Fast Forward

I’ve been out of boating since 1993 and am just now coming back to the sport. My question is when I got out the Black Hawk was the hot setup. Now that I’m back into it, I’ve noticed they seem to have disappeared?? I’m just curious as to what happened to them. I have a friend considering a 22 Donzi with the 502 setup with the Black Hawk. I have my reservations. Can anyone shed some light on the subject??

Thanks

cheitman

They won't stand up to high horsepower applications, especially in heavier boats. They are considerably faster. I have a buddy who used one on his 22daytona with a 900hp Blown 540. Ran about 10mph faster with the Blackhawk over the Bravo one.

SUPERSTITIOUS

I owned 1995 and sold it to a guy Tom Lentz in the Michigan area. Serial # 29 out of 40 Blackhawk editions. Black hull etc...Boat was quite fast low 80's but a handfull and requires a little seat time to get it there. Fun none the less though my wife might say otherwise... Never a problem with the outdrive. Had a problem with the steering a worn out gimbal at 58 hours, and after much ado between Donzi and Mercury marine (mercury marine eventually provided me with a document that was sent to all manufacturers about the need for external steering in high speed applications over 70 mph.) when all was said and done, Donzi did have installed at no charge a latham single ram external steering and what I was told was a upgraded gimbal. After that the only other issue was the shift cable. I have heard that they all are hard on shift cables. Many of the same component as the bravo 3. Ultimately what killed the blackhawk was its steep price and limited applications.

cheitman

This guy's boat is originally a Bravo hull. He breaks that Blackhawk at least twice a year. The boat runs close to 120 with it though.

michigandale

I'd go with a pulsedrive! Five year warranty, and a 10% performance boost over a conventional sterndrive. Line is rated to 1600 HP, and made in FL. 888-818-6039 9-6 pm EST

TSNAVE

The BlackHawk technology is still superior to a standard surface piercing drive because of the two counter-rotating props that cancel the "p-factor" as well as the tendency to "paddle-wheel" across the surface of the water. The drive, however may fail prematurely due to heavy loads when shifted in gear, ie; six blades in the water and its ability to "hook" much harder. Go for the Donzi with a BlackHawk! The handling/performance characteristics will be much better than without one.

Griff

.......and he only had to fix them damn near after every time he went out. Good thing he worked for MW Boats and had a spare drive.

.......and no hydraulic steering at 117mph

Good thing Fast Eddie sold that boat.

puder

cheitman just cus your buddies popping a black hwak with 900 hp doens;t mean tehy can't hanlde power. that drive was never intended to handle that much power. That isliek runngin an HP500 on an lpah an wondering why its breaking. A bravo woudl;nt hold that much power. Hell a new XR woudl pop unde rthat load.

Brad Perry

Everyone that I've seen with blackhawks won't ever leave them. It's hard to find props for, but they can't be beat for speed. A friend just got his re-worked by max machine. I think he said he has broken it 6 times! never trashed the case though. He put big hp through though.

rbtnt

I friend of mine had 725 hp in his Donzi Blackhawk for two years without breaking the drive. He never had it in rough water to air it out. When my friend bought the Donzi Blackhawk, the original owner gave him a driving lesson that he laughed about until he was on his own. He ended up calling the original owner back about the proper drive and trim levels at the different speeds.