Murray210

There are bits of information all over the place on this subject,
depended on the setup referenced. Was hoping you guys could give me a little advice on my set up. I live in a tiny mining town on the coast of the Northern Territory in Australia, mainly fishing boats. I need some advice, my boat is little boat compared to what you guys run, I would appreciate any advice. I have a 21 foot boat built by "Fastlane" in Aus, it's called a "Matra Missile", 22 deg deadrise, planing plank is approx 19' long - 8"Wide at the transom. Running a 250HP Yamaha V Max with 21" pitch s/s prop. Boat is approx 1800 lb with engine. WOT is around 60 mph at best, on a glassed out day it gets a bit twitchy at about 55, have tried to power on, gets worse. Don't want to come unstuck trying to fix the problem. With a little bit of chop, there is no problem. :rolleyes

Pantera1

Do you have a motor jack/ jack plate ? Ive been in boats where a combination of jacking, trimming and jerking the steering wheel you could drive through it ..Wear a good jacket and use a kill tether

Murray210

I'm afraid I don't have a jacking plate.

TUFFboat

Don't fight it, everyone should just learn to 'walk a Vee'. It is very much like riding a bike, you are steering the boat to balance it on one little point. The very basics are to steer in the opposite direction of the movement. You must become so proficient at this that you have fixed it before it happens, just like riding a bike. Like a bike you start riding like a spaz, over compensating like crazy and while your doing that think of the guys riding Supercross on two wheels. It will come. Once you possess this skill you can drive any Vee without training wheels ( trim tabs).

Forget all the equipment, learn to drive it. Good luck.

Pantera1

As much as I agree with you on the technique.. Certain equipment is important ..ie hydraulic steering is a definate upgrade, a jackplate will minimize if not eliminate a walk. And some hulls just have a limit as to how fast they can safely go.
Dont get hurt trying to make a boat do something it wasnt designed too. Your better off trying to upgrade your boat than potentialy kill yourself

Screw IT

My first boat when I was 16 was a 17 ft Hydrostream with a 150 merc. That boat ran 74 mph and was very stable until the engine mounts started to wear. Towards the end it would chine walk like a mother. I used to have to throttle back and the boat would slide a little sideways. It was a lot of fun when I was young and fearless. My second boat was a 21 Checkmate Pulsare with a 225 merc and a hydraulic jackplate. This boat would also chine walk at 65 mph. But if I would lift the jackplate just a little higher the boat would settle down and run at 70 mph and be nice and smooth. I also replaced the engine mount bushings in the Checkmate and it made a huge difference.

Good luck

Pantera1

Yup , solid mounts, hydraulic steering, jack plate all will help with the walk on outboard boats. My 24 walks some around 65-70 , nature of the beast

Steve Zuckerman

All good advice, as a former outboard racer, Allison, Bullet, Checkmate, Mirage, Shadow, etc, etc, I would say that it is a combination of proper rigging and setup, and driving technique.
I recommend dual rideguide or hydraulic steering, a foot throttle, trim switch on the steering wheel, accurate trim gauge, water pressure gauge, setback (6 to 10"s) jackplate,
solid engine mounts, and the correct propeller for your application (which may be a through or over hub design).
Sounds like you have a pad boat, which is good for speed and carying weight. They do ride high on the pad which makes them balance sensitive. You need to be properly balanced laterally, and fore and aft.
If you do the above, the driving will get a lot easier, and I'll bet you pick up a lot of speed in the process.
As far as driving technique goes.....your boat will try to fall off the pad to one side or another, unless you get all the above perfect, which isn't easy. Even then, wind or rough water may do it to your boat anyway, so when your boat falls off the pad to the right, smoothly steer it back to the left. Don't jerk it
or over steer it. If the boat falls off the pad to the left, just reverse the procedure. So you are probably making small corrections as you travel down the lake.
Once you master it, it becomes second nature, and you won't even think about it!
Here's a picture of one of my old drag boats (the outboard #77 ).
Regards,
Steve

Murray210

Tuffboat, Pantera1, ScrewIT, S Zuckerman, thank you guys for taking the time to share your experience, it is all very valid, I would like to learn to drive it on instinct without hurting anyone, so I take all your advice. I have only had it out a few times and have a long way to go. Balance is any issue-too many aux items on the drivers side make it hard to run alone. I am moving them to the other side at the moment to create better balance one up. I don't have hyd steer and I think this is causing some grief. These boats all came out with twin 250's, except mine being the only one set up for a single. So I image the hull speed design is greater than what I am putting it through. My boat probably has potential for a bit more speed yet, but I will leave that until I am more comfortable with my skill level. These were only a low production run boat. 7 in all. But this does not mean it is not a great boat, Mr Warby is testament to that.
I can't post files, but if any of you are interested in what the low vol Aussie boat looks like I could email you a couple of shots. Thanks guys. Murray

TUFFboat

Yes I would love the see the Matra missle, bottom, top and the twin set-up please. If you don't mind, go to TUFFmarine.com and use the 'contact' link to send them.

I met Ken Warby at an offshore race and talked with him and his crew mate (don't remember his name) and bench raced for over an hour, fastinating stuff, great people.

Thanks