One of my parents' neighbors has a 2000 27 with a 502 MPI. He says that with a load of people and full of gas, he can't get it on plane with the tabs and drive down. He does have a 4 blade prop. Anyone else have this problem? More importantly, any suggestions?

He is having someone build the motor into about 500hp, but I told him that there must be something else wrong. 415hp should be more than enough to plane a boat that weighs less the 5k lbs.

It is a concern with the 27 Fountain or any other large single engined boat that is set up for top speed. I just bought a 27 Fountain and I had heard that they were hard to plane so I rode in a few and asked questions. Search for a previous topic of mine titled " 27 Fever Info". This was one of my main concerns about the boat.

Basically any larger than 24 feet with a single engine can be hard to plane with a load of fuel and people. Its a matter of how the boat is set up. Fountain is known for building fast boats and the 27's set up is aggressive. The same things that make the 27 one of the fastest at top speed makes it hard to plane. A friend of mine had one that he couldnt plane out with 7 people on board so he called Fountain and asked them what was wrong. They asked him how many seats were in the boat. When he said 5 they said there is your problem. So basically the boat is not designed to carry more than 5 people with a full load of fuel and gear.

That being said there are ways to do it. Certainly more power goes a long way but I have heard it still can be an issue with the 500hp boats. The best and cheapest way to do it would be to buy a lower pitched prop to use when you will be loaded with people. If he is normally running a 24" prop try a 22" or 21". It wont run near 70 top end but it will plane much better.

Another thing is that the Hydromotive Q4 prop which is commonly found on this boat is well known to be slow planing. I have planed 4 adults and a 2 year old with a full tank with no problem with the Hydromotive Q4 prop. A Bravo One four blade will plane better at a sacrifice of 2-4 mph top end.

Search for my topic. One guy said he planes the boat with 10 people on it!

Ron

I've got a 2000 27 w/ 502 mpi and don't notice any more planning difficulty than could be expected with a singe engine 27 footer. I usually only have 2 -3 adults and always full of fuel. I am running a 4 blade Revolution prop and it feel like it has good low end. I don't usually put the tabs all the way down either.

Ron speakem truth.

Weight distribution is also critical. I usually have 2 people stand at the windshield rather than sit on the bench (plus the 2 in the bolsters) until it's up on plane if I have 6 on board. It makes a HUGE difference. You can also put a few in the cabin until your on plane. Does he have a lot of gear in the bench? Tools. Move everything heavy into the cabin storage area. What about under the hatch?

Someone also mentioned a slight turn in one direction made some difference too. Fuel is 6 lbs per gallon that's 360+ and 6 adults that's say another 900lbs so you have about 1300 lbs in the aft half of the boat. Tha's a lot of weight to move especially if 4 people are on the bench, that's most of the weigth in the aft 1/3rd.

Hope this helps you some

Mike,

UPS delivered the arrester to my office today. However my secretary was gone to pick up her daughter from school at the time. No pay no package. Anyway I spoke to UPS this afternoon and it will get redelivered tomorrow. Just wanted you to know.

Thanks again for the promt shipping,

Ron

Hey Ron,

No problem, but thank you for the heads up.

Mike

BN,

I have experience here. everyone is right, the boat from Fountain is not set up to plane with more than 5 adults. Easiest way to solve is smaller pitch prop. I have the 500efi and have problems with more than 7 people. I also have a 26 hydro on there, makes it even harder. Turning to one side does seem to help a little, I have planed off with 12 on board before,WOW, I almost gave up, until I put the three biggest in the cabin. Just tell your friend he bought a PowerBoat not a cabin cruiser

WILL

Thanks for all of your responses. I will pass the info along.

All these discussions continue to bring up a question that I have had for a while and since we are on the subject maybe the board can shed some light...

Understanding the issues behind higher pitch blades ultimately providing higher top end given the HP to crank the RPMs, and that the sacrifice comes in lower end bite, does anyone change the drive ratios?

I think that pretty much all post 92 Bravo 1's come with the 1.5 ratio. Now for example, my 91 27 Fever is turning a 1.36 ratio Bravo 1, and given that for every RPM the shaft turns about 9%faster, I am able to turn a lower pitched prop while attaining the higher speed than with the 1.5 ration drive. I am turning a 24 Hydro Q-IV.

I also know that theoretically the less you turn the prop the more "efficient" it is and thus the faster it is since you are loosing that much less to friction. Thus advantage 1.5 ratio on this aspect. Has anyone experimented with this? Lets say that I can achieve the same "final ratio", inclusive of prop pitch, mathematically. That is for example using a 24" prop with a 1.36 ratio drive, and comparing to a 26.2" pitch on a 1.5 ratio drive. How much is the "loss" due to the actual friction of turning the 24" 10% faster. And also, how the slip will compare for both props under such setups.

It would seem to me that if the loss due to turning the prop faster is not that much (especially for a labbed prop), it would make sense to go with like a 1.36 with lower pitched prop that could still bite and plane descent when loaded. Also thinking that the "final ratio" would be equivalent, one could pressume that the acceleration will be equal if not better with the lower prop at 1.36.

I guess other considerations include added stress on the drive with the 1.36 and such......

Anyone has any knowledge/experience on this front....?