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Spooky ride today.

Sam I am

Sam I am

Well-known member
Put the 23P Tempest plus on the 225 Pro XS today and went for a couple of runs. Got to 70.5 on the hand held GPS with only 1/4 trim on the plate and the motor when the chine walk started to show up. I was driving through OK when I took my hand off the wheel to trim up and as I was airing out she got real loose. I screwed up and backed out the throttle way to fast rather than trimming down the motor and the hull pretty much "fell" back in the water. I got a pretty good shake that slid me half out of my seat. I think it was a sneak peak of what I've heard called bow hook. What ever you call it, it was frickin' scary.

Translation: MORE SEAT TIME before I add anymore prop or setback.

Kind makes me wonder how many good setups are being screwed up by operator error.
 
Everyone does that kinda thing atleast once, usually gets your heart going a bit. Scares me more to be in the passanger seat when that kinda thing happens and you have no control.
 
TheNerd said:
Everyone does that kinda thing atleast once, usually gets your heart going a bit. Scares me more to be in the passanger seat when that kinda thing happens and you have no control.
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Yeah, that got my heart going a lot. As I was heading back to the dock, I got to thinking about "what if". I was a long way from the dock, no one else on the lake, the water is cold and of course, I wasn't wearing a life jacket. :shakehead:
 
About 6 years ago I flipped my boat at about 78 mph, not sure what happend.... all of a sudden it turned to the right as hard as it could... I totally destroyed the passenger seat and the only thing holding the engine on the back was the trim ram, where the engine bracket bends it snapped right off... anyways I was not wearing a life jacket, was wearing chest waiders and didn't have the tether on my wrist, I was lucky the force kept me pinned to the floor of the boat and it landed upright half full of water, I was knocked out for a min or two, by the time I came to someone was allready in my boat. Whats wierd is I drove this boat for 4 years every weekend before this happend, I got it fixed and drove it for one more year and then sold it cause my wife wouldn't ride in it after that, I never open my boat up anymore without a PFD because I thought I could totally trust that boat and it almost killed me, I shook for 5 hours after I realized what happed. got right back on the horse though with hydraulic steering installed,{ only had dual cable before} and $6500 later.
 
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here's a pic of the one I flipped.
 

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I would suggest right now staying with a 4 blade prop (trophy) the checkmates just handle that much better with them. WE all go through this don't worry get back on he horse as soon as you can:bigthumb:
 
Check This said:
I would suggest right now staying with a 4 blade prop (trophy) the checkmates just handle that much better with them. WE all go through this don't worry get back on he horse as soon as you can:bigthumb:
Click to expand...

I disagree... I Trophy is a good prop for these boats but a boat set up properly with a Tempest Plus or a Fury will out perform a trophy in all aspects.

Sam, welcome to the land of wrong engine height meets non-ratcheting gearcase.
 
So did the hull basically "dig in" and rapidly decelerate? I assume in the case you should have stayed on the power more and just trimmed down some then pulled the power back? Did you jack the motor too much and lose bow lift?

I have a comparative lead sled that I have never had any un-nerving events with. I think wih the added length and weight, it is harder for my hull to rapidly change direction or pivot, even after the boat drops back into the water.

As I was first reading you post, I was wondering about life jacke/tether and water temps with no one else on the lake. A prop test ride could turn into a disaster quickly this time of year.
 
gwcpa said:
So did the hull basically "dig in" and rapidly decelerate? I assume in the case you should have stayed on the power more and just trimmed down some then pulled the power back? Did you jack the motor too much and lose bow lift?

I have a comparative lead sled that I have never had any un-nerving events with. I think wih the added length and weight, it is harder for my hull to rapidly change direction or pivot, even after the boat drops back into the water.

As I was first reading you post, I was wondering about life jacke/tether and water temps with no one else on the lake. A prop test ride could turn into a disaster quickly this time of year.
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I should have trimmed back down. That's what I've done every other time I thought things were getting out of hand. But, this time it felt like it was about to get really squirrley and rather than trim down, my heart skipped a beat and I took out a lot of throttle waaaaay too fast. I was already tilted a little from the chine walking and I when the bow dropped it jerked right and the straightened out. Pretty much like when your fishtailing a car on pavement and let off the gas and the rear tires hook up again resulting in a lateral jerk.

The water was a lot rougher than the first ride I took this boat out...about 6"-8" waves. The first time I took it out it was almost glass. Optimal.

In short, I was stupid not to wear a life jacket, not hook up the kill tether and try to go all out in a machine that I'm going to have to grow into. If I'd lost control completely, I was f'ed.

Lesson learned.
 
Yep, that's a good lesson- my boat taught me the same thing about a month ago. Sounds like your situation was a little worse though. I'll also be wearing a life jacket when I get back to testing in the spring! :thumb:
 
xsive said:
I disagree... I Trophy is a good prop for these boats but a boat set up properly with a Tempest Plus or a Fury will out perform a trophy in all aspects.

Sam, welcome to the land of wrong engine height meets non-ratcheting gearcase.
Click to expand...

X I agree but for a guy starting out I think a 4 blade is the way to go. A good three blade will out perform a 4 but when you are getting use to it my choice would be a 4 until I had a better grip on it and seat time.
 
IMHO these boats need to have 4 essentials past 60-65 MPH.

1. Hydraulic Steering
2. Solid Mounts
3. Right Prop (and yes I agree w/ HD & Check This - TROPHY)

and lastly, which seems to be never mentioned:

4. FOOT THROTTLE

These boats are VERY safe when hull is in the water. They seem to take anything.

When aired out, well, completely different story.

There are very few 21' and under true go fasts without a foot throttle. This boat is not in that category, but past 60 it might as well require that amount of attention.
 
hotdaddy, don't think I hit anything, no damage to the l/w and 27 feet of water, the only reason I thought maybe prop blow out is because I read somewhere on here it is usually followed by a violent turn to the right.
 
BagMan said:
IMHO these boats need to have 4 essentials past 60-65 MPH.

1. Hydraulic Steering
2. Solid Mounts
3. Right Prop (and yes I agree w/ HD & Check This - TROPHY)

and lastly, which seems to be never mentioned:

4. FOOT THROTTLE

These boats are VERY safe when hull is in the water. They seem to take anything.

When aired out, well, completely different story.

There are very few 21' and under true go fasts without a foot throttle. This boat is not in that category, but past 60 it might as well require that amount of attention.
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I was putting a hot foot in mine this year just never came up with the time. Two hands on the wheel when airing it out is a absolute as far as I am concerned.
 
merc245 said:
Theres several differant types and models of remote trim buttons or levers,This being the simplest and cheapest,Love mine,love my foot throddle.My hands never leave the wheel! And give me a 6" to 8"+ chop anyday over dead calm water!

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...rformance-Parts&aID=601N4&merchID=1009&r=view
Click to expand...

Thanks! I'll have to take your word on the chop, though. I thought it was easier to drive it on the calm day, but I also had a 21P instead of the 23P. So...it was different boat behavior-wise in completely different water conditions.
 
Check This said:
I was putting a hot foot in mine this year just never came up with the time. Two hands on the wheel when airing it out is a absolute as far as I am concerned.
Click to expand...

If you take a look at Randy's new awesome looking 21 closed deck he just posted today, I see a foot throttle.
 
merc245 said:
Theres several differant types and models of remote trim buttons or levers,This being the simplest and cheapest,Love mine,love my foot throddle.My hands never leave the wheel! And give me a 6" to 8"+ chop anyday over dead calm water!

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/pro...rformance-Parts&aID=601N4&merchID=1009&r=view
Click to expand...

I agree, I have the same switch. It makes a big difference when you can keep both hands on the steering wheel. You might also want to look into an automatic inflating life vest(you don't even realize you're wearing one, until you need it).

I also have a Hot Foot which also helps greatly in the control I have with the boat(seconds count in some emergencies).
 
aqua said:
I agree, I have the same switch. It makes a big difference when you can keep both hands on the steering wheel. You might also want to look into an automatic inflating life vest(you don't even realize you're wearing one, until you need it).

I also have a Hot Foot which also helps greatly in the control I have with the boat(seconds count in some emergencies).
Click to expand...

I agree seconds count, after my crash the trottle was still pinned, my hand was on the throttle and I didn't even have time to pull up, I'm lucky the engine died.
 
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