Had my 288 out this weekend for the first time this season i just bought it late last fall. I noticed as the boat comes on plan the rpms will jump as the boat breaks on plan, this is with the drives trimmed all the way in. I can back out of the throttle slightly and them trim up just a bit and the speed seems to catch up. I never noticed this with my Baja 252, is this normal for the 288? prop is a bravo 1 24p, everything else is great i love the boat! It handles totally different than the 252 so it may be i just need to learn how to handle it better.

Yes this is normal. My 99' 288 did it all of the time. I would usually back out of the throttle quickly and then ease back into it and the prop would hook up. Or like you are doing just let it catch up on it's own but at a lower RPM.

On mine id just give it a few bumps on the trim button on the way up

Thanks for the input guys i think the more seat time i get the better off i will be.

Totally different hull then your old Baja that will require a good bit of seat time to maximize it's potential.

Hey Big Red - Completely normal....try dropping the tabs down to 5 or 6 and then bringing them up once it gets on plane...I try to save as much wear and tear on the drive as possible. I usually bring mine up to 3K and it hops right up.

I will have to give the tabs a try i'm the second owner of this baot and the original owner optioned it out well but he skipped the tab indicators which i had on my baja and really like. Seems like mine breaks over on plane about 3k and then it jumps to about 4200 if i dont back off. Its a learning curve like any new boat i guess.

Mine does the same thing like u said just a bit of seat time

I have a 2012 coming this week, will see the same thing? or did it change with the hull design and pad?

Of all the boats in that size range I've been on the 288 planes easily without tabs and it does it without pointing it's nose spaceward. Ease into it and you'll still get some slip coming up but nothing exccessive. Never been on one that needed tabs to roll up on top unless your hauling a boatload. Unless your hammering it out of the hole or the boat has a very aggressive X dimnesion it should easily hook back up after a bit of slip halfway to plane.