well, we managed to salvage 2 decent boating days out of a forecasted crappy holiday weekend in the northeast.


On the 4th of July we did the wakeboarding and tubing thing and the boat ran fine. Yesterday was a bit of a rain out, so today we gave it another try.

However, the boat seemed different today . . . it did not want to get up and go. We had the same people and gear as the day prior, but it just did not want to get up on plane and take off like it usually does. We tried wake boarding, and the thing just sat there doing about 15 mph and the engine was at 3500 RPM - highly unusual. After about a minute of that I shut it down and we beached it for lunch. All the while I am thinking, well maybe the prop hub is wearing out, etc. etc. I checked the prop, looked OK.

Then we headed out to do some tubing . . . this time I figured maybe we had too much weight in the stern. So I had an extra person sit up front this time. The boat took off and was its old self again. the difference was a 150 lb person moving from the back seat up to the front seat next to the captain.

I did not think that a 1 (fairly small) person move would make that much of a difference, but it did. Any one else notice that kind of sensitivity in the balance and ride of their boat?

Glad it was a simple fix!

On occasion, I used to have to move people around with my old Glastron. I didn't particularly care for asking people to move around, so I tried to correct it by playing with the trim. Sometimes it worked, other times, not so much.

I'm surprise on your size of boat. It happened to me on a 10 foot dinghy to get it to plane.

Perhaps you should get trim tabs?

My 21 footer was like that with the 3 blade aluminum prop. 4 blade SS and people placement was not an issue. My current boat seems to not care. Even with 10 aboard, it'll get on plane without tabs, but it sure gets there quicker with tabs deployed.

With cloudy weather (low atmospheric pressure assumed) and high heat/humidity, your engine a lot working against it too.

See: http://wahiduddin.net/calc/calc_hp_dp.htm

Weight in the bow while towing makes a big difference for me. I looked at trim tabs, smart tabs, and even the Volvo tabs, but the Four Winns Horizon 200 hull I have is incompatible with them all. Securing volunteers for 'bow duty' is about all I can do.

Formulas have trim tabs as standard equipment. My surprise was that the people load did not seem to be any different than the day before.

Perhaps the only difference was less fuel, which would cause the center of weight to be more aft.

Is your bilge pump working?
You said it rained overnight.
The reason I mention this is ...My friend's wife was complaining that their boat couldn't pull skiers out of the water and seemed "sluggish". It turned out the bilge pump had failed and the boat took on some water (swim and rain) at 8 pounds per gallon it dosen't take alot to equal out to a 150 pound person
just my .02

I wouldn't think your 454cid would struggle on your class of speed boat. Something is off I think.

You must of tried pulling people before with he same load?

Bilge pump was working . . . I had the same thoughts at the time and actually ran the pump to be sure.

As I think about it, on the second day, the tank was nearly empty, and that probably effected the balance the most.

As I said, once I moved a person up to the middle, off we went.

The boat has a 24 degree V and cuts a big hole in the water before it gets on plane. I think that makes it more sensitive to weight distribution than some other boats.

Anyway, it seems that all is well. We shall see when the wakeboarding gang comes along again.

try again with a full tank of fuel and see if that helps.
I'm wondering, is your fuel tank up front? mine is right in front of the engine and doesn't seem to affect balance much

A full tank would cost about $500 at the marina (96 gallons), so probably not a full tank, but I do need to get some more gas. The tank starts about 1 foot in front of the engine and extends forward for about 6 feet. So, it can definitely bring the balance forward.

Anyway, once I add some more gas, we'll see how it goes & tows (the wakeboarders)

I have a simple answer--might not be the right answer, but---

it's very possible you had something caught in the prop or on the drive in front of the prop... Seaweed, a plastic bag, piece of rope, fishing line, anything like that can make your boat act like it's trying to tow an old barge.

We have a lot of seaweed and other vegetation in our lake, I've had some caught several times. If the boat won't go, easiest fix is to just back up. Usually that works. Sometimes just stopping and sitting, whatever is there will just fall off.

FR - No seaweed etc., I checked all the obvious stuff. Sometimes, barnacle growth on the prop can have similar effect, but again the prop was in good shape.

I think the boat is very sensitive to weight distribution and on the 2nd day of water sprots for that weekend the boat was low(er) on fuel.

Can you tell where not giving up on your boat with that explanation?
Your boat should be kicking a&& and taking names. Not "sensitive".