Boat Handling
 

I ran a search pattern SATURDAY night for a fellow boater that had crashed.
He is presumed dead.

Now is where I will probably get flamed.

For those of you that take a small slow boat and add gobs of HP to make it go faster you need to do one very important thing.

spend a little money on setting the boat up properly.
Proper set up may gain more speed then the added HP.

And before you flame me I have a lot of experience with this.

I had a 1977 Glastron Carlson CVX -18 that stock did 45 - 50 MPH when I bought it with a stock FORD 302 ( 188 HP )

When I sold it it did low 90's with a BOSS 302 ( > 500 HP )

I gained more speed from proper set up then by adding HP.

this boat was very ill handling at any speed over 70 untill I set it up properly.

Getting back to the story.

The man that died took an older high freeboard ( FAMILY style ) 18 ft checkmate outboard and installed a MERC 225 HP motor.

From others statements the boat was VERY ILL handling.

In this man's quest for speed he created a death trap.

If this boat had been properly set up he would probably still be breathing air instead of laying on the bottom of HARDY POND.

Some poor boater is probably going to find him next weekend when he come's to the surface.

SO if your boat is ILL handling and squirlly -- PLEASE spend a few $ and fix that problem first.

Re: Boat Handling
 

Yeah...Don't ever put big power in a v bottom that only a cat can handle! Just kidding! I agree totally. When I added a blower to my cat I added external steering right along with it. I am taking delivery of a 31 Warlock tomorrow that doesn't have a kill switch attached to the driver. In my smaller cat I always have a lanyard attached to my arm which kills the boat If I got more than a few feet out of the drivers seat (OVERBOARD) The boat is very stable but i will still add one. Safety is always first.

Re: Boat Handling
 

The problem is that it is easier to understand how to add hp than to get the handling issue down. Lot's of handling issues are often caused by the boater that does not know about trim, tabs, current, wakes, wind etc.... Power parts are listed everywhere. Handling requires experience and knowledge... Blows my mind that people go so far outside of the their machines limits.... etc. I agree with you, no flame here.

Re: Boat Handling
 

no flaming here tinkerer, you have a very good point.



you mean 560 hp in my little 18' boat is over powered... :rolleyes: my setup is getting better, got rid of the chinewalking, porpiosing and learned its flaws and what the hull will do in different conditions. I am taking donations for hydraulic steering!!! :D :D

The driver of any boat just needs to learn and know the limits of the boat.. period :cool:

Re: Boat Handling
 

if you get flamed for making a very good point, i'll stand next to you and get flamed too... the focus on straight-line speed is getting a bit overwhelming at the moment. it's all a question of compromise b/w speed and handling. you can set your boat up primarily for speed but you HAVE TO keep that speed/handling compromise reasonable, within a range where your boat remains safe.

Re: Boat Handling
 

AMEN, following some of these "drivers boats" ,as PBM refers to them :rolleyes:, at speed is so spooky that I slow down so as not to push them over the edge that I can see them approaching.

Re: Boat Handling
 

It takes 2 to tango. We all have to approach safety from both sides of the coin, and watch out for the others who won't watch out for themselves...

Re: Boat Handling
 

And I'll stand on the other side of you.... Some boats simply have a max safe speed, that should not be exceeded. At least it sounds like this guy was alone, and not putting passengers in danger too as others have.

But, he wasn't wearing a life vest, was he? Is this another case of "performance boater dies" which the government will use to justify mandatory life vests? Wouldn't it be nice when we go to do something stupid in our boats, that we had the smarts to wear life vests and kill switches? I'll guilty of that myself, so this is not preaching, but something to think about.

Re: Boat Handling
 

Funny, Those people will never know that you possibly just saved thier lives.
I've seen it many times also, I would rather lose, than pushing somebody into driving way over their or their boats ability.

Re: Boat Handling
 

i agree also i have lost some friends and it sucks. it is all in setup where you get the max potential. i have been lucky and not been hurt after wrecking one boat and sinking another. i try to use common sense. remember to finish first you must first finish.

Re: Boat Handling
 

It's strange, I was just talking about this last night with a friend on a run. Had to get some gas, so we took her out for a spin. We started talking about boat handling, all the little variables, trim, steps, whatever.

Then I showed my friend just how much effect that trim tabs had on my 26, at 35 or 40 mph. At those "slow" speeds, you could damn near roll the boat with the wrong combination of trim. And this is a heavy boat, going slow.

It's amazing how many folks think that power is the primary system in a boat, when it's actually the hull and the tabs/planes. It's like throwing out airplane design because you have a super big jet engine. Wrong.

Re: Boat Handling
 

How true, Not that my toy is a hot rod by any means but even @ 65mph if I trim it all the way out instead of prop slip she will carry the bow so high that Its extremely hard to control.(looks cool though :crazy: ) Knowing your boat and its limitations is crucial regardless how much power. my.02

Re: Boat Handling
 

There is an old racer saying, " You never know how fast you can go till you crash". Since that first crash might kill you : BE CAREFUL!!! Sorry to hear about your friend Tinkerer.

Re: Boat Handling
 

As many of you know I owned a 21' Baja that had way too much power, but I did do a lot of set up to make it driveable. Things like Hydraulic Steering is a must. Drive height and prop selection become critical especially in small boats. The one thing that continues to blow my mind is how few people actually wear their life jackets religiously. I recall numerous deaths recently where people driving very well set up rigs that include many of the boat brands we all would agree are the best made for going fast. I am saddened by a fellow boater dying on a lake my wife and I frequent during the summers. It also pisses me off that so many HP boaters are too cool to put on a vest every time they run their boat hard regardless the size or handling!! At least he was alone!
Craig

Re: Boat Handling
 

we all crave speed but lets do it smart!!!sorry about your friend Steve I've been there and know what your going through..my thoughts and prayers to his family.
Don

Re: Boat Handling
 

He was not someone that I knew - I may have seen him before.

One odd thing though. The guy had the same last name as I but it was spelled differently.

One of my friends heard the last name but not the first and thought it might be me that was dead.

they found the body today.