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I have never been in a 31b and wondered how the boat handles a following sea , what speeds in 4' quartering seas. will she broach

you start to become aware in 10' seas .4' following seas you best put on the radio or amused yourself with the weather electronics or you will fall asleep at the wheel!that is a every day occurance in the fire island inlet .

One of the boats best attributes is running in a following sea. They run straight and true. Just adjust the speed so you don't over run the wave in front and you will fine.

They also run well in a beam sea. Wet and when it comes down on the chine a little hard, but they will run all day in a 6 foot beam sea.

She will not broach unless you've left the bridge unattended. It's following seas handling is the best of any boat I have ever handled...or seen handled.

Walter, I disagree


You can leave the helm unattended if you get the speed right!

a feigned question i fear but none the less mike and i ran in from 70 out yesterday in a mostly following sea. we only saw one boat on the way in and we blew its doors off. it was obvious the helmsman was trying to run at wave speed because the transom would slide and wash out on the downhill portion of the wave. we were running up the backs and down the fronts at considerably faster speed than the waves. deep V and all that.

in the atlantic with 5 second average wave duration and your set up; 355hp cummins/1.50 gears and hopefully 21" dia/24" pitch ultra full cup/3 degrees of rake no tabs. deep vee keel line and capt. patrick rudders you will be bow proud at 24-25 knots all day in 4' following sea. play with the electronics, listen to the radio , have a person to talk to on bridge anything to stay awake .

randall
i guess you were coming in from the so. east, yes, it started to get a little snotty in the pm

yes i was charle. beautiful day nasty inlet.notice the large (12 to 14 lbs) blues ripping into the bunker off sailers haven (fire island).

Interesting... this season, NO blues at Montauk. Usually you have to get under the Blues to get a Bass. Not so far this year.

In a true following she'll run almost anything.

Now in a true 4 ft quartered following you'll be quite comfy at 24 kts. Even if it gets bigger you've no real concern until it gets so big that you begin sliding sideways down the face of them.

Anything over 7 maybe 8 ft and you'll have your hands full, but she'll never scare you. You know the rules- Speed Kills.......

cwj wrote:randall
i guess you were coming in from the so. east, yes, it started to get a little snotty in the pm

not what i would call "snotty"...more like what mike calls "sporty". lots of caps but not much swell. we went to the dip. and then to the east. we got back at 5PM. didnt hardly get wet on the bridge with no enclosure. well...a few times maybe.

walterk wrote:Interesting... this season, NO blues at Montauk. Usually you have to get under the Blues to get a Bass. Not so far this year.

one of my fly fishing buddies caught a 20lb bluefish in the sound yesterday.

walter
we had them real late his year, they came thru about 3 weeks ago, and blew thru, my understanding is they have been off shore, witch is fine by me, cant stand them, nothing but a pain in the ass

A following sea in a diesel B31 is the most fun thing to do on any boat, period. Wide ass open, balls to the wall, move the water in giant sheets and run past anything. I drove a 46 Hatt. a lot and that damn thing was a death trap in any sort of following sea....just waiting to kill you and all aboard.

UV

vic roy you have to ride a ocean to get the real feel of pucker facter actually scary in a following sea . ok you think this is BS but i would feel safer with my grand children in a my 31 bertram then a 45' ocean coming in a inlet with following sea.!!!!

Bob - my son used to Capt. my friend's 48 Ocean SF. The ultimate 'bubble boat'....I would sit on the freezer in the cockpit leaning back against the salon window while we were running fast in a 2 foot "sea" and feel the whole damn boat moving in different directions...sorta like tinker toys. The Hatt at least was solid, just a crappy round bottom following sea boat. The Ocean shoulda been named "Pond"...that's all it was good for.

UV

I was fishing Vineyard Sound quite a few years back on my 24 Silverhawk, I was near the lee of the islands but you could see big 6' waves with white caps on top...I looked up the sound and saw a boat FLYING down sea, kept watching and once it was close ...a 31 Bertram.. from that day on I knew THAT was the boat for me...No Doubt. BH

One thing I might add to this scenario is if you really want to see how a B31 rides and acts with a following sea is to park your butt in the fighting chair or chair or the cooler one.

Sit there and watch what goes on looking out over transom of the 31 and you'll understand just how nice the ride is and how that hull works in following sea compared to other boats. Thats the spot to be, for one of the best rides you'll ever experience on the B31.

DQ

DQ...you got that right. for the first 30 miles i was reclining on the port engine box with my feet over the gunwale catching rays and mind surfing the wake. a light mist kept me cool. delightful. never saw the transom slide an inch.

came down the sound yesterday from the gut running 26 mph wind at our back 2 to 3 foot waves to to mid ct. what a great ride my wife said what a great calm ride . thank you bertram.

Guys:

What is the opinion of a B28 FBC in a following sea? Any thoughts? Thanks,

I went fishing on time with a SW wind 15-25 knts didn't relise how rought it was because it was a following sea. The mate working with me could not beleive how fast and smooth ride a small boat could be (NC home of carolins boats). Once we started fishing figured it was 8' + seas. LONG LONG ride home in a head sea.
Another time out of Oregon Inlet my wife was so scared coming back in. Hard current and low tide. she said she would rather swim to the beach, then go threw the inlet. Waited for the right set and ran hard smooth ride in realy big waves. wife still talks about it as that time I tride to kill her.

Just a quick word of caution, from someone who has thrown caution to the wind on more than one occasion.

One Thanksgiving day some years back, I was taking my boat from Hampton Bays Long Island to Newburyport Massachusetts.....alone....in a gale. As I was running the southern edge of Buzzards Bay, the wind was at my back and the seas were building behind me. It was great. Running about 23 knots, huge sheets of water spraying out and being blown forward as I landed in each trough. You know the kind of day. You flick your cigarette and the ash hangs in the air right next to you for a few seconds, and then blows forward......

I'm guessing that it was blowing 30 and the seas were about 4 to 6 (probably more, but I try not to over-estimate these things).

It's all a big joke until someone loses an eye. My mother used to say that......

And as I crest the next wave, I see it. The one that's gonna kill me. The one that I have no shot of making it over. The one that......SMASH. Green water over the bridge. Not the bow......the bridge. And not a little water, a lot of water. Several feet of water. Nearly swept me off of the bridge. Needless to say, I slowed down a bit after that.

Great boat. BIG ocean. Be careful.

thats the kind of conditions mike calls "sporty plus".

same thing happened to me a few boats back.. maybe not on the same scale as you Mike.. I was doing the downhill surf watching the sheets of water peel off ..well, got cocky giving it more throttle & more untill we caught a great big long one.. Tore off my windshield & deposited alot of water in the cockpit.. Wifey was sleeping in the passenger seat Got a green water shower.Didnt notice the windshied till a few minutes later.. . Some fun.. Till somebody gets washed overboard...
Wayne

mike tie a rope around randall`s waist then let him hang over the transom going on the down side of a following sea . look and see what those damm tabs are doing in the up position ! as you slide down the wave the water is constantly pushing that bow down .this lift also pull the props to the surface on a big wave. most likely 20 waves in a row may be 4' but the 21st is a dozey . without the crap hanging off the back you cut hard to starboard catch the wave semi quartering then as you climb swing hard to port to correct.you avoid the crest and this is what a "hired gun" does for a living with somebody else is boat. i had the boat in the beginning with 250hp yanmars and tabs i just could not adjust to the way i drove with tabs you cannot cut 90 degrees they did in and lift the transom.without the strakes and keel slice thru the water . this application is diesel only.gas may need the tabs under certain conditions .i will demo. for harry barb at greenport he could explain.

say what!

Randall

I think Bob said, let Randall surf behind the boat and he can tell you when you have 0 tab. Tab all the way up. Then you just jockey the boat so it doesn't bury the nose in the next wave. For diesel use only.

Tony Meola wrote:Randall

I think Bob said, let Randall surf behind the boat and he can tell you when you have 0 tab. Tab all the way up. Then you just jockey the boat so it doesn't bury the nose in the next wave. For diesel use only.

He also said that he will demonstrate this weekend, that will be fun to watch- Bob on a rope behind Predator!

i think hang over the transom would be self explantory to the most casual observer!!

But I don't have tabs......

But I don't have tabs......

I was calling BS on the trim tab thing before I saw what Mike wrote............

You can only skip along so fast for so long before you find a wave with no face to ride down.

SPEED KILLS

then experiance holds true it does not apply to your 31 bertram. the wave over the top could have been a rogue in a set. jp this was at 24knots in 4' seas no speed involve just a observation on any given day at 21 to 24 knots . you would have to drive a equal power/proped 31 bertram with and without tabs under exact following seas to feel it.