Shorties: how do you know if they'll work

[boomer35]

what makes a boat a good canadate for shorties? ive got a 30" Cigarette Mystique, non stepped, and as most know only few were made, so research or past exp isnt telling me much. the boat has the notched transom, which from what i understand allows water to hit the props cleaner. Im wondering if there is anyway to know if trying shorties is worth it, i understand its a crap shoot, but is there anyway to tell that "yes, good chance it will help" or "no, no way"

[JRalston]

Ive been searching for the answer to that question for a while

[FastDonzi]

The faster the boat, the better they work. if you have a 65mph boat you may only get 1-3 mph, if you have a 80mph boat you may get 5-6mph. I don't know of any boats that got much more than that, but when you get that fast every mph is harder to get and Allot more $$$$$$. your best bet would be to try to find some to borrow and see the gains before spending all that dough....

[mikes280]

depends on the x- dimension of the boat on mine it did not help on most older straight bottom boats the x is low so there is a good chance it will , also you most likely will need more prop . If you run a 3 blade you may need a 4 and so on

[boomer35]

is there a difference in the imco -2 lower and the merc -2 lower?

[boomer35]

i guess thats what im asking, IMCO -2 lower vs. the Mercury Sportsmaster -2 lower

from what little ive read on OSO, if -2 lowers indeed help your boat, it sounds like the merc might help just a tad less

[Smitty]

They do not always work as expected and on my boat I lost 1-2 mph on top and harder to plane out.

Believe it ir not, sometimes more speed can be had by putting drives deeper in the water to increase leverage which gives bow lift and more speed.

Call Phil at Lipship and ask him what you should do. He will know what works and what doesn't .

[boomer35]

They do not always work as expected and on my boat I lost 1-2 mph on top and harder to plane out.

Believe it ir not, sometimes more speed can be had by putting drives deeper in the water to increase leverage which gives bow lift and more speed.

Call Phil at Lipship and ask him what you should do. He will know what works and what doesn't .

yea, thats what im thinking too, i just wonder with my boat, as few that were built if he has any experience with this one

[allicat38]

no to change the subject but did you change prop rotation. I am also curious about the shorties on the boat

[Uncle Dave]

i guess thats what im asking, IMCO -2 lower vs. the Mercury Sportsmaster -2 lower

from what little ive read on OSO, if -2 lowers indeed help your boat, it sounds like the merc might help just a tad less

I have both and I think the imco is worth 1-2mph over the sportmaster.
I tried them both on both boats and like the imco.


UD

[mikes280]

I have both and I think the imco is worth 1-2mph over the sportmaster.
I tried them both on both boats and like the imco.


UD

did you try cutting down the skag on the sportmaster to match the one on the imco. I have a sportmaster and i have heard what makes them slower is the longer skag

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

The x has to be at least slightly higher for a shorty to work wonders. If the water is already passing above the side water intakes adding a shorty will help little. You have to look at the how fat the gears cases are near the top. If the shorty is dragging the fat part of the case through the water everything gained by raising prop shaft is negated by dragging the fat part in the water.

It is rarely a good idea to cut a skeg.

[Uncle Dave]

did you try cutting down the skag on the sportmaster to match the one on the imco. I have a sportmaster and i have heard what makes them slower is the longer skag

No I didn't try that.
I also didnt think Id invest in a newer lower only to slow down.

The next 10 years of beaching it will wear it down enough- Ill check back with you guys in a decade or so.

I retrofitted the 20.8 with an ITS system and the new drive and lower. Fully hydraulic to the helm - got to be one of the more expensive 20 foot boats out there- but damm it steers!

I bought the other boat with the ITS and a Teague platinum XR which came with the Imco lower.


UD

[mikes280]

The x has to be at least slightly higher for a shorty to work wonders. If the water is already passing above the side water intakes adding a shorty will help little. You have to look at the how fat the gears cases are near the top. If the shorty is dragging the fat part of the case through the water everything gained by raising prop shaft is negated by dragging the fat part in the water.

It is rarely a good idea to cut a skeg.

the skeg on the sportmaster is 2 inches longer then any other bravo lower . might be needed on a cat but i see no advantage on a v , imco did not think it need to be that long

[MOBILEMERCMAN]

So did the skeg actually slow it down ? I doubt it.

[Geronimo36]

yea, thats what im thinking too, i just wonder with my boat, as few that were built if he has any experience with this one

I had the same questions when I raised my X.... So few boats and of the ones that existed, no one played around with the X much....

My drives were deep though.. I went from 7 1/2" propshaft depth to 5 1/2" propshaft depth and picked up 4 mph on top and 2-3 mph mid-range and surprisingly didn't have to reprop, which leads me to believe I could have went up higher.... If i had to do it all over again I think I would have went up another inch but I can't stand testing/tuning to get setup perfect so I took a conservative approach and I'm happy with the results...

If I were racing, who knows, I may have gone up 4" and spaced it to get it perfect but I don't have the time nor the patience!

[NO MERCY]

what makes a boat a good canadate for shorties? ive got a 30" Cigarette Mystique, non stepped, and as most know only few were made, so research or past exp isnt telling me much. the boat has the notched transom, which from what i understand allows water to hit the props cleaner. Im wondering if there is anyway to know if trying shorties is worth it, i understand its a crap shoot, but is there anyway to tell that "yes, good chance it will help" or "no, no way"

Was talkin with a little blonde at Players last night... word is you've already got a 2" shorty.

[GENERAL LEE]

On the 30 Mystique non-stepped hull, if you're trying to cure the porpoise, you should try some different first. The shorties won't help that on your boat. The boat WMF breifly owned, was on our lake since new. They tried shorties, but new props were what cured the porpoise issue. I don't knwo if he sold the boat with the new props or not.

Shorties don't make much of a difference anyway from my own experience. I switched from standard length, to shorties on my 38 T/S back when I had it. It turned a few more rpms, but saw no gain in mph at all. After repropping & a few other tweaks, my boat still ran the exact same as it did with the standard length XR's.

[boomer35]

On the 30 Mystique non-stepped hull, if you're trying to cure the porpoise, you should try some different first. The shorties won't help that on your boat. The boat WMF breifly owned, was on our lake since new. They tried shorties, but new props were what cured the porpoise issue. I don't knwo if he sold the boat with the new props or not.

Shorties don't make much of a difference anyway from my own experience. I switched from standard length, to shorties on my 38 T/S back when I had it. It turned a few more rpms, but saw no gain in mph at all. After repropping & a few other tweaks, my boat still ran the exact same as it did with the standard length XR's.

great advice, who would know on your lake how WMF's boat ran with the shorties? i would love to get in touch with anyone involved

[GENERAL LEE]

great advice, who would know on your lake how WMF's boat ran with the shorties? i would love to get in touch with anyone involved

I'll see if I can find the guy that ordered the boat brand new up there this weekend, or at least try to find out how it rode. He's still around up there, but I have no idea where he hangs out.