Lifting strakes.

[Pammy]

I know this may have been discussed on this site. But it would be oh so helpful to me if we could compile all the info right here.
Benefits. Facts. Can I live without or will I torture myself if I don't get them. Are the differences measurable as far as fuel consumption, improved ride, general quality of life?
It would be great if I could get responses from folks who have had it with and without(not necessarily in that order). I am firm with the tri toon decision and at least a 150/4 engine.

[LocoCoco]

I've never had them but if I were buying new, I'd definitely get them. When you consider the overall price of the boat/motor/trailer/keychain the strakes option usually isn't very expensive.



LC.

[rancherlee]

with 150+hp by all means get strakes and/or a performance option center tube. you will be kicking your self later if you don't. Strakes will add a good 5+ mph to your top speed with a 150+ engine, keep the pontoon up out of the water preventing "the submarine" maneuver when encountering a BIG wave or wake, and depending on the lay out will allow the boat to bank a bit in turns for better handling. Also the pontoon will have a good fuel saving cruising speed, somewhere in the 20-25mph range where it is just up on plane the the engine is only running ~1/2 throttle.

[clownin]

New to boating ..what are syrakes

[The_Hellbilly]

the only way to really tell is to go out and drive one with them and then drive a comparable one without. The performance difference between running on plane and plowing through the water is easily noticable. The only thing worse than a tritoon w/o strakes is a pontoon w/o strakes. If you have a light load most of the time, you may get by w/o the strakes, but if you have a boat load, you'll need them if you want to go faster than a turtle with two legs

[ronb]

My 22ft 2007 South Bay does not have them, turns great, not a chance of getting up on a plane. A while back I had an opportunity to use a 2008 25ft Bennington, these were my thoughts at the time..
Good Day to be on the Lake, bad day on the lake... Page 2

dealership did give us a loaner, a 2008 Bennington 2574RLI
I don't know if it was because of the super strong wind, the extra girth (3ft longer, heavier engine, heavier trailer, etc) or because we ran the AC all day on high, but pulling this thing dropped my gas mileage from 12mpg (when pulling my 2007 South Bay 922CR with the 18yr old 3/4t GMC shown in the pic) to a paultry 7mpg.. I could watch fuel guage move, it made my butt hurt, right around my wallet area....

I had hopes of high speed cruising with this 'toon. Large tubes, lifting strakes inside and out, The Yamaha 150 4 stroke was running a Solex 15x15 aluminum prop. But it did not perform as I had hoped/expected. We heard a lof of what must be cavitation coming from the prop when trying to get 'up to speed', we couldn't give it full throttle from full stop, most of the time when we were up to speed around 2k RPM we still couldn't go full throttle, we had to ease into it, otherwise it sounded like the prop was churning and making froth... I don't know if the following was because of the lifting strakes on the outside of the tubes, or just a normal behaviour of a longer 'toon. But when you would try to corner hard at all, it would lose all forward momentum and cavitate like crazy, no sirens or alerts went off that the motor was overrevving (I had that happen a few times with my SouthBay Optimax when we went over large swells) but if you didn't pull back the throttle it wouldn't bite again. Another thing I thought was weird was that the inner lifting strakes did not extend all the way to the rear of the tubes, but the outer strakes did. Since I have never been on a 'toon with strakes I had expected to 'feel' it lift out of the water when it got up to speed and that just never happened, when I looked over the sides of the 'toon at max throttle (wife was driving) greater than 2/3 (more like 3/4) of the tubes were in the water and I couldn't even see the lifting strakes at the front of the tubes (I assumed that they would be visible if the 'toon was up on them) We didn't have a GPS with us on this trip so I don't know what speed we were actually going, it felt like a good speed... when we were full throttle you could see the top of the cavitation plate just below the water spray indicating good engine depth, but I really felt like the Prop was letting us down. The engine was whisper quiet compared to the Optimax. The 'toon had a lot of nice features like changing room and the extra 'captains' seats in the front.

All that being said, for my next pontoon (or future upgrade to this one) I want a triple toon with lifting strakes on the center tube, both sides and on the insides of the outer tubes and underskinned..

-ron

[Pammy]

"performance option center tube"

Does this mean a larger center tube?
The boat we are looking at has three 25" tubes and no lifting strakes. The salesman says the boat runs in the 40's via gps....but who knows.

[The_Hellbilly]

"performance option center tube"

Does this mean a larger center tube?
The boat we are looking at has three 25" tubes and no lifting strakes. The salesman says the boat runs in the 40's via gps....but who knows.

Yes, a larger tube. Toon speeds range a lot and will run faster when light. I can run in the mid to hi 40's if I am the only one on the boat and I take off all the junk (anchors, icechests, etc) and part of the furniture. The toon without strakes will suffer significantly when it is loaded down because it won't get on top of the water. It will have to push (plow) through the water.

I wouldn't consider a boat without strakes because of how much higher it runs across the water. You really need to drive both. If you don't know boats well, take someone who does with you, even if they don't know pontoons.

[Pammy]

Did you put the strakes on your boat or were they already on when you bought it. If you put them on, what was the expense? I think I can get a decent deal on this Sun Chaser, but no strakes and all tubes are the same size. I don't care about a good deal on something I might not like.
Evidently, I have commitment issues...

[jimrs]

From everything that has been posted on strakes there is nothing to dislike about them. They serve a purpose, which is to help the boat get on a plane and run faster. There are many claims about them that I can't prove or disprove so if I had the choice for or against I would say yes get them as they are cheaper now than later.

[cwag911]

I also think the salesman is bsing you about the speed also. Not gonna happen w/o strakes.

[The_Hellbilly]

Did you put the strakes on your boat or were they already on when you bought it. If you put them on, what was the expense? I think I can get a decent deal on this Sun Chaser, but no strakes and all tubes are the same size. I don't care about a good deal on something I might not like.
Evidently, I have commitment issues...

Most strakes come factory. If you have someone add them after there is a good chance you will lose your manf. warranty and welding on aluminum can be tricky.

[Ron Burgundy]

Do you guys with strakes ever have issues with them banging up against the dock or pylons? I picture them sticking out further than some bumpers, but not having them I'm not certain if it's an issue.

[ronb]

From all the ones I have seen, they do not extend out past the edge of (no wider than) the main pontoon tube body, so they are no more in threat of hitting something than the tube is.
-ron

[Ron Burgundy]

That's good.


Perhaps I was imagining TAP fins.