Boat planing problem

[chet labrozzi]

Hello,

We have a new boat to use, it's a 1998 Crownline 238 deck boat with a 5.7 merc and 250 hp. The first couple of times we had it out no problems. We just had 3 or 4 adults. This past weekend we went out with 9 adults, the fuel filled and the water tank filled. We had high head winds about 10 to 15 mph winds with 3 to 4 foot waves. I had a very hard time getting it up on plane and then when I did the speed would be to much for conditions and to rough. I couldn't find a happy medium besides just slowing down plowing through the waves which took us for every to get to our desitnation. That evening the winds died down and so did the waves, we jumped right up on plane and crusied home. Im curious if I need a different pitch or diameter prop? From what I recall the boat runs right around 4000 rpm and about 35 to 38 mph if the gages are correct. I believe it only has a small 2 barrel carb but im not sure...Prop, engine problem, or just weather issues.

[noelm]

I would think the load in the boat and the conditions just dictated how fast you could go, another prop will do nothing to fix that! The boat goes fine when it is nice weather.

[BIGDAWG2566]

i have a few concerns with your question.number 1 the boat in question is 23ft7in weighs 4400 pounds empty fuel 72 gallons water 10 gallons,9 adults and gear.the max weight for the boat is around 1600 pounds.fuel 600 lbs,water 100 lbs,9 adults average 200 lbs 1800 lbs gear 500 lbs = 3000 pounds that puts about 1400 pounds over weight.no boat in that design will plane under those conditions.number 2 i think the only thing that will help you is a boaters safty course.number 3 god help those who board your vessel or share the same waterway with you.

[chet labrozzi]

i have a few concerns with your question.number 1 the boat in question is 23ft7in weighs 4400 pounds empty fuel 72 gallons water 10 gallons,9 adults and gear.the max weight for the boat is around 1600 pounds.fuel 600 lbs,water 100 lbs,9 adults average 200 lbs 1800 lbs gear 500 lbs = 3000 pounds that puts about 1400 pounds over weight.no boat in that design will plane under those conditions.number 2 i think the only thing that will help you is a boaters safty course.number 3 god help those who board your vessel or share the same waterway with you.

I'll be sure to tell the 8 women aboard that they now weigh 200 pounds!

[welder]

I don't see a Deck Boat planing in honest 3 to 4 foot'ers , aint going to happen.

So it's just a weather issue.

[JohnBroad]

Hello friend,

Thanks for your information. I think Maybe you have the wrong prop for your application. Just like the different in a boat, some are set up for quick acceleration and some are for high speed.

Many thanks

John Broad

[rickf]

If you are running 400 rpm then the prop is fine. I do question 9 adults on a boat that size. What number of adults does the rating plate say? You shouldn't be trying to go flat out in rough water. That is just inexperienced operation. Three to four foot waves in a 23 foot boat is pushing the limits of safety under the best of conditions and you were very overloaded, even if all 8 women were 100 lb. beauties! You are very lucky to not have swamped or capsized.

I agree on the safe boaters coarse, Peoples lives are in your hands.

Rick

[Andya]

Despite what people are saying, I don't believe you are the devil of the waterways. First thing is that you want to understand what you could do to either plane at a lower speed. Wanting to know shows you are not a haphazard boater. Also, you identified that to even get planed out put you at a higher speed than comfortable. Again, you knew this was a bad situation. Yes, you probably had the perfect combination of variables to prevent you from planing out and running at a slower pace. You could change the prop(talk to ken and propgods to figure out if there are other options) or a better solution if you operate with that type of load, is to install trim tabs. My guess is you need some serious trim tabs if you operate with 9 people on the boat all the time.

[Mint Buster]

I think you're gonna need a bigger boat Quint, I mean Chet.

[davidkuhlmann]

Your boat was overloaded for the conditions especially a deck boat. They are not the best of planning hulls and with marginal horsepower and the water/wave conditions will give you a hard time even with 2-4 people. Try the same load you had on this occasion in calm water and I'm betting it will perform close to the same, but still take quite a while and speed to get on plane.