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Starflite speed help!!

M

MateFever

Active member
So, by my estimations it seems my boat is about 5 to 10 mph slower than similarly set up rigs with the same power. I have an 88 Starflite with a 99 merc 225 opti sitting on a 5" cmc hydro. I've tried a 26 laser 2 and best I got was around 60 mph at about 5600 rpm. The merc calculator said 25% slip with those numbers. Tonight I was running my 26 chopper and could only hit 60 again and then I noticed my tach started reading wrong. It was about 1000 rpm low based on what I was seeing earlier today (during take off it would hit 5500 before I got on plane and it grabbed and at the end of the night it was reading 4200).

I've been trying to keep my jack plate below the half up point on the gauge and trim until the water pressure begins to drop below 15psi. My chopper isn't in great shape but the laser is. I've almost gotten close to the same speed with my 23 hi five. I'm sure my bow foam needs ripped out but what else do I do? Can I assume that I've got a wet boat and I won't get the performance until everything rots and I have to replace it? Motor runs like a top. The previous owner bought it new and had it maintained by the local merc dealer.

Thanks for your input.
 
its a great boat, iv had a 89 starliner ,and a pulsar 21,first boat speeds and fishing stories are a lot alike lol,, i think if you are spinning at 5600,5800.a 26p the boat is going to go 63 to 65 mph thats it!! mine was brand new from clearwater marine with a new 200 black max ,,,,63 to 65 i just got a 97 21 pulsar 225 merc 26p 5900 64 mph,!!! now my euro with a 2.5 spinning at 7800 30p over 100 easy but the boat weights 678 ,, i want to put a 300 on the pulsar it needs it,any way your hull can go faster ,,more mootaa!!!!:lol:
 
Ditch the Chopper and the Laser. Both are for light boats.

You need to try a quality 24P 4 blade or a 25P 3 blade. Look for a trophy plus or a tempest plus. Both have worked well with your combo.

Even that Turbo 2+2 I recommended was a rocket and hit 70 on mine with a 225.
 
Matt, I've been looking for a turbo just haven't pulled the trigger. I wondered if the boat was just too big for either prop.
 
You are getting the high slip numbers due to the prop design. Both have exhaust exiting over the hub. Both are known to work best on lighter hulls.
 
If you get a chance to to try a Bravo I FS, go for it. I put one on my 20 foot Ranger which is a TUB and it performed great. I was running a 23 Tempest + and getting 62-63 GPS with 5900 RPM. The only problem was that with people and a load in the boat I was losing 8 mph and several hundred RPM. On the prop guy's recommendation I went up to a 24P Bravo I FS. Which I though was the wrong way to go, but my top speed remained pretty much the same 63 gps and my RPM went to 5850. However, I can now go 61 with 3 guys all our gear and a full livewell. The Bravo I also lifted the entire boat much better resulting the improved top speed while loaded. It will almost chine walk now, where as before it felt like it was glued to the water.

The Bravo I's really like to be run high. I run mine at 3-4 inches indicated on the atlas tape measure on the plate which works out to about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way up. When I did that with the Tempest+ I'd get a huge rooster and scrub off speed. My best numbers on the Tempest plus came with the Jackplate buried. I did try a 24 pitch Trophy + on the Ranger, but it wasn't pretty out of the hole.

Now...comparing the ranger to you starflite is a big stretch, but the punchline might be the same...the prop will lift the entire boat out of the water with the improved stern lift but still has enough cup to carry the bow quite nicely. And since you already have the jackplate you can run it high enough. Last thought: they aren't cheap...every once in a while one comes up on BBC...in the 25-27P range and they seem to go quick.
 
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Two issues I see right away are lack of setback and wrong prop. You need to add a 6" setback bracket between the hull and jackplate. (10-12" of setback total). Try a Trophy Plus 26. With more setback and the propshaft about 1" below the pad you should be able turn the 26 Trophy Plus to about 5900-6000 rpm at 72+ mph....
 
Thanks for the input guys. I had read through the Starflite/liner speeds thread and that's where I'd determined that I was running slow. I have the land n sea step n jack from my predictor that I could run to get some additional set back (especially since I've had no luck selling the predictor) but it want to ski behind it too. Biggest problem is nobody runs performance boats close to me so don't have a shop to try props. I will keep my eyes peeled for a turbo 2+2, tempest or similar. Has anyone tried the rev 4 on this hull. It's supposedly a 4 blade cousin to the tempest.
 
x2 on getting the right prop. Trophy or TRO4 work very well on these hulls. I am sure there are others like a Turbo 2+2 that would do the trick. A Bravo One or Rev4 would likely have too much diameter for a 225 but work well for higher hp motors 250+.
One of the big factors that isn't mentioned much is elevation. The fastest Mates are all at sea level. You will lose 3 or 4 mph for every 1000' above sea level.
I looked back at my speeds in the Starflite thread and they were too high. Back then I used a friends first gen gps that was very erratic and was running in a river with a strong current. I always posted my downhill numbers. Wasn't helpful. I was probably 5 mph high on all my numbers.
On a lake with a proper gps I am thinking I ran maybe 63-65 at 1000' elevation. My 250 etec was way faster and still only running 70.
 
I'm not one of the "you need a ton of set back" guys. My Liner runs 75 with the same plate as you and an old 250 EFI Merc. That was with a 24 Trophy and it tapped the limiter so it's got more in it. With that set up I can easily plane off with 6 adults, 2 kids, 3 coolers, and a folding grill loaded in the boat. Plus it doesn't porpoise at low speeds. I take my kids tubing at 15 mph and people can go slalom skiing behind it too. Get the foam out of the front and get as much weight as possible to the back of the boat. A chopper can work but it needs cup added to carry a heavy boat and will never be a great choice for anything but when running with a light load. The Laser I wouldn't even bother with.

John
 
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