23, R-25 Low: Easy access from swim platform; simple tilt/trim. High top speed; louder; light weight allows for easier trail...
As a Security Engineer, I’ve spent most of my professional life trying to convince people that engineering is always a series of trade-offs—whether between “good”, “fast”, and “cheap”, or in my case, “secure”, “usable”, “cheap” - you get to pick any two. In my free time I’ve been boating and fishing, among other hobbies, since I was a child. It turns out that picking a boat is exactly the same exercise, just with more fiberglass and fewer passwords. In 2024 we decided to replace the Bayliner Ciera Classic 2452 we had for over 20 years with a 2024 Ranger Tug R-25. In the process, we looked at a lot of different boats and learned a lot. In the two years, and 200 engine hours since then, we’ve learned a lot more. This article is an attempt to share some of what I’ve learned, in case it helps anyone else. As I am writing this, we’re waiting for our two-foot-itis boat; our “forever boat”: a 2026 Ranger Tug R-43S. We will also talk about why we are upgrading. The factory spec shee...
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