Tournament boat question

MadMac · Newbie Joined: 16 Nov 2003 Posts: 12

Just wondering how deep of water you need to run a tournament boat without destroying the prop. The lake I go to is super shallow (calf to knee deep) for the first 500 feet from shoreline. I have an outboard right now that I have to trim right up until I get to the deeper stuff. Seeing that the prop on a tournament boat is on the underside, I would think that it would get destroyed if it hit rocks or something else under the water. Knowing how much it costs to repair my outboard prop, I can only imagine what repairs on the big brass ones are! Any input would be greatly appreciated.

chaz28o · Posted: Aug 19, 2004 10:41 am Post subject:

Most Tournmant Boats draft about 22" to 28"

What boat is yours? We can find out exactly your draft depth (note: published draft is usually done with 1K weight in the boat) Addl weight could affect draft...

MrBlean · Posted: Aug 22, 2004 9:31 am Post subject:

In normal operating conditions, the prop on a tournament boat is closer to the surface than the prop on an outboard or I/O. That's usually because the hull onto which O/B's & I/O's are mounted is a V hull whereas tournament boats are much flatter and they don't sit as low in the water. The only guys that have prop damage problems at our shallow lake (3 feet in places) are the guys with I/O's. The strikes mainly occur on take of when the bow rises and stern sinks.

However, you can't trim-up an inboard prop so whilst you're better off normally, in the extreme conditions you have to deal with an inboard is a non-starter.

Bronze prop repairs in the UK cast around $100 whereas a new prop is more like 500-600.

Ever thought of a hovercraft? Wink

Bruky · Guest

Sounds like you drop your boat off in a puddle Laughing

Boats, at least ours, only sink about an inch and a half per 1000 lbs, so weight shouldn't have TOO much efect on the draft. If you are only clearing the bottom by about an inch though, I think that is way risky. I'm sure the bottom isn't perfectly smooth. Try and find a good i/o is what I would reccomend...just my logic though.

MrBlean · Posted: Aug 23, 2004 1:09 am Post subject:

Whilst I'm not tall, calf to knee deep on me is 12-20 inches and I certainly wouldn't risk running an inboard in that. The effect of adding weight is irrelevant as it doesn't have enough clearance in the first place.

Even in the slightly deeper water than the knee deep stuff you mention, you can still have problems when you pull the rider out and the stern sinks on take off.

wesgardner · Posted: Aug 23, 2004 5:14 am Post subject:

Hey MadMac,

Yep, with the inboard, you'd have to paddle to the deeper stuff....

Wes