• Welcome to the Checkmate Community Forums forums.

    You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions, articles and access to our other FREE features.
    By joining our free community you will be able to:

    » Interact with over 10,000 Checkmate Fanatics from around the world!
    » Post topics and messages
    » Post and view photos
    » Communicate privately with other members
    » Access our extensive gallery of old Checkmate brochures located in our Media Gallery
    » Browse the various pictures in our Checkmate photo gallery

    Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!

    If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact support by clicking here or by using the"contact us" link at the bottom of the page.

Starflite top speeds

checkmate243...

THANKS!!! I needed that...:lol:
The foam being removed made up for the extra 15lbs around my waist!:shakehead:

The sad part is it WOULD HAVE done 90+MPH with another prop!
Guess I need to build ANOTHER one!:devil:
 
Jrumon, what foam are you talking about, is it in front of the "wall" that is under the deck or is under the floor, i was planning on putting a new floor in mine sometime soon and I was curious, -shane
 
The foam is flotation foam in front of the "wall" under the deck, water comes in under the rub rail in big waves and collects in the forward area were the foam is. Checkmate didnt put a drain hole in that area so any water that collects up there stays up there, after enough years the foam rots and starts absorbing the water. You can drill a drain hole (about 3/4") in the bottom of the wall to help drain the water off.
I cut an access hatch in the wall and dug 80lb of wet foam out of my buddies starflight and 120lb out of mine. I left the compatrment empty and put a door on the acces hatch, its a nice storage place for life jackets and coushions now.
This is a key problem for starflights, with that much extra weight up in the bow it is VERY hard to get enough bow lift to get the boat out of the water.
It also makes them hard to get up on the trailer and the tongue weight gets excessive.
F150GT
 
Starflight 1986 with 2004 Optimax 225

I had a stock 1990 Mercury 2.4 200HP carburated on my Starflight and it did 63-64 MPH any day with a Laser II 25 - no chine walk or instability. I put on an Optimax 225 in 2004 and it crossed the 70 MPH with a Tempest 27'' w/o any problems - chine walking big time. Since then I had to tigthen the steering cables and play with 6'' of stecback to alleviate the chine walk. Since then I have had the boat up to 74-75 MPH on the GPS. I have learned how to control the boat at these speeds but it could get really scary. Only experienced drivers should be running the boat at these speeds. I am sure that if raise the engine another 1'' and play with different props I can probably get another 2 to 3 MPH more out of it. Maybe one day I'll play with it.
 
i must need to move my engine up higher, I know this engine likes RPM's and I couldn't get it above 65 with 2 people and nothing else in the boat on saturday. I went faster with 3 people and gear, how's that for backwards. With less weight weight in the rear of the boat it seems I couldn't get the nose to un-stick from the water and "loosen up" i think i may try to remove the front foam this week if i have time. It seems the 70 mph mark is becoming an obsession for me now. This can't be healthy hehe
 
I pull well over a 100 lbs of water soaked foam out of mine. Freed the bow up like it did when new.
 
supergenius74 said:
i must need to move my engine up higher, I know this engine likes RPM's and I couldn't get it above 65 with 2 people and nothing else in the boat on saturday. I went faster with 3 people and gear, how's that for backwards. With less weight weight in the rear of the boat it seems I couldn't get the nose to un-stick from the water and "loosen up" i think i may try to remove the front foam this week if i have time. It seems the 70 mph mark is becoming an obsession for me now. This can't be healthy hehe
Click to expand...
You might try lowering the engine as well. At a certain point you are too high and will lose lift and the hull sticks to the water like glue. For my setup it is 2.5". The extra weight in the back may actually have helped your lift. Secondly, a boat will run 2-3 MPH faster in cool weather as the denser air allows the motor to make more HP and RPM. As for the foam in the bow, drill a hole in the bottom of the bulkhead and check it out before going to all that trouble of teaaring it out. The foam in my floor was completely waterlogged when I rebuilt it, but the bow foam was bone dry. So, I left it in.
 
Finally broke the big 7-0.

I was able to do some setup experimenting this week with my Starliner. Since I spent $100 in gas doing runs I should at least share my findings. I am running a 1991 200 EFI Merc with 11" of setback. I made numerous runs at different engine heights with my two props. A 25" Renegade 4-blade and a 25" Tempest 3-blade. My best speeds with both were 2.25 -2.75" below the V. Any higher or lower and I lost top end. So I set it at 2.75" figuring there was no advantage to being higher, so I'll give it as much water as possible. Both props ran identically at each interval up to 4500 RPM - 46 MPH. But at 5000 RPM with the Tempest I can hear and feel the hull break free from the water and it climbed all the way to 58 MPH. The Renegade doesn't quite free up and only hits 54 MPH. But at WOT the Renegade lifts up (with way more trim than the Tempest) and I hit 67 @6000 RPM. The Tempest topped out at 70.5 @6000. In cool weather I can reach 69 with the 4-blade so I may have a couple MPH left in the Tempest. I guess I'll have to wait till the fall to find out.
It would seem the Tempest is the obvious prop choice here. But actually, I like the Renegade far better. It is faster out of the hole, holds better in turns, has less steering torque and believe it or not makes the engine run way quieter. It growls with the Tempest. Go figure.
If I spent most of my time over 50 MPH I would run the Tempest exclusively. Fact is it's the other way around and the WOT runs are just an occasional cheap (expensive) thrill.
I would be curious if any one is running a Trophy? I would love to have the handling of the Renegade with the lift of the Tempest. Anyone?
 
Thanks For The Info On The Bow Foam

I'm going to open up mine soon. The boat was always trailered but I'm sure that even if it's dry it will be worth it to remove the foam and have some extra space.
 
Hey Super G
You might try jacking yours way up as well. The Bridgeport/chopper combo likes to run real high. There used to be a guy on the board who was hitting mid 70's with the same setup but he was like even with the pad.
 
No new speeds for me, I am ready to try a thru hub prop, I believe this chopper just doesn't have enough lifting properties. I can get the bow to come up but it takes a lot of trim that just = blowout at top speed and very difficult steering. I did fing out that a stock bridgeport 2.4 EFI makes about 250 hp at the prop @ 7000 RPM but maxes out on torque at 5500 RPM, someone posted their dyno sheets for my engine. 250hp should = faster than 70 mhp, i think it's my prop, or more setback but 13" is pushing it for this old transom. -shane
 
From the vidio you posted it looks like your not getting the bow up enough to air out. Flights are hard to get aired out withought huge horse power. The magic setback numbers I've found are 14 - 16". With your light bridgeport it may take more.
F150GT
 
I think you are right F150, the boat was obviously designed for those heavier outboards not a bridgeport, I don't know the exact weight of my engine but it is light weight, i am probably 100 lbs lighter than a similar 250hp engine. The real question then is how much is too much setback, I have read of people with a lot more but did they do any sort of modifications to the transom? i have some support plates on both side of the transom and it seems to work fine. These transoms are are built like rocks, unless it is damaged i am sure it can handle quite a bit, especially if you consider all the people that hung big v8 300's on them, thats a 500+ lbs motor.
 
A V8 johnson 20'' shaft w/ offshore midsection is 550lbs. I have mine setback 6''. I am not worried about breaking the transom in the water, its trailering it that scares me. The motor weights 1/3 as much as the rest of the boat.
 
It WAS 87mph w/ a 27p srx @ 6600rpm. I say was, becouse I had a cylinder go lean & kill a piston on my madefi motor. I will be running a stock powerhead this season until I decide what new motor to replace it with.
 
I can feel the diffrence between my Flight with a Yami 200 and my buddies Flight with a Merc. I built a custom bracket for my brothers Bajahaha & Merc, I pushed it back 18" to get it to perform. Tried 14",16" & 18" to get it to air out.
The diffrence between 10" & 16" on mine was 5 MPH. I'm running a 10" custom bracket to redistribute the load accrost the transome & a 6" CMC behind that for height adjustment.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top