Hi there. I've just bought a '03 Bayliner 185 with the Mercruiser 4.3MPI to replace a '96 Four Winns Horizon 170 with a Volvo Penta 3.0. The 185 is running a Mercury Marine Revolution 4 S/S 48 x 17 prop. The boat has plenty of power and speed but I'm disappointed in the hole shot. The old Four Winns pulled strongly and planed quickly with virtually no bow lift. In comparison the Bayliner sends the bow so high that you can't see over the front. It then takes ages to level out. It's dangerous! And If I can descibe this correctly, the lift is almost like a two step process. On initial takeoff the bow lifts but not too bad, then as the power comes on it lifts way higher (almost like a second lift as the prop bites) and takes a long time to flatten out. The leg is trimmed hard in (rams almost touching the sacrificial anodes) but the boat attitude gives the impression it wants to be in more. Sort of like on the old outboard days when you could put a wedge between the outboard and the transom to angle it out more. I don't think you can do this with I/O's? As this is a factory standard fit-out I figured there would be hundreds of people out there running this setup so would be interested to hear your views and experiences. We are not running any artificial ballast and having a couple of big guys in the bow only made a small difference. We are running a Monster Tower but the attitude is the same with or without a wakeboarder. Thanks heaps. Alan.
