• 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.

To pad or not to pad Starlflight

A

a36pilot

Member
My starflight is on its back right now getting re-gelled. I've been thinking that its a good time to add a pad. Anyone added a pad to a Starflight? Any thoughts?

I read another thread about a Pulse with a pad that was a handful. That is not what I'm looking for, I want a stable boat. Just would like to add easy and cheap speed while its upside down.
 
Since the Starflite hull is light and stable as it is designed
I think you would be looking for trouble. Many Hi Performance boat
owners talk about chine walk at high speed and if you don't know how to handle it life could get short quickly. As I have never gone fast enough to experience this I can't tell you what to look out for, so why fix what isn't broken?

I agree with Merc245!
 
If you are going to add a pad, I would look closely at the Pulsare 2100.
You are definitely rolling the dice on a mod. like that, but it isn't that big of a stretch considering the similarities to the Pulsare line.

With that said, for the amount of money invested at that point you could probably sell the Starflite and put the money toward a used Pulsare.

JMO

HD
 
Well thanks for poppin my bubbles. I didn't really want to put the effort & time into it anyway. As far as money goes, well it grows on trees and I have them planted in my back yard anyway. Nah JK,:devil: but it would not have cost much of anything but my time cause I'm a DIYer.

I just look at that hull sitting upside down and think of all the bass boats that will out run me this summer because I have no pad. Then again, I don't want a handful of trouble at highspeed.:bigthumb:s But not one will ever look as cool as a long sleek closed deck running wide open at 54.
 
What are you going to power it with?

We have a few really fast flites on this board and none with a pad. Rob z has one that has a huge built up OMC v-8 hanging off the back of it... somthing like 425hp. He's ran 86 on gps, so far.

Unless you're going with some big hp- I wouldn't mess with it... but it still would be neat to see what happens if you get bored and give it a try.
 
I guess it does matter what you're powering it with.

From what I've read (not actually done) with these hulls, at ~ 280+ hp, the starflite and pulsare hulls run pretty close to the same numbers. So if you have some serious HP on there, I'd put the effort into some nice elbows to reinforce the transom and try to add 6" of setback.

If the GT in your avitar means a Johny V6, then I guess maybe pad could eek out a few mph. But I personally wouldn't consider doing that to just hit 60 on that boat. My opinion is that you have a great looking classic that is probably not going to be the fastest boat on the lake. Enjoy it for what it is and have fun with maybe the best LOOKING boat on the lake.
 
I was just wondering! I have a jet drive, so chine walk is not a problem, but the intake for the jet has a scag built in on either side. Does anyone know would a scag on either side of the pad help stop the chine walk or would it make it worse? I think it might help as long as the boat was in the water but if it caught some air and then hit the water again it might catch abruptly.

I Know old V-drive race boats usually ran a scag in front of the prop shaft, not sure exactly what it was for. Anyone have some thoughts on that? Is it for chine walk?
 
Changing a boats running design without knowing the outcome is flirting with disaster,

Since it's bottoms up I would blueprint the bottom. Take out any hook, bubbles make both sides exactly the same. This alone will still affect the way it runs and handles, You may need a prop change may need more or less lift, It may run and handle better at a different X dimension. I say it would all be for the better your hull would be more efficient you can pick up speed, but it will change the characteristics as you know how your boat handled before.
So keep in mind changes may be needed to keep it safe. Things to consider : set back, X dimension, prop adding trim tabs. I'm not saying you will have to do all this, test what you have first then go from there if you do blueprint the bottom.
 
Jetmate said:
I was just wondering! I have a jet drive, so chine walk is not a problem, but the intake for the jet has a scag built in on either side. Does anyone know would a scag on either side of the pad help stop the chine walk or would it make it worse? I think it might help as long as the boat was in the water but if it caught some air and then hit the water again it might catch abruptly.

I Know old V-drive race boats usually ran a scag in front of the prop shaft, not sure exactly what it was for. Anyone have some thoughts on that? Is it for chine walk?
Click to expand...
Interesting.......
 
Jetmate said:
I was just wondering! I have a jet drive, so chine walk is not a problem, but the intake for the jet has a scag built in on either side. Does anyone know would a scag on either side of the pad help stop the chine walk or would it make it worse? I think it might help as long as the boat was in the water but if it caught some air and then hit the water again it might catch abruptly.

I Know old V-drive race boats usually ran a scag in front of the prop shaft, not sure exactly what it was for. Anyone have some thoughts on that? Is it for chine walk?
Click to expand...

The skeg on a flat bottom v-drive is for cornering and straight line stability.
 
Jetmate said:
Scag might help near the rear????????????? anyone?
Click to expand...
You will get better response if you start a seperate thread.

As for the pad, I don't see any reason why it wouldn't work. The Pulsare is basically a Starflite with a pad. Personally, I think the Starflite could use a little more lift. I could see widening or raising the V-pad slighty. However with the V-pad that exists now, adding a flat pad would make it way too high and screw up the handling for sure.
 
Well thanks for all the input. More negative then positive. I'm going to leave "well enough" alone. But blue printing may be much easier with a less disastrous outcome. During prep sanding I flat boarded all the running surface, only hook I found was at the last 6" of the v-pad and it was not much. (maybe an 1/8") That area was also damaged a little and when I filled and faired, I may have add a little more back too it.

Anyone have firsthand experience with blueprinting a starflight? Never gone there before, but always looking for something to do. Letme know.
 
Do you know the hx of the boat.It might be wet. In the bow behind the bulkhead is enough foam to hold about 100 lbs of water.You drill a hole near the bottom of the bulkhead see if the foam is wet or it might start to even leak.
With a 200hp and the right set up you should be easily into low to mid 60's.
 
Ya, I'm the second owner of the boat. I've had it more than 10 years. But it has been on loan to a family member for some time. Needless to say I got it back in less then desireable condition. Therefore the new gel on the bottem.

I have not checked the foam in the front, I don't expect it to be wet, but I plan on checking. I plan on re-carpeting the interior and I was considering taking the deck off too make the carpet easier to get to. If so, I will pull the foam out just cause.

I'm not sure about the set-up. The previous owner played with it some added a hyd jack plate and a bobs nose cone. I cant see any significant difference with motor height by ajusting the jp. Ive tried a couple different props. It's running a QS 4blade 23 pitch and I have tried a 25 pitch trouphy plus, but just too much pitch. Best speed 54-55 on speedo.

I am considering adding more set back, but not sure how much I can get away with without adding knee braces/ transom reinforcement. Thoughts?
 
"Bobs nose cone needs to go": Well thats good to know. Does it hurt the speed at all? Is there any benefit / drawback to it at 60ish? If there is a draw back, I'll definitely loose it. Its problably time for a re-build down there anyway. Leaking seals and all.

I have had constant temperature probs with this engine from the time I bought it, original owner said that after the nose cone was installed, his temperatures ran hotter and he would have to slow down to cool off. But at speed there is always lots of water pressure like 15psi plus. Thoughts?
 
There should be a few comments about loosing the cone by the end of this thread.And with any temperature proplems is start at the waterpump.Install a new one properly first thing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top