How fast is to fast in rough water?

[captainjack]

I had a 25' landua an blew the front off in rough water with a boat like mine what is the biggest I can take on plain? Should be some loto guys with good idea's?

[Ron Burgundy]

What about the Gulf of Mexico guys?

Your motor is six times as powerfull as mine so I probably can't give any advice, but I think as long as you aren't digging the deck into waves you are doing ok. Just watch out for that rogue wave that will dent your beer can thin aluminium.

[OldePharte]

Hmmmm, that's an interesting question. I have found that it isn't necessarily the height of the wave, but the distance between them and your speed. I also found that on the big rollers I need to take them head-on to "skip" over them at about a quarter throttle or higher. For reference, we regularly encounter 50-foot and bigger cruisers plowing down a lake with seawalls, so everything bounces back.

Ya need to get a feel for the boat to get a comfort level for various wave heights. My 25 foot tritoon takes the waves a lot better than my old 24 foot double tube and I have yet to either stuff it or get the front wet. If I get blocked where I can't take a roller head-on, I'll take it on the side and let 'er rock her socks off (making sure that everyone is sitting down and hanging on).

If all else fails, back 'er down to just a couple of points above idle so you won't tear anything up or off.

People that I know that had nasty damage, eventually admitted that they were going too fast for the chop as they just wanted to get off the lake.

[GregF]

The limiting factor is when the deck goes under. This is not as much of a factor when your fence goes all the way to the bow but if you have some clean deck stinking out there, it becomes a dive plane. Once you get much over 10-15 you have a real good chance of blowing out the fence panels if blue water comes over. With the bow mounted fence it might not even take that much.
At 62-64 pounds per cubic foot, a wall of water is a petty tough opponent for aluminum coil.

I did see a pontoon work boat in the keys with an interesting addition. There was a 2x12 across the front of the deck at about a 30 degree angle to the water to pop up the bow if it started to submarine.

[jimrs]

You'll know believe me You'll know.

[Parker]

There are 2 types of rough water (actually more, but for this for instance we will say there are two).

There is the "Nasty Soup" wich is brutal chop going every which way.

Then there are the "Rollers".

Captain Jack,

With your set-up, you should be able to do WOT (wide open throttle) through the "Nasty Soup", however, you will need to "time" the rollers!

Most accidents are when someone stuffs a pontoon boat through the rollers, but it should stay up on top of the soup! If you are going to do a high speed launch off a roller, make sure that you maintain the same course you are heading and don't make even the slightest turn while at the crest, or you will regret it, while you are still in the air.......and going sideways! (catching an edge has a way of ejecting the driver) Also, sometimes it is better to stay into it, then to stuff the next roller because you were letting off the gas.

I speak from experience. I had some pretty interesting boat rides in my 684hp Playcraft Powertoon. But the one thing that I loved about the boat was blazing through the "Nasty Soup" in excess of 70mph plus! Thrilling!

Parker

[GregF]

If you are in a big enough following sea and you stuff the nose in, you can pitch pole the boat. That has you upside down, not where you want to be.

[captainjack]

Thanks guys! So parker in 3 an 4 ft wind rollers do u fly over or just work the throttle head on?

[Parker]

Captainjack,

I am not sure of your question, but here's an answer.

If the wind rollers are tight and close, meaning that the troughs are shorter in length than your boat, then I just blaze through and stay on top. I should also ad that I do move people around in the boat and try to get everyone in the back L-seating area during extremely rough water. I do this for several reasons. First, it is easier to lift the nose with throttle. Second, if I do get launched, the weight be behind the driver will make for an easier recovery and smoother ride.

I also want to note this: It is EXTREMELY difficult to stuff a Playcraft. Those front fins just pop the bow up.

If the rollers are long and drawn out like the wake from a tour boat, or from some of the huge cruisers that you see at LOTO, these can be tuff to navigate. I know you can't always hit them at the desired angle of approx 45 degrees and some of these wakes are humungous. More like ocean rollers. There is no other choice but to let off the throttles and pick a line.

I recently had a 30' center console with twins in the Sir Francis Drake channel (British Virgin Islands) with 40mph gusts and 10 to 15 foot rollers. It was insane. It took me half a mile just to make a 45 degree turn. I had to plan the turn approx 5 rollers ahead of myself. There were times when you would top one of the rollers, only to see that a huge hole had formed and you had no choice but to just keep going. I aired that boat every which way it could be done! You had to stay on plane or the boat would have been swamped. My wife and I did not have one dry article of clothing. But if any of you have been to White Bay on Jost Van Dyke, I am sure you would agree that an insane boat ride is well worth the trouble!

Parker

[Parker]

I forgot to ad this nugget of info:

With my 684hp Playcraft, my wife turned into a huge Kill-Joy! She hated that boat! I was beginning to think my first name was SLOW and my last name was DOWN.

She doesn't mind doing 60 to 65mph all day long........but at 80mph on a flying kite, she turns into a Witch (or something that rymes with it). Sorry...just can't call call my beloved wife the B word! So I use the word KILL-JOY!

Take all the above with the humor in which it was meant. I love my wife!

Parker

P.S. She might have bitched and moaned, but she was also the first person to say "Did you see US blow the doors off the Go-Fast boat"

[captainjack]

I forgot to ad this nugget of info:

With my 684hp Playcraft, my wife turned into a huge Kill-Joy! She hated that boat! I was beginning to think my first name was SLOW and my last name was DOWN.

She doesn't mind doing 60 to 65mph all day long........but at 80mph on a flying kite, she turns into a Witch (or something that rymes with it). Sorry...just can't call call my beloved wife the B word! So I use the word KILL-JOY!

Take all the above with the humor in which it was meant. I love my wife!

Parker

P.S. She might have bitched and moaned, but she was also the first person to say "Did you see US blow the doors off the Go-Fast boat"

that's awesome I am happy passing plain boats can't imagine twinn engine go fast boats that's got to be a rush. How do u keep your biminis on I had my front one snapp in chop a few years back at wot

[Parker]

The Bimini was a huge problem.

I ripped it clear off the boat twice. Not because of the top speed, but because it could go from 30mph to 60mph very quickly and the Bimini could not take the quick increase in speed. Towards the end of owning it, I would put it down and to take a speed run, which I would do several times a day.

The stock Playcraft Bimini is worthless as far as speed goes. My current (after market) double Bimini has no trouble at WOT with my 496ho which is somewhere between 55mph and 65mph depending on elevation, number of peeps in boat, and how full the tank is. My current Bimini is also a high speed bimini, and all the crossmember are stainless steel, with no straps for tie downs, it is all solid connections! However, it is connected to the rails and I guess it is possible that the entire rail could rip-off.....but I doubt it.

I am not taking as many speed runs lately since I now know that my 496HO burns 32 gallons per hour at WOT, which means that every speed run that lasts one minute burnt at least 2 gallons of fuel. This may not sound like much, but do that ten times a day and soon you have pissed away $80 worth of gas.

As a side note: My fuel bills are outrageous. I regret selling my diesel excursion and I now tow with a V-10 that only gets 5-6 mpg while towing. I am getting ready to go to my houseboat (timeshare) on Lake Powell, where I am expecting my TOTAL fuel bill to be around $2500 to $3300 for the 9 day trip. Just to fill up my boat at Dangling Rope Marina on Lake Powell will cost over $600 alone.

When I got my first Playcraft (2004 Playcraft Xtreme with 496HO), I once used over 100 gallons of gas in one weekend. Now I just like having the power, but a full tank (100 gallons) will now last me at least 3 weekends.

Parker

[captainjack]

I hate my biminis but I had a full camping encloser made for it so I think I am stuck with them! As far as gas I hear ya best boat I had (gas wise) was that landua with a 225 honda. This one is right at 30 gallons an hour at wot but I rarely due it but at one point I had a boat with twinn 496's an it liked gas if I drove it hard! My diesel pulling my rig into the wind 6 best I have got is 10 so I hear ya there.