I don't understand why my smaller boat could not smoke a 26 foot boat with similar engines. We were pretty much neck and neck bouncing back and forth as the chop affected our speed a little. When we pulled into a cove the guy said man your boat is quick and thought I had a 375HP engine. When It told him I had the 415HP he said I should have killed him. He also said I should maybe look at trim tabs?

Any thoughts on this?

 I have the stanadard F7 stainless props on the stock DPS stern drive.  I get a great holeshot for a near 24 foot boat. But I think I should be seeing more . . . I only had three including me and a 1/2 a tank of gas. He had 4 not sure how much gas in his boat.

 I have added a few items to the boat that may contribute a fair amount of weight, but I still think I should top at least 68 based on calcs I have seen.

 

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Limited Edition 230BR 8.2Liter/502CI (GSI Volo Penta) DP-S

LAKATION

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I'm no motor head but our boats are pretty heavy for their size and that model isn't built with the fast tab hull so I'm sure there is some lost speed there as well.

What type of boat was this 26 footer?  That makes a huge difference.  Look at Ken Cipra's Sunsation.  It's almost 29 feet long and weighs in at 4,650 pounds.  That's almost 6 feet longer than your boat and less than 1,000 pounds heavier.  So if it was a lighter model like a Baja, Sunsation, Nordic, etc that would definately make a difference.

 Also, if he had more deadrise he'd probably be cutting through the chop a little better than your 18 degrees gives you.  There are just alot of different factors besides engine size that would affect the speed.

Duo-Prop is great for handling but put your boat next to an exact duplicate with a Bravo 1 and it will outrun you.

As far as tabs go, they won't help much for gaining any speed but do help in leveling things out in the chop.  I boat in Tampa Bay and I use my tabs all the time to get the back up out of the water with the trim and then put the nose down a bit more with the tabs.

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Ryan,

Thanks for reply . . 

 I thought my boat had the fast tab? I was pretty sure I read that somewhere. I agree the duo prop seems to have a lot of bite but I wonder if that is costing me some top end. Not really a big deal as I can't really fly to fast on our lakes they are not that large. I just wanted to see what this baby can do. I would love to have a glass day and run it again with just myself and 1/4 tank of gas.

BTW, the boat I was up against was a scarab. I have a picture of us hanging out in cove and see the name in the pic.

 

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Limited Edition 230BR 8.2Liter/502CI (GSI Volo Penta) DP-S

LAKATION

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Your signature says you have a 2002 230BR.  If that is the case then no, you don't have the fast tab hull.  That hull didn't come out until 2006 / 2007 and wasn't put on the 230BR or 236LS from what I understand.  I have the same model boat that you have just newer and they rebadged it to 236LS but basically the same boat.  These things just aren't built for speed.  They are built to cruise.

The duo prop will definately take away a little on the top end compared to a single prop drive just because of the design.  But you also are rewarded with better handling and low speed stability. 

 I'm not familiar with the Scarab boats but since they are more of a high performance boat they are definately built to go fast unlike the 230BR.

I've got the 5.7 Volvo Penta.  I believe it's 280 or 290hp and the best I've seen is 49mph GPS.  But it sure is a nice dry ride in the chop down here in Tampa.

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Getting 64mph GPS in a Crownline with stock power sounds pretty good to me.  Our boats are runabouts, family type boats.  Hulls are designed for good handling and ride and speed performance is not their thing.  A Scarab hull is designed to maximize performance.  I see guys at Lake of the Ozarks in 2' longer boats than mine that will outrun me by 20 mph with the same engine.  They're slow to plane and can't handle as many passengers but they'll fly.  64!  Sweet!

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O'
"Little Mascara 3"
2003 266BR,496 MAG w/Bravo III

He said 64, my speedo only showed 59 (bouncing). He had a nice little GPS device. I never thought about getting one mounted since I only frequent the local lakes and not much to getting around them. Now if I were in the ozarks, you bet your booty I would have a GPS, CB, Flares and a dinghy! :-)

 

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Limited Edition 230BR 8.2Liter/502CI (GSI Volo Penta) DP-S

LAKATION

Project(s) Completed:
2000 Watt Stereo Systerm
Swimplatforms.com

Coming Soon:
Wakeboard Tower and Speaker Setup
Custom Graphics

Also... I believe the longer the hull the faster the boat (obviously the hull must be designed for speed.)  A longer running surface will allow the boat to ride "less deep" in the water and therefore it would reduce the friction of "plowing" through the water.  Yes, more hull is touching the surface of the water, but surface friction is far lower than the resistance of pushing through the water.  That's why the longer the Baja/Fountain/Formula (speed boats) the faster it goes (well.. they add a few extra motors as well... but you get the point.)

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2007 Crownline 240LS Merc MAG350-BIII
-Corsa thruhull, Social Swim, Sport package, Factory Tower
- HeaterCraft heater
-Mercury Smartcraft SC1000 Tach and Speedo
... in need of a name. :(
Towed with a 2008 Nissan Armada LE 4x4
Redmond, Washington

Greg Taylor:

Also... I believe the longer the hull the faster the boat

Greg, that is only the case for displacement hulls.

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Stefan

2008 275CCR 496MAG B3
"Arosa"

If my history is correct, Larry Smith was the original designer of the Scarab Hull back in the 70's . It was intended as a GO-FAST hull from the get go. Larry made a deal with Wellcraft to produce it as a Scarab and go into production.  They used to fight Fountain and Velocity for the world "Kilo Records" (speed championship) and did hold the title a few times in the early 90's. Wellcraft stopped production of the Scarab as a typical GO-FAST boat in early 2000's but continued to make the Scarab as a fast center counsel  "fish boat".  

The newer 26 foot Scarabs are around 4500 lbs. That is pretty darn close to the weight of your boat. Wellcraft made a few variations to the Scarab including the Larry Smith "Flat Deck" race hull which is even lighter. All Scarabs are fast running hulls. If you look from behind you will see that they are pretty narrow and have a "Deeper "V" configuration. -  Made for speed! 

 

You are doing very well at 64 with your boat and power. Supercharge it and whoop the Scarab next time.

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Stewart Babineau
2005 225BR
427 Small Block (470 hp) with IMCO powerflow exhaust.
Bravo 1X with IMCO 1" shorter drive
Auto Meter Pro Marine gauge upgrade.
BIG Stereo