Thanks for the info 1971. I also have a 29. I have 496's. I was thinking about removing the hook but....After a rather lenghtly conversation with a Baja tech I decided that I propbably shouldn't. The tech told me that they were added to the hull to limit porposing. He proceded to tell me the possible result of removing the Hook could be "radical" porposing upon recovery or re-entry. Maybe this guy was blowing smoke to prevent "the tech told me to do it" scenerio. After you play around with your rig I would really love some more handling input.

Daze - Mentally, I was thinking that the boat was hitting the r limiter. Thus the kinda dumb question. After being informed of the 502's I realize there's room to play.

Hook
 

Originally I was affraid of the exact same thing. The '97 year of the outlaw did not have the hook in the hull. It was introduced in '98. Upon speaking with Chris at Baja, he informed me that the hook was there to counter porposing and make the boat easier to drive for the average opperator. He also proceeded to tell me that some customers have removed the hook and experienced speed gains with very little sacrifice to control. This is exactly the case in my boat. I did notice a slight porpose which was easily countered with the k-planes. I haven't noticed any abnormal porpose when comming off of a 3' wave or landing afterward. The main advantage is the boat feels much looser in the bow and experince better acceleration. I willl keep everyone informed as I experiment with different props.

Thanks again for the info. What type of facility did you take your rig to? Specialist or just marine in general? Im from Upstate NY. Places that do this type of work are few and far between.

Hook
 

I used a reputable marine facility, that specializes in fiberglass repair, mainly warranty work for manufacturers. You may want to check with your local offshore club or performance boat dealers in the area to find out who does that kind of work. My understanding is it wasn't to intensive anyway.

Good luck. let me know if you need any further help. I would deffinitely suggest you do it, you won't be dissapointed

Where is the hook on the hull?
Gerry

Hook
 

It was directly in front of each K Plane and was about 5/8" on each side going 8-10" back

Had the hook remove on my 1999 single 500hp. :) Gain of 2-3mph, better acceleration after 50mph. Slight porpoise at 60mph when bumping small waves but only fun. Should never be there in the first place.. Why Baja include those after 1998 instead of explaning the use of the trim tabs is counter productive in a world where speed is important...

what is a hook?
 

What is a hook on a boat. I have a 1997 24ft outlaw sst. Does this boat have a hook.

Put a straight edge on the bottome of the boat from the transom forward...that will tell you if and or how much of a hook you may have.

Wish I had as much luck, but my hull is much different - 88 Force 235. Saw a very negligible gain, and picked up more porpoise at cruising speed. Maybe I will see more benefit with the new motor.