290 Owners
 

I did a search but couldn't find what I was looking for. I am looking at a 29 with 320 HP. small blocks. I would like to know top speed,cruise speed at 3500,and how many gallons an hour will it use. Also I have a 28 we boat on Lake Erie and it is almost impossible to get wet on this boat,is the 29 a dry running boat? Thanks for any help....

If you like the 28 you will love the 29.
theres a guy in Vegas that has a 2002 290 with small blocks for sale,last time i saw the boat it was in new condition.

Hey Tom thanks for the plug!

I let all my adds expire while I was on vacation.

Last time I had my 02 290 Enticer out it only ran 65 on Lake Mead. I had just freshened up the props. With the dinged blades she ran 66-67 @ 1150'. When I lived in IL it ran 67-68. Best I ever saw on a hand held gps was 71.2 in Lake Michigan.

If I remember correctly @ 3500 rpm she ran around 35-40 mph.

I've never checked how many gallons a hour I've burned. The most fuel I've used in a day was 3/4 of a tank. I left Lake Mead Marina to Hoover Dam then to South Cove(Big Sandy) at the other end of Lake Mead. I think from the dam to Big Sandy is like 80 miles.

Only time I've gotten wet was in 35-40 mph cross wind that was blowing my spray in the boat. Nothing a new heading or trim adjustment would not fix.

i have a 96 29' which will usually be able to hit 68 gps w/stock 330hp 454's. on the first cool day in september this year i hit 70.7 gps on lake erie w/two other people on and a half tank of gas. lake was perfect and i know the cooler air helped out. i wouldn't expect 69 or 70 too often.

i usually cruise at 32-3300 rpm at about 45-46mph depending on water conditions.

i have only gotten wet twice this year. once in july and once a couple of weeks ago when i pulled it out of rack & launch for the last time. both times the lake (erie) was kicked up a bit and like need4mead said a small change of direction and trim adjustment took care of that. thats all out of 80 hours of use this season.

i would say its a very dry running boat.

im not sure on the gph.

These are GREAT boats! Mine (1999 29 PQ 310 MPI's) Big blocks are my choice who cares about gph this is boating nothing conservative about it. Top speed @ 4550 rpm(68-69mph). 70's would be sweet.

Great running boats...bb or sb shouldn't make a HUGE diff as far as fuel consumption I wouldn't think. A 29 was my first boat, and my wife cried when we traded it. Loved the interior space...fridge, microwave, STORAGE! Fountain has none of those. My only problem with the boat was the tendency to chine-walk at top speeds...other than that, a solid ride.

i agree 100% on the chine walking...unfortunately. if the conditions aren't perfect and if i dont get it trimmed just right...it will walk pretty good. i believe it may be somewhat related to the factory hook that pq put in the hull between the chine and the first strake (about 1' long).

a buddy who has a 32' sunsation now used to have a 29' carbed pq that he tweaked up to the mid 70's and he said the same thing about the chine walking.

but other than that...great storage / fridge / microwave / sink / pump out porta-potti. well equipped for a 29'.

Here's a nice pic of KSFlyer's old 29 at the Chicago Poker Run this year...

not a 29 owner but a 270 owner with a modded engine from the 454 385hp setup now with 454 but 550hp and without tabs being down at least 6 units, she walks from around 4500-WOT. Handles good otherwise through 2-3s


I think I know you, are you the PQ owner from Whiskey Island?

How would you describe chine walk, what is it ?

When you are running at the top end trimmed out, it is the tendency of the boat to rock back and forth (side to side) on the chines (where the verticle part of the hull transitions to the horizontal running surface).

actually no. im from monroe, mi. on western lake erie.
where is whiskey island at?

along with what knot 4 me said...at first i thought chine walking was just poor hull design but then i found out most boats will walk at or near top speeds. i know boats will react differently at top speeds due to hull design such as a stepped hull, notched transom, pads, etc.

i would describe chine walking as a really "loose" feeling when my boat is funning fast and the hull is really out of the water. depending on your steering setup, it can be somewhat controlled with steering input. (ive heard standard steering and hydraulic steering react differently on driver input to correct walking)

i rode in my buddy's 36' cigarette gladiator (which he's selling if anyone is interested) this year and we hit 101mph on gps on the lake. funny thing is...the walking on that cig at 101 was not as bad as my pq at 65-68! i think he did a good job of controlling it with steering input. kept us alive at over 100!

Dont have any personal experience with 6.2's in an enticer but have several buddies with 6.2's in other hulls and they have proven very reliable. Outside of an oil line failure (2 separate motors) they have just added gas. These motors have been run pretty hard too. Obviously they rev a lot higher then the old BBC.

I will get a little bit of chine walk...but it has to really be all the way freed up and WOT. Nothing that I would describe as something to avoid the purchase for. The 29 shines for its size (in and out of the cabin) and ride. She aint the fastest hull out there. Best I saw this year was 68.9 with stock carbed 454's

I've had a 23 Conquest and now have a 26 Legend, a friend of mine had a 23 Stryker and over the summer I test drove a couple 29's and this type of chine walking seems to be a PQ trait. I'm sure it has to do hull design but I think it also maybe due to the fact that the PQ has such a high freeboard which in turn places the center of gravity a bit higher. I was in a friends 28 Pantara and I can tell you at 85mph this boat never moved! Was solid and flat the entire time. But than again he had twin 650's so the need to fully trim the boat out for speed was not needed.

With that said I still would like to move into a 29, they are great boats!!

I think PQ got rid of the chine walk with the new hull on the300 revenge. My 300 runs 90 and I don't notice a thing unless I am trimmed to the moon. Even then it is easilly manigable. It does feel like it's going to take flight if you are heading into a strong wind! :cool-smiley-011:

This last summer my brother-in-law test drove a '93 29' with carb'ed 500's. I want to think it got to around 75mph and it felt unstable. As chine walk is described above, I'ld say that what it was doing.

It has a ton of hours, apparently rebuilt motors, light blue smoke, Too much Pink. It Dropped a motor for a sea pump and limped it in. Other motor leaked oil. But the price was like 22K so he had to look at it.

He ended up buying a '90 Formula 331. While it wasn't as fast or had as much room, it is a rock solid ride and was cleaner.

Wally- Is that my old boat? Did you buy it at Raymonds?

Mike, no it is not. However, I did look at your boat, with my old man...like the first day/week it was for sale up in your dad's shed. It was a very nice ride. I actually bought my boat later that same day (pending the water test) up near caddilac. This is a 97 (I think yours was a 98) and was a little cheaper, essentially the same ride though.

Actually, I still have pictures of your boat around here somewhere, it was a nice piece!

Look familiar? :ernaehrung004:

Well said. It is a PQ trait. The 340, with its even higher center of gravity, does it bad. You can control it with a good bit of tab, but that scrubs alot of speed. But I rarely had the opportunity to get there because my wife would always start screamng at me to slow down. :rolleyes:

And not all boats with high freeboard do it. Now my wife is screaming at me to speed up! :D

Ahh yes! I remember you guys now! My Fountain is sitting in that same spot right now!