Ride in a 22' Velocity - Yipes!!
 

Took a spin behind the wheel of a 22' Velocity with a 383 smallblock ("420 or so" hp) yesterday. What a handful! The telltale on the GPS read 78.4, but the fastest we ran was 72+. Man! Over 65 or so, that thing took more steering input than I could have ever imagined. It ran crabbed slightly sideways, and was prone to chine-walk, although it was not too hard to steer out of that. I'm just glad I didn't have to run the throttle, too. My arms were sore after just 30 minutes. The owner described the hull as a "flat vee with a water ski stuck on the bottom". I can understand why these hulls are fast, but they must use the driver up pretty quick if you try to do it for very long. I must be a pu$$y, 'cause I think I prefer something a little more stable. Is this pretty typical of these hulls, or was there a setup problem with this one?

Still - it was a BLAST!

Ok Smart a$$ , it's January 14 , where the hell are you?? Certainly not in Temple Pa.:D :D

Somewhere south of Georgia and west of the Bahamas.

Re: Ride in a 22' Velocity - Yipes!!
 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by C_Spray
[B]. I must be a pu$$y, 'cause I think I prefer something a little more stable. Is this pretty typical of these hulls, or was there a setup problem with this one?

Sure sound like it to me :p

Scuse me guys, but just what is a "telltale on the GPS"?? My GPS will give me a "max speed" since last reset, and I always assumed that whatever was recorded there was the the fastest I ran till I reset again. Just where did I get lost here??!!?? --- Jer

Somewhere north of Georgia.:p

Bob - See Post #215 on page 8 of the "Best 28-foot" thread for yours...

jpclear - Correct. The 78.4 reading was from a previous outing (apparently with a better driver...). The highest we saw as 72+. (Not that I had much time to look.) Wild.

Definately The Way That Boat Is Rigged...
 

Was your problem. Your steering related problems sounded like X-dimension, trim, prop, gimbal, torque-tab, related problems...? When a 22' is dialed in, they are smooth! Been there, done that. Ed:rolleyes:

I'd have to agree with Ed, sounds like something was out of wack.:drool:

Sure that 78.4 wasn't on the trailer:rolleyes:. That's 6.4 mph , a lot even for a good or bad driver:confused:



God , I wish I were someplace warm:(. I'd even ride in a Bayliner:D :D...... with a Force outboard:crazy:


















Well , maybe two Force outboards;)

http://www2.b3ta.com/catgame/

Try that it may be more your speed! :D

Takes a familiar driver to run a light padvee up to max speed.

I had (still have actually in barn storage) a 16' padvee with 280hp or so on it. Ran over 100 on a few occasions. Best it saw with any other driver was low 80's (other drivers were just my friends, not any pros).

Not that familiar with the 22 Velocity, but my little padvee had a "smooth setup" and a "fast setup". The "fast setup" was a full 10mph faster than the smooth setup but had MONSTER steering torque, a hideous tendency to go into self amplifying chinewalk, and ran with the nose a touch to the right of center (crabwalking) and had a very uneasy slowmotion oscillating "lope" of a "mock porpoise" at 100. With the "smooth setup" steering torque was MUCH lighter, there was no lope, chinewalk was still an issue, butwas not scary, and you could hold the wheel still for 5 or 6 seconds at a time versus the other setup and its constant need for correction. Smooth setup would NOT run over 90, though.

The difference in the two setups was weight distribution and engine height.

Also, I did run a cleaver on it on one occasion. I was determined to find the absolute top end with that prop. It was very ill-suited for that hull and the back end was not settled at all. At somewhere around 90, I was trying to get the boat settled on the pad, but the stern lift was fighting me. I guess I got the hull too light with trim combined with the stern lift of the prop. Back end lost its bite and stepped to the side HARD as the nose went left. My torso slammed the side of the boat and knocked the killswitch out (and my breath). I remember steering one handed and feeding in enough roght lock that my left hand was upside down (right hand was on the outside of the hull grabbing the rubrail). Boat took 2 hops and snapped back straight. I lived through it somehow (also managed to get the killswitch back in and fire the motor before she coasted to a stop and swapmed herself with water - little bastage was @ss heavy and would swamp if you stopped with the power off).

They will go straight when properly set up! Been there many many times! Grow some hair on 'em and go for it man! When you get one with that little boat you will amaze people! ;)

Re: Definately The Way That Boat Is Rigged...
 

All I know about the setup was that it was a 1.65 Bravo with a Bob's nosecone, twin-ram steering (no slack), and a 4-bladed (Hydromotive 29?) prop. Gimbal seemed solid. He was trimming, but it wasn't to the moon (no hopping). What's the proper setup? Maybe I can help him out...

God , I wish I were someplace warm:(. I'd even ride in a Bayliner:D :D...... with a Force outboard:crazy:


Watch it mopower!!


















;)

:D :D :D Yeah......on second thought , that would be embarrassing , I don't know what I'm saying:crazy: :crazy:

Re: Re: Ride in a 22' Velocity - Yipes!!
 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bajabob38
[B]
Hummmmmmm Pu$Sy.........ummmmmmmm errrrrrrrr. uhhhhhhhhhhhh..........

Well - I'll put my money on WOO-HOO to drive the sh+t out of it! :D :p ;) Step aside girly man!

And what year did your team win the Indy 500?:drool:

Yeah,
I run along with one often and I think it runs great!

Re: Ride in a 22' Velocity - Yipes!!
 

One time I was driving a '22 Apache and.........


Awe nevermind.:D :D :D :D

Hey Chuck!!!

The chine walk is what makes them fun! It makes you feel good knowing that not everybody can just sit down and get the boat to perform.

Uhhhh Chuck, maybe you shouldn't be so quick to offload that 28 Bat Boat after all.:p ;)

Chuck,
That sounds like Miklos's creation! :D :D

He's been asking me to go for a ride in that thing.....I haven't yet. :)

I thought it might be that boat......:D :D :D That's the boat that teaches you to drive. Dave

Cord, now how do you know about the ride qualities of a 22' Velocity? Frank

Hey Frank! Long time no see! I was just thinking about your boat and the one your friend had. As I recall, you had your boat pretty well planted. My comments were not to suggest the Velocity was a chine walker. It was a comment more in general about knowing your boat. My old boat was a chine walker, but I was capable of driving through it. I still owe you two a ride, so let's make of point of doing that this summer! You feel like going for the Thunder run?

I have one-- 200 merc--2 of my buddys have one--they all do it--not chine walking-more like squrming around on the pad a bit-makes the boat feel faster--the 26' is a little tricky to drive also

C-spray -

You sure your throttleman knew what he was doing? The 22V is does not like to ride on the pad well at that speed if I remember correctly. You need to drive through the chinewalk up on the pad; starts smoothing out in the upper 70's.

I think I know the boat you were in. I agree, a handfull in the low 70's. I do not believe there is a problem in the setup- maybe just the throttleman. Maybe we can find him a good school somewhere :D

Kent

LOL Kent! :D ;)

:eek: Fine - YOU go first and show me. I'll be watching from the rescue boat....

I understand what you're saying, though, and it makes complete sense: Once you get going fast enough and get the hull completely out of the water, it's design deficiencies become moot. :D

I feel better now though. Sounds like it's not all that uncommon.

The throttleman will remain anonymous for now. But you should be aware that he IS reading this thread.

C-spray -

"design deficiencies"?? This shoud be good for a couple bags of popcorn. :)

Yes, I think I know the boat. He put the bigger engine in it because my little 18 Donzi was keeping up with it. :D

Steve Stepp used to personnally teach people to drive it when they bought a new one.
I remember one guy with a big HP smallblock in one that told be when he got up around 70, he'd close his eyes, nail the throttle and count to three (hopefully getting past the scary part). Not sure I would want to do that myself. :crazy:

The 22 Velocity is definately NOT the 38 Formula or 28 Bat boat. By the way, I still need a ride in one of them there bat boats!!

C-Spray,

I know for a fact that your throttleman sucks. Probably put on a broken prop just to screw with you. If he had any balls at all, he'd taken up to 80 where you would have had a nice smooth ride. (Trust me) I know this guy. He likes to keep it in the nasty zone just to mess with you. I'm sure you were doing an outstanding job. Next time tell him to push it on up.

Jim:D

In My Opinion...
 

The best gear-ratio for any fast vee-bottom is a 1.5:1, until you are at 100 m.p.h. and up. This applies to twins as well. The four blade prop, combined with his 1.65:1 ratio could also be an issue. Also, four-blade props(in general) are not particularly the best choice for fast vee-bottoms. Personally, I prefer a good 3-blade on any vee-bottom, for both speed & the lack of steering torque. Each 4-blade design calls for a specific X-dimension, to take full advantage of its characteristics(diameter, etc...) A 4-blade running at a conservative(deep) X-dimension, will produce excessive steering torque. Too much blade surface area. Lastly...the Hydromotive blade contour, rake, etc...is closely characteristic of a cleaver. These props produce sternlift, especially a four blade version, combined with a less than ideal X-dimension, will cause excessive steering torque. In order to properly diagnose your particular 22' Velocity rigging woes, I would start with the X. What is it? Has the transom plate loosened and shifted to one side(tilted), etc...Hope this helps explain a bit more what I meant in my earlier post. By the way, I worked at the Pompano Beach, Fl. Velocity plant in the mid to late eighties & also helped Regal with their transition into the world of Performance Offshore powerboats when Steve Stepp sold out to them. At that time we were producing 2 1/2 22's every week. One 30' every month. And about 3 or 4 38's per year(which measured closer to 40', but at that time we were competing with the "377" Scarab) The 22's were one of my favorite boats. Good luck with your future boat hunting...Gar Heinrich:)

Is this the boat? Yeah, I told him the raise the X-dim, but he kept complaining he would have to cut new exhaust holes.

Not sure who that guy is, but it looks like he is saying a prayer before the ride?

side shot
 

side shot. Is this the boat?

Re: side shot
 

Could be. The only part I ever saw was the top. When I asked the observers, all they ever saw was the top....or the bottom. No one ever saw the sides long enough to recognize the paint job. :crazy: Name seems about right, though.....

"Ed" - Great input. Thanks!

I was reading this post thinking to myself... "I know this boat".
Chuck, If I was you, I would blame it on the throttleman, then stick with that story. ;)

Ed,
In this case, Trust me. This thing is set up to the -nth degree. Not only is it fast, it would probably out accelerate a lot of drag boats out there.
My plane leaves at 0830 tomorrow, (Friday).
Hopefully, I'll get my turn in that boat sometime this weekend. :cool:

On a semi-related note, was the Challenger hull based on/similar to this Velocity hull?

Not sure who that guy is, but it looks like he is saying a prayer before the ride? [/B][/QUOTE]

:D :D :D

It's not me. HOWEVER, had I known then what I know now, I would be doing the same....:crazy:

See you tomorrow, Gordo! :D