Prop Direction
 

Hi, On my 35 fountain the props turn in and when docking the boat is a pain to park. I plan on reversing the shift cables and make the props turn out. I know the boat will behave great while docking but I am curious what it will do while cruising and at top end. The hull has no steps.

Any Ideas?

Thanks

turning props in usually is done to help stern lift. so It might be a bit harder to get up on plane. but remember to switch props too...

Incorrect. Props turning "IN", give bow lift. Props turning "OUT" give stern lift.

Most if not all Fountain hulls, prefer turning "IN". Try it and see if you like it turning out. My guess is you will probably lose a bit of WOT speed.

Yes I hear 3-5 mph.. That's ok but if it hurts my cruising speed then I will switch back to turning in.. Thanks for your input

If docking is your beef with them turning in, try trimming the drives up while manuevering around the docks. Helps a bit. I know my Fountain with the props turning in, can be $hitty backing up.

Im not sure how fast your boat goes, but 3-5mph seems a little high, esp if its like a 65mph boat. Let us know how it responds to the rotation change.

The boat does 80 mph...Most of the time i'm at 55mph..Rarely at full throttle, once in awhile a quick boost for a minute. I like to keep the fuel in the tank lol

My old 29 Baja, The props turned out, I was able to maneuver backing up parallel parking so easy..I'll see what happens with the fountain.

I swapped mine to turn out, do to docking was a huge PITA! I tend to recall 1 mph was what I saw as a loss, but this has been some 7-8 yrs ago. Definitly not more than 2.The boat feels 100x more stable to me. With them spinning in, it felt so light and liked to dance around. My thoughts have always been as far as loosing top end.....I'm around docks and other boats every time the boat is used. I run WOT for a few seconds, maybe a couple times a yr.

We seem to run our boats the same way. Who cares about a few mph.

On my non stepped 38, I tried turning out. I lost 3-4mph top end, and the boat ran much too flat. However, I have SSM 4 drives with 15 deg cleaver props, so totally different than a bravo boat. Reversing does suck quite a bit with them turning in, but I've learned to live with it. I prefer turning in, not so much for the speed, but i just like the way the boat carries better. I boat in calm and rough waters, when its calm, the added bow lift seems to help keep the boat from running too ''wet''.

With the props turning in I noticed many times that setting my trim at 2.5 while cruising @ 50 the boat would porpoise easily on smooth water .My Bravo1 drives have the large nose cones with the low water intakes on the cone . Maybe turning the props out will keep the nose more stable and stop the porpoising.