Good morning,

I recently purchased a 2005 velocity 260 with a blueprint engines 540 big block Chevy. Supposedly was making 679hp from the dyno sheet I got with the paperwork.

it has a bravo 1 28p prop on it.

it also has trim tabs

this is my first boat of this size that I’ve owned and it seems like it’s not planing off nearly as fast as it should.

drive all the way in the water, trim tabs all the way down it still takes probably 10 seconds or more to get up out of the water. And in this time range i can have the throttle all the way up and it won’t rev past like 2000 or so rpm. Now once the bow starts coming down and up on plane the rpm’s will come up and I can back way off the throttle.

I’ve only had it out once so far and didn’t push it to see how fast it would go but I was cruising around 50-60 comfortably in the 3500-4000rpm range. It didn’t seem to want to rev much past the 4200ish range when I had it wide open for a few seconds once.


im going to start today with checking the timing and what springs are in the distributor but also was able to borrow a bravo 1 26p prop I am going to try out. I would’ve thought a 28p would’ve been what it needed with the Hp it’s supposed to have.

just looking for any insight on other things I should check thank you.

More information needed. What kind of load, people, fuel etc? Is the prop staying hooked up? Fast starts are extremely hard on the drive, you should be slowly advancing the throttle and as it comes up on plane slowly raise the tabs and drives. I have not driven a Velocity 260 but my 280 (502 mag) never had a problem getting on plane, even without tabs. If your engine is putting out the rated power a 28 bravo 1 should be fine. However if in fact your top rpm is 4200, that is a problem. What is the history and details on your engine?

Welcome to the Velocity family.

Padraig

With that much HP, and that pitch prop, it sounds like you have a 1.36 outdrive ratio, perhaps. That definitely changes things. See if you can verify your drive ratio. When a boat is setup and propped for those last few mph on the top end, it will be difficult to get the boat up on plane. You give up one to have the other. But remember, it's not a jet ski. The easier you baby it up on plane, the better it is on the drive components; especially if you actually have that kind of HP. The boat may have been setup with some very well dialed in prop options, and he just tossed something old/used/stock on there to sell it to you; also common.

Try it with tabs up, leave them up

Thanks guys.
So that day we had 4 adults and 2 kids on it. And full full tank.

I was wondering if it was possibly a lower ratio gear drive like the one commenter mentioned where can I identify how the drive is geared? Do I have to take part of the lower unit unit off to see that?

That is a good load for a what is basically a 24 foot boat. It would likely be slow getting on plane, especially if it is propped for top speed. You have 600 to 700 ponds of people and another 400 pounds of fuel.so something like 1,000 #. Take it out by yourseld or with two peole and see how it planes and what kind of rpms you can easily attain. If you are not familiar with a performance boat, get some seat time before trying for top end. Assuming the engine number are correct that is alot of power for a 260.

Padraig

I appreciate the info, first time owning this size boat myself but did grow up around a 33 fountain twin engine with my grandfather. I am Still wet behind the ears driving something spiritedly this size though so certainly being cautious. I have 2 smaller jet boats as well. The 18’ has a 570hp 6.0 Ls I run around 70 with 2 adults.

As Padraig said, that's a heavy load. The 26" Bravo will definitely help your planning off but still go up gradually to save wear and tear on your outdrive - especially with that much HP. Try setting your tabs at a neutral position to reduce drag but still provide some lift. Like others, I've never used my tabs on any of my Velocities (220, 280, 320 or 390) to plane off. Gradually work your way to top end as the hull will likely start to chine around 70 and you'll need to counteract via steering wheel input. The hull is easier to drive in a small chop rather than flat conditions.

Also, there should be a metal model number tag on the outdrive which you can look up to determine the gear ratio. Another way is to use a speed calculator (BBlades has one on their website) where you plug in your engine rpm, prop pitch, slip % (suggest around 15% which is conservative) and gear ratio to arrive at a MPH speed. You don't need to plug in your top RPM but suggest around 4,000 so that the hull is loose. I suspect you'll find the 1.5 ratio matches best to your boat's current RPM and MPH.

Thanks guys. I swapped a borrowed 26p yesterday and it acted like I expected it to. Got on plane much easier and felt way better cruising. Was around 4k rpm at 60ish