Dry Ride - Lets Try Again

Ok... we all heard about boat handling, but there are times when you don't
have much choice, but to take chop at a bad angle. Which boat is going to
be able to hold its speed and run the best in moderate conditions.
Obviously when it gets bad you don't have much choice but to ignore weigh in
times and other issues for the sake of safety.

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"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Ok... we all heard about boat handling, but there are times when you don't
have much choice, but to take chop at a bad angle. Which boat is going to
be able to hold its speed and run the best in moderate conditions.
Obviously when it gets bad you don't have much choice but to ignore weigh
in
times and other issues for the sake of safety.

Now obviously I haven't had a chance to drive all the boats in rough water
conditions, and can only base my input on personal experience.

It could have been the operators, but the Rangers that I've been in were a
pretty wet ride. I've heard pretty good things about Champions and Tritons.
But from personal experience, my ProCraft SuperPro 190 gave me a good, dry
ride for a 19' boat. I would only think that the 20 and 21' hulls would be
as nice and dry.

My Viper Cobra Coosa 216 (now Venom Boat Company) has been (for me) the
ultimate in smooth, dry ride. It has a little deeper vee than a "standard"
bassboat with a little more freeboard. The forward hull is also flared out
more it seems than a standard bassboat as well which really throws the water
to the sides, assisting in keeping the occupants dry. The 21'6" length,
coupled with a 97" beam really means that it's stable and the length helps
span big waves. The strength of the Kevlar/Coosa Composite hull means that
if I can't run WFO across the tops of the waves, I can trim the nose up and
let the hull take the brunt of the wave. Having the responsive and powerful
Merc 250 hp ProXB with a HotFoot means that I have instant throttle response
when I need to either pour it on or back off, while keeping both hands on
the wheel.

Having a hydraulic jackplate is helpful as well, as I can adjust the motor
height for best handling. Unless the wave troughs are making it possible to
bottom the prop, I'll jam that outboard just as deep in the water as I can,
insuring that my prop isn't going to blow out, causing loss of control.
Having the trim and jackplate controls near the steering wheel where I can
control both without taking my hands off the wheel is great too.

With this combination of hull, motor and control capabilities, I've been out
in 7 foot waves on the Great Lakes without concern. I've run 70+ mph on
Lake Okeechobee in 3 footers and been nice and dry running the tops of the
waves.

A lot of rough water operating is being able to read the water and know when
it's safe to run fast on top, when you have to slow down and either surf the
tops, nose up and crash the waves or run at angles to the waves.
Unfortunately, you only get this water reading ability through experience,
and that means sometimes your going to get wet spearing a wave (which is a
bad thing) or thoroughly scaring the SH*&^ out of yourself. The first time
I ran over 50 mph in 4 footers (for 8 miles), I think I had to send the
driver's seat back in so they could fix the button hole I pinched in the
seat cover!
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Ok... we all heard about boat handling, but there are times when you don't
have much choice, but to take chop at a bad angle. Which boat is going to
be able to hold its speed and run the best in moderate conditions.
Obviously when it gets bad you don't have much choice but to ignore weigh
in
times and other issues for the sake of safety.

Now obviously I haven't had a chance to drive all the boats in rough water
conditions, and can only base my input on personal experience.

It could have been the operators, but the Rangers that I've been in were a
pretty wet ride. I've heard pretty good things about Champions and Tritons.
But from personal experience, my ProCraft SuperPro 190 gave me a good, dry
ride for a 19' boat. I would only think that the 20 and 21' hulls would be
as nice and dry.

My Viper Cobra Coosa 216 (now Venom Boat Company) has been (for me) the
ultimate in smooth, dry ride. It has a little deeper vee than a "standard"
bassboat with a little more freeboard. The forward hull is also flared out
more it seems than a standard bassboat as well which really throws the water
to the sides, assisting in keeping the occupants dry. The 21'6" length,
coupled with a 97" beam really means that it's stable and the length helps
span big waves. The strength of the Kevlar/Coosa Composite hull means that
if I can't run WFO across the tops of the waves, I can trim the nose up and
let the hull take the brunt of the wave. Having the responsive and powerful
Merc 250 hp ProXB with a HotFoot means that I have instant throttle response
when I need to either pour it on or back off, while keeping both hands on
the wheel.

Having a hydraulic jackplate is helpful as well, as I can adjust the motor
height for best handling. Unless the wave troughs are making it possible to
bottom the prop, I'll jam that outboard just as deep in the water as I can,
insuring that my prop isn't going to blow out, causing loss of control.
Having the trim and jackplate controls near the steering wheel where I can
control both without taking my hands off the wheel is great too.

With this combination of hull, motor and control capabilities, I've been out
in 7 foot waves on the Great Lakes without concern. I've run 70+ mph on
Lake Okeechobee in 3 footers and been nice and dry running the tops of the
waves.

A lot of rough water operating is being able to read the water and know when
it's safe to run fast on top, when you have to slow down and either surf the
tops, nose up and crash the waves or run at angles to the waves.
Unfortunately, you only get this water reading ability through experience,
and that means sometimes your going to get wet spearing a wave (which is a
bad thing) or thoroughly scaring the SH*&^ out of yourself. The first time
I ran over 50 mph in 4 footers (for 8 miles), I think I had to send the
driver's seat back in so they could fix the button hole I pinched in the
seat cover!
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com