I am looking for ideas on how to set up a ballast tank for a 28' single engine hull.

I would like to know how many gallons I should look to hold and how some of you fill and remove the water from them.

I'm looking forward to running OPA P5 this season, I just have a lot of work ahead of me to get her set up.

Paul

Check with others about the size, but the slickest set up I've seen worked off the engine cooling water. A handle would divert the water to the ballast tank. Red (hot) handle forward, water went into the tank. Red back, and the water went out the transom. When the tank was full it would blow out the overflow holes.

To empty, when the blue handle (Cool) was forward, the water was held inthe tank. When the blue handle was back, the water ran out a 4" firehose right down the center of the boat and out the transom.

This set up allows you to fill the tank while sitting at the dock.

Seems easy enough, might have to try that. I assume you are not totally diverting the water from the engine! Wonder if a dual stage seapump could make it even easier...

Unless your boat is very sensitive to weight. Save yourself time/money and test using fixed weight. We set the boat up using lead shot bags 25lbs each. Small bags make the weight easy to place and it doesn't take much weight to make a big difference. The more you test and get to know your boat the better you will be able to set your boat up for course conditions. My .02

Brian

IDavid Wade at 225 752 3789 or 225 445 4573 has a complete ballast system including pumps , tank, hoses, fittings, etc.. for sale at 1/2 new price.
sw

My hull is simular to the lavey craft. I know its weight and CG is not the same but what might be the maximun you would carry for extreem conditions ??? I'm trying to get a bace line. The bow likes to come up but the stern stays in the water when hitting wakes. If I trimed down a bit that would help

Call me: 760-497-4778, I'd be happy to tell you about our set up.

Brian

A ballest tank for P-5 racing makes no sense. As stated earlier, just add or subtract weight from the hull and you'll be fine. Adding just a couple hundred pounds in the bow will make a big difference. Keep it simple!

i agree with bj. dont waste your time or money. try changing props. a hydromotive Q4 may help drop the bow down. otherwise, do what most of us have done. sand bags and lots of duct tape

Hi Paul,

Glad to see you are going to give racing a try. It will be interesting to see how the Scarab does. I agree with the other guys, just play with some weight in bow. We use steele plates (cut up peices of plow trip edge), 25lbs each, mounted low on the two forward bulkheads in the Pantera. We did a little reinforcing of the bulkheads and always check to make sure that they are tight.
You might try a four blade that may help keep the bow down a little, your boat is plenty fast so top end won't be an issue, in fact you are probably going to have to slow the boat down to be able to run P5!