Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

Hi all,

I am considering a 20' pontoon (2 log) with lifting strakes and a 115hp Merc. Lowe/Crestliner with 25" logs. I am hoping that on smooth water the boat will plane at over 30mph, I will use the boat for watersports.

I would also like to cruise around 20 mph and do not want a rough ride, will the strakes make the boat always want to plane? Does a boat like this cruise pretty smoothly as a pontoon without strakes?

Gman

I've got a 2009 23Ft Crestliner with a 150 Merc Optimax, Tritoon with lifting strakes, 23" tubes. It will run 42-45 WOT 2 people on board.
I have been very happy with the boat, my model Bataba Bay came with painted tubes that have held up very well. I have always kept it in a fully enclosed boat barn.
It gets on plain very easy and trims out nice.

If you are going to achieve the speed mentioned you are going to need the lifting strakes. I'm not sure you will hit 30 even with those and a 115. I can tell you that once you start to load up the boat with fuel, gear and coolers the speed really drops off. Have you looked into a tritoon ? With the watersports you mentioned it will really help. I would recommend some test drives if possible. It's the best way to figure out what you need to achieve the performance you are looking for.

The trick to getting speed is getting the nosecones out of the water. That's what strakes do. And 115 hp on a 20' boat should be plenty of power.

The downturn to not having a 3rd toon is that the outside toon in a deep turn will dig in deep and slow you way down. Your motor should have adequate power to quickly get you back up to speed, however.

Yes, get the lifting strakes. You should get the performance your looking for with a 115HP on a 20ft pontoon. By the way, imo, a pontoon with a 115HP should be faster than a tritoon with a 115HP. Less weight and less wet running surface.

Don’t forget under skinning. It will help you pick up a bit of speed.

willy13 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 05, 2020 9:55 am

Yes, get the lifting strakes. You should get the performance your looking for with a 115HP on a 20ft pontoon. By the way, imo, a pontoon with a 115HP should be faster than a tritoon with a 115HP. Less weight and less wet running surface.

I hold the opposite opinion on that. The third ‘toon weight is not the issue... because it has more buoyancy than penalty due to weight. The third ‘toon will LIFT the bow and assist getting on plane. It’s dry-weight and wetted-surface is far-overcome by it’s buoyancy.

FogHorn wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 26, 2020 5:27 pm

willy13 wrote: ↑

Sat Sep 05, 2020 9:55 am

Yes, get the lifting strakes. You should get the performance your looking for with a 115HP on a 20ft pontoon. By the way, imo, a pontoon with a 115HP should be faster than a tritoon with a 115HP. Less weight and less wet running surface.

I hold the opposite opinion on that. The third ‘toon weight is not the issue... because it has more buoyancy than penalty due to weight. The third ‘toon will LIFT the bow and assist getting on plane. It’s dry-weight and wetted-surface is far-overcome by it’s buoyancy.

I think it can go either way depending. With the right straked setup if you're talking same motor, I might be inclined to say the pontoon could have better top end especially with a 115. When I was shopping my motor, I made spreadsheets from performance bulletins and in a couple instances with nearly the same boat the 115 in a pontoon actually top ended the same as a 150 on the tritoon. And the speed king for the motor I chose was when mounted on that Bennington elliptical two tube setup. The third tube gives you the ability to run more motor for sure but like I said if you're going identical motor it can get tricky calling it.