how to make a flats boat fly

[bretter]

wanna go fast, here's the deal:

I'm obviously a newbie lol sorry. i'm currently looking for a 17-19' flats boat hull and am not sure what to look for. I want to be able to hit 80 mph at least. yes i know flats boats aren't made for speed but some of them can hit 70-75 mph with the right engine/ prop combo. I know there is more to it than just bolting on a huge motor and hitting the throttle.

what would the best engine be for a 18' 800 or 900 lb hull for max top speed? i know thats not enough but i don't know where to start. i would like to go lightweight for less draft like a 2.5 efi offshore or ss. then add some setback, slap it on a light hull, prop it out and what else????

thanks for any help.

[bretter]

what factors should be considered with regard to the hull when choosing the right engine for top speed?

[jimmyz32]

:d I Would Find The Boat First,them Look For The Badest Motor You Can Afford. Lake And Bay, Hewes, Mavrek, All Are Fast Flats Hulls. How Much Do You Want To Spend?

[bretter]

i was thinking maybe a late 90's 17' 6" lake and bay palm beach hull with 280 2.5L offshore....only thing is its only rated for a 150. they weigh about the same so i don't see why it would be a terrible problem. the cheaper the better. i see a lot of 2.5's listed for sale on here under the classifieds, what should i look for? i'd like to spend around 20-25k max.

[roosterds650]

I got into a race with a Lake and Bay with a 300Merc on it. I was in my 19ft action with a worked 300 gt V8 and this Lake and bay was makin me work for it in a small chop. He said he ran 87 but damn it looked faster than that. Anyways your not going to find an 80+mph Lake and bay in good condition for 25K or less. Its not gonna happen. For some reason those hulls are still pullin good $. But you have the right idea Huge motor, light hull,Lots of throttle, Then work out the bugs. Good luck!!

[jimmyz32]

my boat is a 2003 key west 17'2" sportsman only rated for a 120hp i'm running a 140 looper with about 150+ hp. change the stickers on your motor. And go play. :D

[Boozin909]

I would have to agree Lake and bays are hard to find under 25K used, I know cause I just bought one. I used to work for Lake and bay the and am still good friends with the owners of the company. Older lake and bays 2001 and before are heavier than the newer ones, the newer models weigh 850 to 900 for a 20 ft model and are running high 80's to low 90's with a 250xs and pocketed hull with 13.5 in setback. Keep in mind these boats are rigged for speed adding more chairs and trolloing motor with scratch those numbers in a heart beat. Lake and bay is proboly the fastest flatsboat hull that I know of The old 17.5 was rated 150 by Gene Dubois but the coastgaurd rated it to a 175 or 200 I can't remember at this point. If you have any more questions email me back at [email protected]

[jimmyz32]

for 25k i'd look for a carolina skiff 18' put 140 ON THE BACK AND HANG ON!! then take the rest of the money and go buy a used mako or proline or even a hydrosport. now you can go in the gulf and fish and in the flats. :D and you'll have a fast flats boat and an average ocean boat. have fun fishing !! then you can still mod. both motors. :D

[Dingie]

Boozin909 gave you some good numbers. I have a Hewes Redfisher 16 with the pocket cut out The larger hewes 21 is faster than the 16 because of the added HP but the design is not as fast as the Lake and Bay flats boats.I have never seen any run near 90 with extra batterys trolling motors live wells full two large guys and rigged to tournament fish.In those condition they are faster than the Hewes 21 the 21 hewes loaded for bear will run 70 with a great prop,which is flying in a chop.Both boats are top of the line flats boats and are not cheap.The one thing youhave to remember is thet are not race boats.

[ultrafast]

I built my own flats boat. HST bottom klegecell flat deck. Ficht 175 80 mph. No brainer. Actually I love the boat. Lightning powerboats put the boat together and it screams with my little motor.

[Boozin909]

Dingi yeah your right I havn't seen any L&B that ran 90 loaded but Chuck Cash who is on the red fish tour runs a 300x and a worked lighting et is hitting 86 loaded with livewells full and gear. I know I may sound a little biased towards lake and bay but I really love the way their boats handle.

[Tango]

I would talk to Trae at Pearland Marine. He's got a flats boat with the Verado on it and I am sure he can tell you how to make them go faster.

[NICE PAIR]

Talon Marine in Florida builds a 22' flats boat.( they may offer a 18' ) Talk to Robert Wilkins @941-351-0710, he may be able to steer you towards a used one. Good Luck Steve.

[Kevinpmac]

I looked into Lake & Bay a year ago before buying a Kevlar Egret. As explained to me, the 250XS on a 20' will run +/- 84 MPH light. That is with optimal setup and does not include troller and the two extra batteries or gear. No doubt they are the sexiest dam flats boat out there. My neck still jerks around every time I see one.

For me, the negative issue with L&B was it's very low freeboard and lack of self-bailing feature. An ex owner told me at times they had water washing over the rear deck while coming off plane. :mad:

There are a couple of other pad-style flats boats out there (Back Country, Ranger, etc). The others mentioned above (Maverick, Hewes) are not designed to go fast and can become a biotch to drive above 65. My Egret is included in the group of tough to drive at speed. Keep in mind, you are just a quick hook or rouge wave from getting thrown out of those things. :eek:

[stevenolms]

I have a guy down here in the Fla keys. he is running 82mph with an UNTOUCHED 200 promax on a 17 footer. he is using a sport master and a 10" bob's plate with a 26" Lightning et. The boat is a SIDE CONSOLE!! I didn't believe it until he pulled a run and showed me the GPS #'s.

I have a customer that has a 1985 lake & bay with a 1985 2.4 200 bone stock. He is running 75mph in the 20footer with the motor bolted to the transom with a bob's cone. This boat is a testiment to the excellent handling of a lake n bay. It has worn out stock mounts all the way arround and the tourque tamer is worn flush from running flats down here, and the boat Still drives like a dream!

[FLMIRAGE]

Take a look at lightning power boats 18' flatsmaster,his composite version w/280 will see 100. The bottom is a tunnel vee,beam 78'' wide. He might not be a premier builder but the work is good and I know the hulls won't break.
Go to his website. my 2-cents. Good Luck.

[jimmyz32]

can't find the web site can you put on here?

[FLMIRAGE]

www.lightningpowerboats.com. hope this helps...

[scawd the dog]

If you would like to have it all... rough water ride,speed,crusing,fishing skiing,haulin a.. you must ride and drive a FastCat.These boats are the real deal not inexspensive by all means.These boats post some impressive #s.
Scawd :)

[Fishiest1]

I think the Fast cat might not have the bait wells to be a true tournament boat ie can they hold 2 34" snook?

Lake N Bays area great boat but they really arent as fast as people think. I have taken several in my Action Craft.

Now, the lake N bays with 250s are faster than my boat but they should be I only have a 200 on my AC..

[bretter]

i took a ride in one of the lightnings with a 150 vmax and was pretty impressed. with full fuel and 2 big guys and some 4 blade prop we hit 62 gps. the only thing i don't like is its not self bailing.

without dumping a ton of cash i think this may be the ticket.

[Mini Max]

I built myself a Carbon Kevlar Egret 18 with a Merc 200 EFI maybe 9 years ago. Rigged all up weight including some fuel was 1715 lbs. The center of gravity of an Egret is forward to float level in 9” of water and as a result they plane at low revs and get on step without the bow rising and stern sinking. When it is really snotty, and I have been in 10 footers offshore, you are on top going slower with a higher average speed in the rough.

So saying, the top speed was 72 MPH. The numbers calculated higher. It was the engine height that was the limiting factor. It seems that 72 MPH is about as fast as you could push the bullet through the water. It ran the same top speed no matter what prop from 21” to 27” pitch. With the 27” prop, the boat would plane @ 1850 RPM. Without a set back or jacking the engine way up that was it. I just did not care to compromise what the hull and setup would do for ultimate top speed. I never would feel comfortable nor recommend that anyone run 80 sitting on top of a flat boats deck.

We did find that quite a few 60 MPH Egrets would run with 70 MPH Lake and Bays.

[Tom Foley]

Remember ... your sitting ON the boat not IN the boat ! Even a slight hook in a turn and youll be on your head ! My Renegade 18 flats boat is a 60 mph boat , and after feeling 100 in my Euro I don't think it's wise in a flats boat , then again my D Stock Hydro with 44 XS went over 80 mph and it was 11' 4" !! , Wife wasn't real thrilled with that hobby . Be careful , Tom .

[bretter]

i was checking out the ranger 191 cayman. it has a pad and is rated for a 200.
talked to a owner about his and he said it was a 65+ mph boat with 2 guys and full gas/some gear.

[SUPAJAY]

You guys obviously havent seen "The Juicy Clam".... put it this way; a clam boat with a 2.4 bridgeport. Enough said.

[bretter]

i'm this close to putting a livewell in a hydrostream...........

[jimmyz32]

my 17'2" key west sportsman will be doing 70mph in about 3 weeks,is that fast enough? the hull weight is 1150 lbs. i figure total weight me motor gas and tackle about 2000 lbs. 1987 2.7 ltr. 225hp ran 60 on gps. before i stuck a piston. and i was only running it about 3/4. and 5" below the pad. i was giving it a shack down when it died. oh yah it has a 27 pitch 4 blade with huge rake and cupping for running the motor high. so i could get to 75 mph. when it's all squared away....

[bretter]

my 17'2" key west sportsman will be doing 70mph in about 3 weeks,is that fast enough? ....

nope. :D

[jimmyz32]

hydrostream's don't count as flats boats :rolleyes: or we'd all have them. plus there hard to fish from, where would you put the troling motor? i do alot of site fishing and its hard to pole them around.and yah 70mph in a hydrostream is just getting it on plane. :D :eek:

[TheJuicyClam]

Hey, I got a 1981 Flair(yes, no one has heard of it), anyways, you can find it on the website, just search for The Juicy Clam, and its in one of the threads. I am thinking of putting a hyrolic jackplate on it this year, and it has a 2.4L race motor on the back. My transom is 2 1/2 inchs thick, but I am worried about the angles that the jack plate will put in the transom. If anyone has some advice, please, could use it before I put it on.

[baja200merk]

juicy clam
looks like you need some setback so you can negate that trim angle a bit!

kevin

[TheJuicyClam]

well, the jackplate would give me 6 inchs of set back, plus the ability to jack the motor vertically up and down...what I am worried about, it putting the added stress of a jack plate on the transom, if the angles that the force of the motor push at with the jackplate on won't make my transom implode on itself.

[baja200merk]

a jackplate will put added stress on the transom for you are giving the engine more leverage on the transom... glass some knees in there bolt 6-8in setback on and go faster haha

kevin

[TheJuicyClam]

Ok, so put supports in the boat, and then run the jack plate or setback? Actually, I will make this easier on myself so I can get the boat in the water before october...I will just leave it off this year, and next year have some fun with it...thanks for the help though, appreciate it