Laser LTV Water Drain

Hi Guys,
I am very new to the boating world and especially new to this style boat. I have an 84' Laser LTV 17' Bass Boat with a 94' Evinrude XP 150 off the back. I installed a jack plate and like everyone, trying to get the best performance out of the boat... So, the question to all the LTV owners on here is, the sides of the hull fill with water and I am curious if this is supposed to be happening? Is it for leveling purposes? I just notice that when the boat is on the water for 30+ minutes it digs deep when accelerating due to weight. I can't find any info online so I turn to you. Last year I had the boat on the lake near me and I got a call one Sunday morning from the dock manager saying my LTV was at the bottom of the lake... Luckily however, my motor was above the water being that it was only 2 feet deep. I did not have a auto-bilge at the time (BUT I DO NOW) and was curious if the water in the side sections of the hull had something to do with this. The boat was launched and kept on the water 2 weeks prior to this occurrence and we were pulling bass just the day before. Being that the boat sits so low in the water (do to this side section water not being bilged out) the waves came over the back of it and it was sank before I knew it... Please help, as far as I know, there is no way to bilge this water out once the boat is on the water. The only way to empty the water is to pull the "3" plugs after the boat has been pulled. Thanks for your help, I look forward to a great season!

BTW, I only posted on here because I saw some other posts about Laser LTVs. It can be a hard boat to get info on..

LTV you should have a drain plug at the pad built in the mold and one in each sponson that are through hull with screws that attach and a plug that screws in the hole. When I built this one the plugs in the sponsons leaked. You can get them at Marine Supply. Also you can put bilge pumps in the sponsons and connect hoses together with a tee to your pump in the bilge. As far as water coming in the clamshells when you slow down, get into the habit of speeding up just a little when the wash is coming up behind you and it will lift instead of come over the transom. You will quickly start to do this automatically. Hope this helps.Attachment 299335

"the sides of the hull fill with water and I am curious if this is supposed to be happening?"

NO!! You've leaks somewhere. Find em. PH

its only a boat if it floats, if it sinks its just a lump of fibreglass.

definitely not ever meant to happen, so go find the leaks, does sound like transom bungs are bad.
some have simple rubber o=rings as seals.
could be they have perished !!!!

phill

Quote:

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Originally Posted by phillnjack

its only a boat if it floats, if it sinks its just a lump of fibreglass.

definitely not ever meant to happen, so go find the leaks, does sound like transom bungs are bad.
some have simple rubber o=rings as seals.
could be they have perished !!!!

phill

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Thanks guys,
I appreciate the help. I will go out and get some bungs tonight. I figured that I should have replaced these by now but thought if I can tighten them down they would be fine. I will have an update tomorrow after I take her out on the water for some boating and fishing.

Most of the time it is easier to put water on the inside and see where it comes out.

So I put some new bungs in the boat yesterday before going out on the lake for 6 hours and still had leaks, however they don't seem as bad. So my question now is, is there a way to seal the seam/bumper around the boat? There is a metal/rubber trim that goes around it and I think that maybe where it is coming in. Suggestions? Thanks

I purchased a Laser LTV in May. Installed a C&H Hydraulic transom jack and mounted my old Yamaha Pro-v150 on it. I have the same problem with water filling the outed sponsons. It sits in a hoist most of the time. I did observe water entering through the bilge pump discharge hose as it sits a few inches down on the transom. I bought a new longer hose and looped it up high in the transom so water should not enter through there. I take water over the transom when decelerating. As mentioned, you need to speed up a little as the boat settles into the water.

The windshield is so low that it is hard to see over it at speeds over 40 MPH, the wind just makes it really difficult.

I live in up state New York on one of the finger lakes and I don't use the boat very much as my wife does not like the pounding at low speeds.


I sold a Laser 380 Ray this spring to purchase the LTV. The Ray would do about 70 and was fun, the LTV does about 79 on the water pressure speedometer. No GPS for reference.

I am planning on taking some pictures of it and putting it on E-bay. It has too many drawbacks for pleasure boating. It was designed to Scream and Fly and it does that very well on relatively calm water.