Guys,
I have a 38' Top Gun (step bottom) and I have trouble getting on plane in the ocean when it is rough. I have no problems in the bay or when the ocean is calm. I usually like to lower my tabs and hold the motors steady around 3k to come on plane, but in rough water when I try the same thing one prop or both with start blowing/cavitation. What can I do to improve this?
Thread: Getting on Plane in the Ocean?
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07-23-2010 01:58 PM
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07-23-2010 02:44 PM
What kind of power, drives and props are you running? I am assuming you have the drives tucked in too when getting on plane?
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07-23-2010 02:55 PMDrives tucked all the way in, bravo props, 575sci motors. Would I be better off using less tab then all the way down in the rough stuff? I am wondering if by having the tabs all the way down it could actually cause the stern to lift and blowout to occurr?
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07-23-2010 10:48 PMCould be an interesting discussion. I've had some boats you damn near couldn't get on plane when the water was uncooperative.
On the higher X's, with fewer prop blades, I have always had leave the tabs at nuetral, or barely down, and feather the throttles as the blades blow out to catch them again and again and again ..................Getting bad advice is unfortunate, taking bad advice is a Serious matter!!
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07-25-2010 11:26 AM
Are the props 34's?
Same setup in my TG - 34's were terrible, 32's were great. There were times when it would blow out, and tabs at about 1/2 way or more down would help.
Do you have sportmaster lowers? If so, that is the problem.BillR
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07-26-2010 04:06 AMWhich way are you heading?
Are you running into the seas, with the seas?
Run in the trough, until you are up.
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07-26-2010 11:23 AMThanks for everything guys. It is a very interesting discussion. No sportmaster lowers, not sure on the exact size and pitch off the top of my head. I'll double check when I am back at the boat. The problem on the east coast we often get washing machine type water just a big mess/slop. I'll try out the tips/ideas posted and see if it gets any better
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08-03-2010 10:22 AMBack in the day .....when we had a heavy boat, with tons of gasoline on board, at the start of a 200 to 500 mile race, we rocked the boat from side to side....and kept advancing the throttles......we "tricked" the boat into believing it was a flat bottom.
It would start to rise up on one of the flat sides of the Vee....... and then when we had enough speed, we would flip it right side up and just keep going.
I'm talking about the days before the real safe race starts were incorporated. We could each go in any direction we wanted and it was up to us to get the boats on plane and then back to the lineup for the start....still on plane.Light travels faster than sound....that is why some people appear bright until we hear them speak!!
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08-03-2010 02:59 PM
The x dimension is a big part of it. If the drives are too high you will have excessive prop slip and struggle to plane off in big seas. There are also some balance problems I have seen where weight is centered too far aft. Add to that the lack of fuel capacity caused by the desire to save weight and what you have is a 32 to 50 foot boat that is more suited to bays, lakes and rivers then the ocean....or one of the Great Lakes.
T2xAllergic to Nonsense
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08-03-2010 04:42 PMLooks to me like lowering your tabs might be the problem
My Cig was a 35 and i left the tabs up until on plane and everyone i have talked to with top guns does the same.
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08-03-2010 06:19 PM
playboy no notch... gun notch.... my playboy had zero problems too
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08-04-2010 04:08 PM
I usually leave the tabs up getting on plane - Top Gun TS with 525 EFIs