New B31 project in Europe

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 23rd, '16, 12:57

Hi,
Newbie to the forum and a new B31 owner.
Just purchased a '71 FBC with original everything except it's got Cummins V504Ms (195hp).
Starting after Christmas I am planning a total refit, engines, interior, exterior, wiring, plumbing, solid windshield, paint etc etc.
Putting in Yanmar 4LHA STP 240s with KMH50a gears.
It currently has (new) 1 3/8 shafts.
Will these shafts be ok, and what size/pitch props should I look at getting?
What speeds should I expect to get with those engines? I am keeping things fairly light (no gen etc).

Expect some stupid questions coming from me over the next few months!!

David.

Navatech · Post by **Navatech** » Nov 23rd, '16, 13:10

First, welcome to the sandbox!...

Second, Europe is a big place... Where in Europe are you located?!... Where are you going to operate the boat?!... What are you going to use it for?!... There are several European sandbox members...

As for the Cummins V504M's, they were (are) actually pretty decent engines... Any specific reason you're thinking of pulling them out?!... Sure, you'll get more power and higher speeds but also a significantly higher fuel consumption... And fuel is expensive in Europe...

As for stupid questions, the only really stupid question is the one that's not asked!...

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 23rd, '16, 13:25

Boat is currently in Mallorca.
I am transporting it to South France near Nice for the refit.
The 504s sound and run great, but are underpowered and HEAVY! Anyone want them? Been well looked after, according to all the invoices.
I'll be running the boat around the Ballearics next Summer then ship it to the Carib for the Winter.
It's currently been used as a cruiser, but it's going to be a sportfish

Charlie J · Post by **Charlie J** » Nov 23rd, '16, 15:04

welcome
david
I am running 1 3/8 with my 230 yanmars no problem
if your going up any more to 315s I would step it up to 1.5

PeterPalmieri · Post by **PeterPalmieri** » Nov 23rd, '16, 15:38

Welcome David. Take a week off and read every thread on this board you will be glad you did.

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Nov 23rd, '16, 16:28

Hi David!

Congratulations and welcome!

Personally I say great choice in the engines. I am running the same package and have been doing so for nearly 10 years. I have a shade over 600 hours with minimal troubles. Take care of your turbos.

You will cruise around 23 knots day in day out, at 11 gph total. They are great. You will be much happier with these vs. those cummins. Your shafts will be fine. Keep the 4"exhaust if that is what you have. You will be fine. I run 4 bladed props, and will have to check on pitch and diameter for you. But I know there is a heavy cup in them to control cavitation. I prefer the 4 bladed wheels, but you can run 3 blade of course if you prefer. what I will say is make sure you have nibral props. Standard bronze will not hold up.

any questions, just ask! No such thing as dumb ones!!! Only dumb answers occasionally. ;) Great to have you here!!!!

Dug

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 23rd, '16, 16:52

Thank you gentlemen.
I will keep you updated of the project as I go.

Pete Fallon · Post by **Pete Fallon** » Nov 23rd, '16, 19:37

David,
Welcome to the sandbox, there are no such things as a stupid question. I wish the board was around 39 years ago when I first bought my 1961 Express, it would have saved me a lot of money and aggravation for the first 10 years. Your choice of 240 Yanmars is a perfect fit for your boat. I would have the shafts checked out by a good prop shop to make sure that they are still good. A lot of the original shafts have worn keyways and cracks at the threads and near the hole where the cotter pin goes thru. Have them magna fluxed or X-rayed if you can, also check the coupling end where the flange attaches, I've seen a few shafts with cracks at the flange bolt areas. Also check your strut backing plates, rudder backing plates, rudder shelves for rot and elongated thru bolt holes. Another thing to check is the 110 volt wiring, after all these years the insulation dries out inside the black outer jacketing (black, green and white or red inner wire insulation will be all dried out and cracked especially if the boat has been in warm climate for years) I could go on for ever, I know these things from first hand experience on both my boat and the over 35 other 31's that I have surveyed over the past 20 years of professionally surveying fiber glass and wood boats. Feel free to call or e-mail me with questions I am boat less at this time and the winter months in New England are slow for surveying. Again welcome aboard. 561-310-7179 or fal4artbts@aol.com
Pete

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Nov 23rd, '16, 23:33

David Welcome

As Nav indicated we do have several European brothers on this board. Yannis fequents this board the most. I believe most of his boating is around Greece.

The 240 Yanmars are an excellant choice. They are not available here in the States due to EPA regulations.

Yannis · Post by **Yannis** » Nov 24th, '16, 02:03

Tony, thanks for the intro!

Dave, welcome. Among other things (while doing works around Nice), will be to explore this beautiful area...The land part, that is.

BTW, I also have 4LHA STP's on a B28, and up to now (approx. 350hrs) they run great.
Yes, as Dug says, watch the turbos.

Dug, how do you manage to average 11gph on a heavier boat?
I average around 2.5 liters per n.m. (this is how we measure consumption), so, if you do the math, it turns out to be around 55-60 liters per hour (@ 23-24 knots too).Not 40-45 as you're saying ! I cruise at around 2700-2800, sometimes 2900-3000 in calm seas, but this last one occurs not very often.

ranjr13 · Post by **ranjr13** » Nov 25th, '16, 08:41

David - welcome. It's always nice to know another Bertram has found a home to restore it and give it another great life. Ours made it home to our barn 2 weeks ago and is already going through it's first full off-season with us and is getting it's interior restored.

As for fuel consumption, several factors could make similar engines show different rates. I have a bit older 230 Yanmars in our 31, and don't push it like Dug does (he has a lead foot). Transmission ratio, prop size pitch, whether or not the boat has trim tabs are some physical factors. Speed is another and probably the biggest difference between similar boats.

Converting it into liters from gallons, our 230s use a combined average of 29 liters per hour, running at 2,400rpm, doing a solid 18 kts, which would be 1.6 liters per nautical mile. This is on 75 hours use, our first season with this boat, and it's far less consumption than I'd expected. At that sweet spot, the ride is great, turbos just barely whistling, and using a conservative tank capacity minus 1/3 reserve gives us a cruising range of a little over 250 nautical miles.

Make sure you can turn the full engine RPMs - ours go right up to 3,400rpms, pushing the boat about 27/28 kts/hr. I've heard numerous stories of over propping, resulting in significant engine strain with associated problems. Even with our props right where they should be for top engine performance, at an idle in gear I often drop to only one engine as with both in gear at idle, she's doing about 6 kts/hr and throwing a bit of a wake. Gunk holing is one of my favorite pastimes, so poking at 3-4 kts in tight spaces is very hard to do when the boat wants to run.

Enjoy, and as you say, please do keep us posted - pics are really appreciated. Best wishes for a great project, and many, many wonderful future memories to be made.

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Nov 25th, '16, 10:31

Yannis,

My boat is, as I recall, around 11,000 lbs?

All I know is that when I fuel after a run of given hours, I can estimate the consumption to nearly the drop based on that consumption level.

Take for example a canyon run (up here, out to the offshore fishing grounds) which is about 110 miles each way, plus trolling all day etc. It is almost invariably 140 gallons consumed.

Dug

Yannis · Post by **Yannis** » Nov 26th, '16, 00:21

Dug,

When you mix running time (2 X 110 nm) with "trawling all day" time, you come up with figures you cant explain.
Runningtime is one element, trawling at low rpm's is another. I would have a sincere difficulty to come up with a per hour consumption by merging those two.
Dont you have pure running time figures, you know, family type cruises without any fishing involved ? Thanx.

Bob,

Sounds Very economical. To be honest, I never tried 2400 rpm so far, mainly because I prefer 23 to 18 kts. However, I was always being told by 3 different Yanmar mechanics that these engives need to be pushed to 3000, and 5 -10 mins before arrival, even up to WOT, otherwise you have issues with the turbo, valves etc.... I also noticed that consumption @ 2700 rpm may even be higher than that @ 2800-2900rpm! So I go 2900 @ 23+ kts and we're all happy!

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 27th, '16, 03:34

Hi,
Getting a parts list together. Anyone know how/where I can find the through hull air intake and dorado boxes with the three hole type? There are others available, but they look the nicest.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Nov 27th, '16, 07:58

What is the ratio on the kmh gears?

When a Yanmar dealer we were told to stay away from kmh gears for the larger engines. Now as an aside the distrubutor imported all the larger 4 and 6 cylinder engines with no gears and you had your choice of zf or twin disc. That could have been an agreement the dist had with those companies as all the smaller Yanmar engines came with kmh gears and I had very little issues. They were a bit noisey, but had no major issues. Your gear ratio will determine prop size.

Those engines are a good match for the 31.

As far as air boxes, anything in the parts section and many pics of members boats are not available anymore with Patrick's passing.

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 27th, '16, 14:55

Thanks Bruce.
Gear ratio 1.67:1
Copied on the air boxes.
David.

Navatech · Post by **Navatech** » Nov 27th, '16, 16:31

David Davidson wrote:Copied on the air boxes.

You can still read up on such parts and use the pictures as design aids but what's no longer available commercially is a pre-manufactured drop in replacement/alternative to the original... IOW, the short and easy path is mostly no longer available... The longer and harder path of creating your own molds etc is still an option...

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 30th, '16, 16:23

This the "before" shot. Ready for road transport across the Med to get a facelift. I can't believe the amount of original stainless trim on these boats. It seems a real shame to pull it all off! It's all it good condition after 45 years!!

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... .jpeg.html

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Nov 30th, '16, 16:27

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... .jpeg.html
In need of a makeover!!

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Dec 3rd, '16, 13:58

David,

When I did all my work over the past couple years we opted not to put in intake boxes. After much consideration, and conversation with Pat, we figured that there was enough air intake locations around the inside of the boat, under the gunwales, around the engine hatches etc to allow plenty of air for these engines. Big Cummins maybe not, but for these engines, yes. And two years later, I will tell you it was a correct decision. Now if you like them for looks, that is a different story, but they are not necessary for any other reason.

Yannis, I can only tell you that after 10 plus years with the engines, that is what I get for performance. Is what it is.

Great package overall!

Dug

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Dec 3rd, '16, 15:02

Thanks Dug, I am actually considering this in my drive to simplify my project!

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Dec 3rd, '16, 21:47

Dave

To back up Dug, I am running 270 Cummins and I do not have the air intakes and no problems at all. There are plenty of places for the engines to pull in air.

Navatech · Post by **Navatech** » Dec 4th, '16, 10:43

David Davidson wrote:This the "before" shot. Ready for road transport across the Med to get a facelift. I can't believe the amount of original stainless trim on these boats. It seems a real shame to pull it all off! It's all it good condition after 45 years!!

http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... .jpeg.html

FIFY...

Navatech · Post by **Navatech** » Dec 4th, '16, 10:45

David Davidson wrote:http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... .jpeg.html
In need of a makeover!!

FIFY...

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Dec 4th, '16, 20:50

Dave

What are they holding the boat up with? Looks lie a saw horse. Big no no. She should be blocked under the keel, with either cement blocks not cinder blocks and or solid wood blocks. Their should be a block on the keel at the stern, another under the engines and I would put one more up towards the bow right about were the windows curve. My sling mark is just about were the curved windows meet the side windows.

Then use supports to keep her from rocking from side to side.

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Dec 7th, '16, 14:42

Now in France and ready to start the refurb
http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... g.html?o=3
http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... g.html?o=1
http://s58.photobucket.com/user/dontpre ... g.html?o=0

Charlie J · Post by **Charlie J** » Dec 7th, '16, 16:48

damn shes blocked up now
looking good, best of luck with your restoration

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Jan 11th, '17, 03:28

Hi,
Total strip out almost complete, and planning new engines installation.
I have read the following installation from Buddy Boy:
[url]http://www.bertram31.com/proj/tips/engines.htm{/url]

My question is why do the outboard stringers get cut to an angle? The current set up with the old Cummins engines and original Bertram beds didn't require that.
Also, what angle do they get cut to? What does the outboard rear engine mount get bolted to? I can only see 6 brackets in the Buddy Boy article.

Excuse my ignorance!!
David.

TailhookTom · Post by **TailhookTom** » Jan 11th, '17, 10:12

David:

Congratulations and welcome to the board. I can attest to Dug Stow's numbers as I run in the same waters as he does and I see his gorgeous Alchemy up on plane, running proud, regularly.
Yannis -- did I read correctly "running time when you are not fishing????" Goodness, I think the only time my B31 ever left the dock when she was not fishing was to go to the rendezvous....JK, yes I know these boats cruise as well as they fish.

Tom

Yannis · Post by **Yannis** » Jan 11th, '17, 23:04

Tom,

Oh, we go fishing too, only they're different fish !
Instead of scales and fins, they have arms and legs.
And most often than not, were equally if not more unsuccessful in catching any...

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Jan 11th, '17, 23:22

David Davidson wrote:Hi,
My question is why do the outboard stringers get cut to an angle? The current set up with the old Cummins engines and original Bertram beds didn't require that.
Also, what angle do they get cut to? What does the outboard rear engine mount get bolted to? I can only see 6 brackets in the Buddy Boy article.

Excuse my ignorance!!
David.

Dave

I am not familiar with the Yanmar configuration since I have cummins, but what the Capt. was saying is that the engine has to sit level, and it is apparent from the drawing that the Yanmar engine supports must have a slight angle to them. For the engine to fit right you would either need to cut to the bed at the correct angle or custom fabricate a support that would be on the correct angle.

I hope that makes sense.

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Jan 20th, '17, 16:19

Thanks Tony. I've got the engine install covered now.

Next dumb question - what have you guys done with the seam on the Flybridge edge? The trim has been removed and it looks ugly. Grind it back and fibreglass a radius on it?

Original fuel tank coming out on Monday. Glassing in an integral tank in its place, with a 3.5 kW gen ahead of it just aft of the step down between the engines. Anyone put a genset there?

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jan 20th, '17, 19:30

you fill that seam in and filet with epoxy with high density filler ,then that aluminum piece that goes entirely around boat about 1/2" in width is remove and filled in as well as the small aluminum pieces bordering the area just to the rear of side windows (called pillars) yes time consuming but easy. i remove the yanmars out of my boat after less then two hundred hours and installed cummins 6BTA M3 . the cummins engine with ZF-IRM gears are the perfect balance weight to keep boat slight bow proud at 30knts. with no trim tabs.easily balance using travel lift with one strap holding boat 6" above water in work slip . the normal shaft angle automatically pushes that bow down with the light weight 4 cyl. engines as speeds get above 22 kns you get your ass kicked in anything above three foot head seas. i cruise at 29 with same fuel economy as 4 cyy. engines and i weight about 13,000 with every conceivable appliance in galley as well as genny , porcelain toilet and every damn thing a women would have in there home bath!!!! run in small craft warnings and sometimes gale warnings at 24 kns .on a regular basics.

Amberjack · Post by **Amberjack** » Jan 23rd, '17, 14:33

Hey Dug--what do you mean by "take care of your turbos"? I run Yanmars and the owner's manual really doesn't address turbo maintenance. The local Yanmar dealer just says is to run them up to speed on a regular basis to knock exhaust soot off. The engines have been sweet for 12 years, am I missing something?

Dug · Post by **Dug** » Jan 23rd, '17, 15:43

Hi Doug,

In my installation and with my engines I need to do a kabuki dance every fall to ensure I don't have turbo issues. The outflows of my turbos have rusted and it has inhibited the rotation of the blades in the past. No one from Yanmar can tell me much other than I am out of warranty and the installation was done by a dealer, so it was ultimately done right, and it was vouched for by the lovely folks at Mack boring. So is it a Yanmar turbo issue? Perhaps. Is it an installation issue? Maybe. Reality is that we disconnect the exhausts every fall, hose down with lubricant, put an oily rag in there to keep the rust under control, and we have been trouble free since. This is a solution my mechanics and I have come too in the absence of better answers from anyone else. And it works.

Its a boat. It has foibles. I love my engines otherwise, and its all good. Ultimately they don't like to sit. You run them, you will likely have less of a possibility of issue. Reality is I don't run them enough. Sadly...

Dug

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jan 25th, '17, 11:14

the balance weight of the 31 Bertram should be the main bulkhead or in the case of a behia mar just in front of engine box. the original boat had a 413 " Chrysler and cast iron gears. later on 1964 or so went to 440". then GM 427 and finally 1970 454" with cast iron BW gears gas motors with gears dual exhaust and so on went about 1200 pounds loaded. so 6cyl. yanmar,cummins,volvo with be about the same weight with catapillar 3116,3126 another 300lbs per side.so in checking the balance with 4 or 5-- 31 bertrams brought in for service they were in the ball park . plus or minus 1' fore or aft balance. the four cylinder diesels cause the bow to be in water lifted 6 to 12" with single sling and did not want to press the issue with customer`s boat. a four cylinder would need a live well at transom (using the law of levers) 30 gals would be enough and can be emptied as you went into safe waters inshore.this is not my opinion you need around 1200 lbs at engine location for best ride of course those catapillars would even be better but overall dimentions cause problems in engine box fit.perhaps you are in a location that only has lake like water conditions in that case this post is null and void.

David Davidson · Post by **David Davidson** » Jan 26th, '17, 13:53

Interesting.
My 4 cyl Yanmars and KH50 gears weigh just under 1,050 lbs I seem to recall. Not a great deal of difference from the original Bertram setup.
I am also building an integral fuel tank and putting a 200 lb generator forward of it (just behind the step down). I am hoping this makes up for the weight loss on the engines and keeps the bow up.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jan 26th, '17, 17:02

Mike O has a 31 fbc with 4cyl. yanmar power. i think he uses about three hundred pounds of ballast . that seems about right.as you might note i use salt water as a example of ballast because it can be filled and empty quite easily and at the stern as a live bait well you have salt water at 8.6 pounds per gallon eight feet back from main bulkhead. i don`t include fuel as ballast because the weight is not constant as a result on your home port trip you run into large head seas and are also down on fuel.think of the days when men were made of steel and ships were made of wood.america merchant ships from new england rule the seas by a large margin fast ships like Cuttysark ,and the Flying Cloud had a tremendous amount of sail because they balance the boat and had all the weight along the keel.when they deliver there goods and did not have enough centerline weight on return trip they use granite ballast as a counterweight for those sails to be fully deployed back to today to make a 31 Bertram operate at it`s absolute best in rough seas you must do the same;keep weight in centerline of gravity utilize the 24 degree deadrise for what it can do. Must be fuel tank-batteries -fresh water tank in line on keel. port side of engine a generator counterweighted by starboard side waste tank with A/C under head vanity,and toilet will together keep that transom bootstripe above waterline exactly even indicating the side by side balance is exactly on the money.bow to stern indicator will be the REVERSE CHINE LINE MUST BE BELOW WATER at the transom if not do not take the boat in rough seas!!!! the boat will want to stuff the bow in 4 foot seas or above.togerher with trim tabs you risk servere bodily harm.--------------------------enought said!

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Jan 26th, '17, 20:26

Still calling BS on trim tabs hurting the ride

Chimera was Oregon and Hatteras Inlet tested, to many trips in the wrong weather at 115 miles to home and never stuffed the bow.

And on more then one occasion trim tabs made a b31 run better.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jan 26th, '17, 21:26

chimera had cummins with gen,fish boxes totally differant animal . i rudely wrote in capital letters i am surprised at your post maybe i should write that sentence in red.i use the tabs all the time in 38 Bertram and the 30' cigarette center console now with twin 300 Verado`s both heavy in the ass.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Jan 29th, '17, 19:34

Not sure you knew Chimera at all,
Yes she had cummins, but
The 5kW northern lights was mounted ahead of the port engine
The 16k heat/ac was mounted under the v-berth
45 gallons of addional diesel fuel was under the deck forward of the engines

The boat with less then half tank was always Chines out at the stern, normally on the ride home with three people sleeping ahead of the engines (I have no idea how they stayed there sometimes, perhaps it was fear of moving). We would land with 40 gallons left in the boat on many occasions. ( still 2 hours of run time) Chines and exhaust out of the water

The point being the boat has tremendous lift in the bow from the strakes and as unbalanced as we were it never got squirrelly. So why would a boat that's only lighter be affected so greatly with trim tabs. We are talking about sport boat speeds of 22-25kts. I know a few 4 cyl boats with tabs with no issues, some cummins some yanmar.

Practical application and knowledge of existing boats including our old one still lead me to claim BS on your trim tab claim.

You can be as surprised as necessary.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Jan 29th, '17, 20:55

no arguments ; the gen was mounted ahead of engines? i don`t understand there is only 5" ahead of engines . your explaination after all these years is the major part of the 3 knot differance with identical engines ,you actually had 45 gallons of fuel inside cabin floor and 16,000 btu heat/a/c in v- berth after all these years off post and e-mail i never knew why? i am at wits end .forget WOT. thats not inportant as is but at your cruise speed i would have a enormous differance in fuel burn on a 200 mile canyon trip.you might say the fact is rather mute now that the boat is sold but for me i just could not figure it out,yea i assumed same lay out.

Yannis · Post by **Yannis** » Jan 30th, '17, 04:50

JP Dalik wrote:The 5kW northern lights was mounted ahead of the port engine

The way I understand this, is that it is probably under the dinette seat, or anyway forward of the bulkhead.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Jan 31st, '17, 22:11

Yup under port dinette seat. 5kW. Still one of the cheapest best running boats out there. Manasquan to OCMD then to Hatteras through Oregon one day. Tough little boat, better balanced then most Bahia's

Tony Meola · Post by **Tony Meola** » Feb 1st, '17, 22:28

JP

Must have been pretty good sound proofing. Plus that is probably a great place for it if you can control the sound.

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Feb 2nd, '17, 09:02

The 3 cylinder diesel was very quiet , only had 3/4" sound down in it. Just barely a hum running. Drew air from the port engine box. It was a great unit

Navatech · Post by **Navatech** » Feb 2nd, '17, 10:12

JP Dalik wrote:The 3 cylinder diesel was very quiet , only had 3/4" sound down in it. Just barely a hum running. Drew air from the port engine box. It was a great unit

What make was that generator?!... Was it in a sound silencer box?!...

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Feb 3rd, '17, 10:42

Northern Lights. No hush box.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 5th, '17, 10:55

i would be somewhat reluctant to hang the BS sign on PHOENIX due to the fact i took her to many a Bertram rendezvous and had most of these Bertram owners out on a test ride.always had one or two of them take turns driving the boat including your son`s friend Neil jr. but most importantly the guy in the middle of the photo .i sure missed him and the wisdom but he said "she feels like she is on rails" yes indeed the combination of the huge rudders ,bow proud stance and reverse chines holding the boat in a straight line but due to perfect balance able to out turn any APBA offshore race boat in a 180 degree turn (ask me how i know ---OUCH ). think off the reverse chines as ski poles .yes you can snow ski with out them as some racers do but they give you the stability.any weight in v-berth or somewhat less in cabin forward of main bulkhead will slow the boat down ,but most important like being "almost pregnant" there is no such thing with the 31 Bertram, the balance the is indicated by the bow goes down or the stern goes down when lifted with one strap under main bulkhead . that being said plus the constant pushing of the bow down due to shaft angle as speed increases will cause the bow to "rudder" as the boat goes into head seas with unbalance boat .to use the trim tabs will put the bow further into water creating even a worst situation . the tabs are now being use as a crutch to overcome side to side movement due to reverse chines being out of water.with 3208 cats the difference would be the most dramatic especially in 4" and above waves.4cyl. engines will put the balance forward as mention above.

bob lico · Post by **bob lico** » Feb 5th, '17, 11:12

this photo was taken at 30 knot cruise speed as the similar photo at 34 knots .you can see the water breaks just forward of pillar and 10' of boat is normally out of water in up to 2 to 3' waves .this trim angle gives the boat far more tolerance to go in larger waves or bigger chop because the bow is not being pushed side to side as it goes into a wave it also allows you to have a higher cruise speed in any less then perfect water conditions together with the fact that a slight movement of the wheel with instantly start to turn boat. you can turn boat in a few feet in extremely bad water but putting her in the trough at 45 degrees go over a big wave (such as found coming into Fire island inlet) then cut and go over next wave at opposite angle with strong bow proud stance around 15 knots. i would not be writing this post with tabs down in these water conditions!!!!!!!!