Tips on driving a 24' Skater

[Thunderduck]

I always ran positive trim and never had any problems. I only know of one blow-over that happened at Lake X many, many years ago. The boat is prone to launch when running offshore.

[tux974]

Ok I won't touch that tab until later. Great idea for now!

But I'm very surprised that a 24 would blow over so easy just from positive trim. Is that because your boat is designed different or is the skater just as easy to blow over? Was that from having the nose too light with all the trim and you skipped over a wave and got air under it?

It was totally MY mistake NOT the boats fault at all. It does and has happened but it is NOT a common thing at all!! I was running along side some bigger boats in a Hottoddy run, with way TOOO much trim, came up on some large cabin cruiser wakes and a windy open area!
IMPO, the boat is very safe when ran properly, it is very well designed (that is why many have copied it) but as I mentioned earlier it will go over some amazing water that it will give you that false sense of security.
Feel good about owning an amazing boat, minimal positive trim if any till you have seat time, I would NOT listen to nonsense or negative talk but do respect it at all times!

Let me add, most guys that talk bad, negative or down about Skaters have never owned one!

[JohnR]

For the record I wasn't talking bad, it's an amazing boat and I would love to own one. Obviously there are plenty of you who own them here, I was just reiterating what I was told by someone who was in the business for any years.

[tony97gt]

No worries, I am listening to all feedback bad or good. I've never heard too much bad stuff about Skaters, but I'm sure if driven beyond its limits it can go bad just like anything else.

[JPEROG]

I don't know what the true limits of these hulls are as far as getting flighty is concerned but I do know this--by the time you feel something going wrong, chances of bringing it down are not good. I had a 91' with triple 260's and even with all of that weight on the transom, running in water on lake Michigan that made most other 24 foot boats head for shore, and being able to run 125 with 5 people in it (river running)-I never got really scared other then turning it at low speeds and paying for the fuel. They don't turn worth a rip (with trips, at under 50-lean to the outboard side bad). My current 24 with 15 inch 280s is getting the Doug Wright experimental package added to it right now (we will see what happens soon) I know its going to be loosened up more then it was before and should not need any positive trim what so ever. I want to be able to keep up Warren and Randy

[tony97gt]

I guess my next question is...my Talon is low to the water and very flat. It also has a center sponson. Pretty much opposite of the 24 Skater which seems high centered to me, narrower, and no center sponson. When riding thru another boat's wake in the Talon, I could comfortably roll over (almost parallel to) another boats wake. I boat in the intracoastal often in south fla and encounter large cabin cruisers and sport fish boats that throw huge wakes. But taking the wakes like I mentioned always works best for me. Should I do the same with the Skater or take it a bit more perpindicular since the boat is higher and more prone to rolling?

[fast fun 2]

24s do NOT have a reputation for going over backwards. Rolling over maybe, and only in race conditions. But if you roll it over your running WAY too hard in very sloppy conditions. My throttleman was a national champion in one, also set a kilo record. He would be happy to answer any questions. 518-644-3080, ask for Jason.
Enjoy your boat.

[tmoore]

You can go over pretty much any boat wake any way you want to at a reasonable speed... IMO the danger of a rollover is at low speeds when turning. They have a lot of bow steer going slow and will try to dip the sponson and go over. That being said it's not that bad, you would have to turn a pretty sharp. Over about 50 no problem.
There is a video somewhere of one rolling doing a u-turn at about 25-30 mph. With a little seat time you will get a feel for it. Besides with these boats you hardly ever run under 50mph unless there's a speed limit or something.
With 200s on it I would say you would have to do something pretty dumb to get in much trouble at speed.
Just my 2cts

[FasterthanU]

I don't know what the true limits of these hulls are as far as getting flighty is concerned but I do know this--by the time you feel something going wrong, chances of bringing it down are not good. I had a 91' with triple 260's and even with all of that weight on the transom, running in water on lake Michigan that made most other 24 foot boats head for shore, and being able to run 125 with 5 people in it (river running)-I never got really scared other then turning it at low speeds and paying for the fuel. They don't turn worth a rip (with trips, at under 50-lean to the outboard side bad). My current 24 with 15 inch 280s is getting the Doug Wright experimental package added to it right now (we will see what happens soon) I know its going to be loosened up more then it was before and should not need any positive trim what so ever. I want to be able to keep up Warren and Randy

What is this "Doug Wright Experimental Package" you speak of? lol

[tony97gt]

I'm not even sure 200's will get me to 100mph. Would be nice to finally hit triple digits. Only had the talon up to 92,aired out.

[JPEROG]

He is adding a strake to the running surface, blue printing the entire bottom, we are changing the front deck area between the sponsons to be more aero friendly as well as it is adding some more surface to the tunnel. There were other things that he suggested but I really want to get this project done in my lifetime and stop throwing $$ at it. He has added a lot of additional support throughout the tank process as well, removed the splash well and built 4 big knees the entire height of the transom, added another complete cross bulkhead at the rear (we moved the rear seats up 2 feet and chopped the race hatch to become a storage area)-its stout and stiff. We hope to be testing with Warrens boat (the tunnel mod. soon). On the last motion that he changed (just the nose design, he picked up 3 m.p.h.)-Doug is a very smart designer that has a pulse on aero and hydro both.

[FasterthanU]

He is adding a strake to the running surface, blue printing the entire bottom, we are changing the front deck area between the sponsons to be more aero friendly as well as it is adding some more surface to the tunnel. There were other things that he suggested but I really want to get this project done in my lifetime and stop throwing $$ at it. He has added a lot of additional support throughout the tank process as well, removed the splash well and built 4 big knees the entire height of the transom, added another complete cross bulkhead at the rear (we moved the rear seats up 2 feet and chopped the race hatch to become a storage area)-its stout and stiff. We hope to be testing with Warrens boat (the tunnel mod. soon). On the last motion that he changed (just the nose design, he picked up 3 m.p.h.)-Doug is a very smart designer that has a pulse on aero and hydro both.

Wow, thats some serious modification. I didn't even realize guys were doing those kinds of mods. I would seriously be interested to hear more about what the results are. I figured they were pretty aerodynamic already. You'll have to make sure you post a thread about what kind of gains and handling changes you see,

[JPEROG]

Hope to see some- Doug is 100% sure that it will be better then before just due to the stiffness added into the running surface and structure of the boat in general.

[FasterthanU]

Is this on a 24 motion or skater? Not that theres much of a difference. Do you have any pics of what you guys have done so far?

Sorry guys don't mean to highjack the thread...

[JPEROG]

My boat is a 97' 24 skater (last one of the classic design built). The nose piece gain that he did was on a motion. As he told me "look the leading edge of any airplane wing-then compare it to your decks leading edge!" Its like a small snow plow up there-I have tons of pictures showing what has been done and when its finished, I will have Randy "Wildman" start a complete thread-he will be painting the boat once everything else is done. Randy has done really extensive work to his new personal 25 liberator as well following Dougs advice.