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just bought my first boat ever an went straight for the fast one,i do know about fast jet skis so ive been at the 80 mark.heres what i got its an 84 sterling 18 ft tunnel with an 01 200 merc,can anyone tell me about this boat?cant find anything about them,also what kind of speeds should the boat be running? it has cmc hyd jack plate,shortend mid section with a 26 chopper prop,motor is stock, an is 6000 rpms normal at full throttle? defentally feels fast!
6000 rpm should be alright. I don't know the actual rpm spec on that motor, maybe someone can chime in. Anyways, 80 on a jet ski is very different from 80 in a boat. A jet ski can come out of the water at 80 and be fine. If you hit a wave at that speed and get airborne, there's no telling if you'll drive away from it. Anyways, to give you an idea on speed, my 19 tunnel with a 2.4 200 spun a 26"p up to 85 mph. Prop shaft was 1.5" below the pad. You should be able to get 80 anyways with the right setup
Be very careful with up trim, especially when heading into the wind. When in doubt trim it down. As Juggernaut said, a tunnel boat is nothing like a ski. I don't think you could ever blow over on a ski and if you did you would just fall off. They say there are only two kinds of tunnel drivers...those that have blown over...and those that are gonna blow over. Fourtantly I am still the later and hope to stay that way. Never go 100% unless your by yourself, wearing a good vest and have your safety laynard clipped on.
A 26 pitch prop, with a 1.87 gear and 10% slip would be right around 71 MPH....you are probably less than 10% slip with the Tunnel, which would mean a little more speed, but a handheld GPS will tell you the truth.
Welcome aboard !.....You have come to the right place for all your outboard answers...
thanks for the welcome,well i havent run gps yet but was told that after i get used to the boat ill want to go with a 28 pitch,what yall think? also how do you tell if its got that gear ratio,ive heard that a few times? is that a stock ratio?
Those numbers sound right. My Baker ran 72 with a 26 chopper at 6000. It's a 21 foot with a bit more weight and drag so you are probably getting a bit less slip in your 18'. If you put it in forward and take note of where the prop is, turn the flywheel until the prop makes 1 revolution, 1 7/8 turns = 1.87:1 (most common on 200's) or 2 turns = 2:1...you get the idea.
still looking for that answer on the prop but got another question,on the exhaust mod can that be done with the shortend foot? any gains in performance? will it give me that sound im looking for?
Every prop has a personality. It's not just as easy as saying that a 28 will go faster than a 26 on a perticular boat/setup. I don't know if your motor has a rev limiter or if you just can't turn the 26 over 6000 with your current setup. If it won't pull over 6k then you probably won't get any more out of a 28p. Do you have a jack plate? Does it carry the bow easily with a small amount of trim? How high is the propshaft centerline compared to the hull? Is is a full tunnel or does it have a center pod? What do you mean "shortened foot"? What exhaust mod? Holes above the cav plate? Yes that will give you the sound you want and maybe a bit more proformance...assuming I can read your mind...
Post some pictures of your boat's set-up. I don't know what "Sterling" is but surely it's similar to other tunnels out there. Mine likes Yamaha drag props and cleavers. Watch out with trim button! PH
thanks for the info on the prop,as for the hull it is a full tunnel,it does have a cmc hyd jack plate an the mid section and drive shaft have been shortend,i think the propshaft centerline is centered with the hull with the trim up as for the jackplate its about 3 quarters the way up,dont have low water pickup done yet so i keep a eye on the water pressure guage. to me it seems like i get a bunch of drag on the jackplate when i take off so when i hit the gas i hit the trim up at the same time too,seems to get me out the hole best.
<IMG style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 1px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=vbattach_240080 class=previewthumb alt="" src="http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=240080&stc=1" attachmentid="240080"><IMG style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 1px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=vbattach_240081 class=previewthumb alt="" src="http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=240081&stc=1" attachmentid="240081"><IMG style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 1px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=vbattach_240082 class=previewthumb alt="" src="http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=240082&stc=1" attachmentid="240082"><IMG style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; MARGIN: 1px; BORDER-TOP: medium none; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none" id=vbattach_240083 class=previewthumb alt="" src="http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=240083&stc=1" attachmentid="240083"><IMG style="BORDER-BOTTOM: red 1px dashed; BORDER-LEFT: red 1px dashed; MARGIN: 0px; BORDER-TOP: red 1px dashed; CURSOR: pointer; BORDER-RIGHT: red 1px dashed" id=vbattach_240084 class=previewthumb alt="" src="http://www.screamandfly.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=240084&stc=1" attachmentid="240084"> heres some pics
Looks like fun!! Your first investment should be a low water pickup. You won't get that chopper or a cleaver to work right until you get the motor up. If the bow gets light without much trim a cleaver may be a better choice as PH said. With a full tunnel, 18' and it looks pretty light you probably don't need the bow lift of the chopper. I don't want to nag but you see Pete said it also...be very careful with the up trim until you get lots of seat time in different water conditions. You have a boat that can Scream and FLY! Just fly low for a while.
now fill me in on what a cleaver will do for me it does stand up quick without trim.
so you reckond that $4000 was a good buy on the boat?does have 25 hrs on refresh top end too.sorry for so many questions just learning here.