Is this speed reasonable ?

[Dean36]

I just finished restoring a welded aluminum 16' 7" foot Spectrum V hull boat with a 1982 Mercury 50 HP outboard motor. It has no power trim. I took it out for a shake down cruse and every thing worked great. But it felt strange to me. When I went to WOT the bow stayed flat as the RPM's reached 5000 the speed went to and stayed at 26 MPH. I weigh about 190 and my wife is at 135. We had a full tank of fuel. I'm use to a boats' bow coming up and than flatting out as it comes up on plane. I also expected more speed out of this boat.

Does this performance sound reasonable ?

 

[5150abf]

Re: Is this speed reasonable ?

I have a 16' Sea-Nymph with an Evinrude 50 with TT and it will run 27-30 pretty consistenly so you are right in there.

Move the tilt pin back one or 2 holes adn you shoudl gain a bit.

The other option is to pony up for a CMC TT unit, I have one on my boat and love it.

 

[indy440]

Re: Is this speed reasonable ?

it stayed flat because you have it trimmed down so far. Move the trim pin 2 holes up and you'll notice more bow rise getting on plane and probably a few more mph top speed...

 

[4JawChuck]

Re: Is this speed reasonable ?

My 16.5 ft Tuffy fiberglass with a Yamaha 50 hp did 34 mph WOT trimmed perfect and fully loaded with 5 people and gear+fuel. I would agree playing with the trim pin location should get you a couple more mph, you may need to move weight around the boat once you get it set for max speed to keep it from porpoising with less weight on-board. Getting your engine height set right is another factor, the vent plate on the OB should be right at the waters surface with no excessive spray on the transom.

 

[Dean36]

Re: Is this speed reasonable ?

Thanks for the input. I'll try it !