CigDaze

Performance aside, speaking purely of ride comfort or the perception of comfort, there are two facotrs which will vary this the most. The first is weight, the second is deadrise(throughout the entire length of the boat, because it varies).

You will perceive a rough ride when you suddenly change direction and your mass is displaced; It's all about acceleration. The faster the acceleration, whether up, down or side-to-side, the worse the comfort level.

The forces generating the accelerations are changing surfaces of the water.

A sharper deadrise displaces water more gradually, thus the reaction forces are lower, lending greater comfort.

Likewise, a heavier boat will resist a change in it's motion moreso than a lighter one and will therefore experience smaller accelerations, once again it will be more comfortable.

...Performance aside-speaking only of comfort.

Reed Jensen

I agree with Bajadaze... thinking a heavy boat is better handling harkens back to the days when the myth about car handling was "It's got to have lots of road holding weight" and we all know sports cars handle a lot better than a big heavy sedan... but for ride comfort... you can't beat a heavy car with a long wheelbase.

cuda

It all goes back to the old adage "all boats are compomises".

I like a heavy boat not only for the ride, but I don't want the sob to break up under me either. I rode on a freind's boat many years ago and you could feel it flexing under you all the time. I kept waiting for the bow to just break off and us become a submarine.

Whiteknuckle

I certainly do not profess to be any kind of expert, but I would say, with all things being equal, give me a light boat over a heavy boat everytime. With todays components and technoligy, I think a lighter boat is stronger. When a lighter boat comes out of the water and re-enters, it has less inertia, (the resistance to movement of a fixed object, or its tendency to remain in motion) than a heavy boat. So, when the light boat comes down, less energy is expelled. Less energy potentally cause less damage and stress on all components. We are talking about performance boats here, not ice breakers. Unless, you want this heavy hull absorb all this energy! For every reason someone gives me to have a heavy boat, I can give you more reasons to make it light. Remember, we are talking modern boat building of today. Did I make any sense at all?

CigDaze

Whiteknuckle, you are correct. However, you are talking about performance, in the sense of a boat's ability to resist damage. What is comfortable for the boat, may not be comfortable for the occupants.

robyw1

I was just going to mention the same thing

Roby

Whiteknuckle

BD & Robyw1,

I hear what you are saying, but I'm not convinced. I guess I would have to ride in the two exact boats, one being heavy and one considerable lighter to be made a believer. Just for the sake of discussion, even if the heavier boat rode better, would that be worth the trade off's? The extra power required, the more stress on the drives, the extra fuel. the less responsive handling? I guess it all depends on what you are after, and what compromises you are willing to make and how hard core you want to be.

robyw1

Well try this, throw a bowling ball on a trampoline and notice the soft landing. Then throw a soccer ball on it and notice that it stops suddenly. Now if there were a miniature you on top of that soccer ball then you would probably be injured due to the force of being stopped in such a brisk matter.
Roby

Nauti Kitty

[QUOTE](. I guess I would have to ride in the two exact boats, one being heavy and one considerable lighter to be made a believer. ]

Wicked Won and Jerry McConnell have the same hull with the same horsepower and the boats weigh around 3000lbs different. I wonder what they would say? Pretty unique example I should think. Hopefully they will "weigh" in on the subject. NK

Whiteknuckle

Water is not suspended by springs, it is a fluid. Water is displaced when a boat re-enters, hence the splash!