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Old 01-18-2006, 01:01 PM   #60
Dave R
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Quote:
Originally Posted by codeman671
To run 70mph in a fountain the boat needs to be further up on plane with the nose higher, a high speed turn would leave less boat in the water to catch. if the boat was trimmed down and an aggressive move was made then the boat is more likely to roll. Most people would not think that a turn at 40mph is dangerous and more mistakes are likely to be made.

Check out the following link, starting on page 47. This tells of the typical handling characteristics of step hulls and how to run them properly.

http://www.fountainpowerboats.com/co...al05online.pdf

Here is an excerpt:

HULL STEP TECHNOLOGY HAS CHANGED THE WAY WE NEED
TO DRIVE!
WHILE SMOOTH OPERATION HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE KEY TO
SAFE HIGH SPEED OPERATION, BEING SMOOTH AND USING
COMMON SENSE IS EVEN MORE CRITICAL WITH TODAY’S
FASTER, MORE TECHNOLOGICALLY ADVANCED HULL
DESIGNS.
THE NEW TECHNOLOGY HAS ALLOWED LARGER, LONGER,
HEAVIER BOATS TO TRAVEL AT MUCH FASTER SPEEDS, WITH
STANDARD HORSEPOWER. THE SIMPLE FACT IS THAT
THINGS HAPPEN MUCH FASTER AT HIGHER RATES OF
SPEED, AND LARGER BOATS SIMPLY CARRY MORE ENERGY
ONCE IN MOTION.
INCORRECT TRIM SETTINGS OR IRRATIC TURNING MANEUVERS,
WHILE STILL DANGEROUS AT SLOW SPEEDS, CAN BE
DISASTROUS AT HIGH SPEEDS.
AT HIGHER RATES OF SPEED, THERE IS LITTLE OR NO WARNING
BEFORE THE BOAT REACTS TO RAPID TURNS OR INCORRECT
AND/OR ABRUPT TRIM CHANGES.
COMMON SENSE IS YOUR BEST DEFENSE!
NONE OF US WOULD TAKE A NEW CORVETTE OUT, RUN IT UP
TO 60MPH, GRAB THE WHEEL AND MAKE AN ABRUPT 180
DEGREE TURN ON THE WHEEL. THE SAME CONCEPT
APPLIES TO BOATS.
KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS, AS WELL AS THE LIMITATIONS OF
THE EQUIPMENT, AND DRIVE WITHIN THEM.
Thansk for the link, it's a very well written manual and I think Fountain deserves praise for putting that info out there.

'nuther excerpt from the same document:

"FEEL CLOSELY FOR ANY INDICATION OF LOSS OF
“TRACTION” IN A TURN. IMMEDIATELY REDUCE RATE OF
TURN AND/OR THROTTLE ACCORDINGLY."

To me, this says that one can increase the rate of turn if one decreases the speed, which makes perfect sense. But it also tells me that the boat is less likely to spin out at lower speeds, hence my skepticism of the boat being just as easily "hooked" at 40 as it is at 70. I think you'd have to try much harder to spin out at 40 as you would at 70. Either way though, I don't want to be in that boat during a spin out, thankyouverymuch...

I am by no means a stepped hull expert, but I currently own my second stepped hull boat and love them, so I have a little experience. 'Course, I like them for the fuel economy...
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