V-pad talk

[Merc 2.5]

So would a feller want a wide flat pad or a wide concave pad for high lifting and fast?

[XstreamVking]

Look at the pad on a Venom. I think it may be the best design out there.

[rock]

I filled in the concave on my Vector and widened it to match the Viking and it ran faster.

Rock

[aj06bolt12r]

I dont really know what Im talking about... But..

Wider pad will carry more weight and lift at lower speed and be easier to drive. Narrow pad will be faster ultimate top speed but require more driving and will require more speed to get all the way on pad depending on hull weight.

I would think a concave pad might possibly be a little faster if you can get it far enough out of the water to get some ventilation in the middle.. Dunno if that is really possible.

Like I said, dont really know what Im talking about. Fun topic of discussion though.

[LakeFever]

Venom Pad is wide and flat. A buddy of mine has one I’ll try and get some pics of it. His boat has a 225x and runs just over 100. Nice rig, 15” mid, sport master, all the goodies

[Merc 2.5]

I been on fence about getting another hull over winter or tearing mine apart to do coosa everywhere to lighten it up as much as I can , and also some pad work. Now it has a concave pad roughly 8-10 inches wide. I havent measured it but I will hopefully tomo if I can remember. Boat ain't a tank but it ain't necessarily light. Says 1100 factory dry weight , and I like the idea of knowing what I got instead buying a water logged head ache im gonna have to rebuild anyways , little labor and some supplies and I can lighten her up couple hundred lbs and get it on pad sooner.

[AlliStan]

This is what Wally did to the Allison pad when he built the V21. V21s are supposedly much easier to drive on the pad than an Allison. Never measured the two but I'm told the V21 pad is wider. Plus, there was a change in the strakes I was also told. But, we're talking about the pad here..

[David]

There is more to stability then pad width. When I was learning to drive my SS2000, Mark Weigle was kind enough to turn me loose in a Tuff 21. I had driven pad boats before, but the Allison was different than what I had driven before. The Tuff was easy to go fast in right away, despite a much narrower pad than the SS2000.

I would agree that generally a wider pad is easier.

[Jimboat]

here is an article on vee-pad design.

or more on vee-pad sizing, dynamic stability, here.