Busted 80

[JJB]

Finally busted 80 on the 29' Lightning....actually 83 on the gps running non-labbed 30" Bravo 1's in Sarasota Bay. The engines were banging at the rev limiter but with a little more tweaking and a couple of 32" cleavers I think 86-88 is could be possible. Thanks John and Jeff.

JJB

[Fish]

Congrats JJB, good looking rig too.

fish

[LPB]

We should of taken it back out after we swaped the gear cases ,you might have got to see 85 with them FISHING PROPS your running !!Find you a set of 15X32 lab clevers and you'll start knocking on that 90 MPH door !! It was good seeing ya ,the view wasn't so bad at Hooters for lunch ! Thanks again !! JOHN

[NFA Avance 33]

Which Gearcases are you running Fleets or Sporty's? Also in order to spin a 30 Bravo those engines must be very high I think but high is where the speeds at. Do you have Jack Plates? Thats very impressive.

[Ospreyproduction]

Don't be so certain that the cleavers will outrun the Bravo's...Many a speed record have been set with Bravo Ones.

[JJB]

NFA,
The engines are up as high as they can go (last Hole) without adding a some sort of offset or jackplate. When I started looking for a couple of 250XS's to rig this boat I came across such a good deal on a pair of 25" motors that I couldn't pass it up. Looking back I should have spent a few extra dollars and got a set of 20" motors and hydraulic jackplates. I am still tweaking the boat and John and Jeff at Lightning have got this boat running good, we just swapped the lowers and the motors are now turning in. I haven't had the chance to air it out yet since we swapped the lowers but I have run the boat and it runs night and day difference. The lowers are fleetmasters and for the most part I haven't had any problems running them at 80mph, although I did spit the gears through the side of case on the counter. As far as sporty's go I'm in that 80-85mph range and from what Merc racing told me sporty's are for 85 and above, I think when I re-rig with new motors I might try the sporty's.

JJB

[JJB]

Osprey your right, since I've been looking for others props I've been hearing very good things about the Bravo's. Also, DCI (Andy) has the same boat I have and is running a set of Hydromotives props getting some great results.

JJB
p.s. Great video!

[markt111]

just curious if you have run hard with the motor spinning in yet?? if so how much faster if any? low speed/high speed handling?

have you ever run a Mirage Plus or other 3 blade round ear on it? was the bravo much better?

[JJB]

111,
I still haven't had the chance to run at WOT yet, it seems like every time I plan to hit the water something else comes up or I have a boat load full of kids. I was planning on going out this weekend but I think "Wilma" is putting a stop to that.
As far as running any other props the only other ones I have run were four blade 30" cleavers.

JJB

[markt111]

Hey JJB any update on this rig??

[JJB]

111,
The boat still runs good and even has all new graphics on it. I will say that in the need for the ever higher quest for speed I had the props worked and since that time no matter what I have done including running different bravos, cleavers, and hydromotive props and running pitches from 28"-32" I have never seen 83 (actually 82.4) again. The boat will run 79-81 on the best day and 77-78 pretty much anytime. After I had the props worked the first time I lost 7-9 mph. I ending up taking them to leading edge propeller and he got back about 6-7 mph that I lost from the other prop shop. On a side note I did take the boat to the Bahamas a year ago and that was a blast.

James

[kimswang]

Nice rig, good speeds. Interesting statement with regards to props. Post some pics of your new design...

[STV_Keith]

Time for some jackplates. :) That's big speed...what's the rig weight and what's on it for power? Can't tell from the pictures, other than they are Mercs. Bravos run very well on my Scarab.