Sea Ray slow to get on plane, slow in general, thoughts?

[duped]

Hi I have a 1986 sea ray 210 cuddy cabin, 21ft, 8 ft beam, est weight with fuel, gear and passengers 4200lbs. Has Merc 305 v8 ( 230 HP ), alpha one drive ( stamped 1:50 ratio ). No hydrofoil, but I have a happy troller mounted, also Bennett trim tabs.

Right now its running a 14.5 X 17 aluminum merc prop. Just rebuilt by the marina in town. The previous one I tried was the same size, but had cavitation burns on it.

WOT RPM varies between 4400 and 4600 RPM which I'm told is correct for this engine. Top speed on my GPS plotter is 36.9 MPH. This was with no chop on lake michigan, going with the current.

Anyways, ive noticed the boat seems a little slow to plane, and I'm not all that impressed by the top speed either, and was looking for suggestions. The boat is very well maintained, not water logged, runs great. Seems like no matter where I put the trim, or trim tabs it makes little difference.

I have a 19 pitch prop on my other boat, and was wondering if this would help or hurt my top speed and to plane times. And then there's Sea Ray's prop chart that recommends a 15 pitch prop for this particular boat and motor, which seems small.

Anyways, what direction should I go for best results... 15, 19, or be happy with where im at??

 

[steelespike]

Re: Sea Ray slow to get on plane, slow in general, thoughts?

If the happy troller is on the antivent plate it could be holding you back some on
hole shot and top end.Depends on how much is in the water at speed.
A 16" solas amita prop will help your hole shot stay on plane with less power
and generally improve low to mid range performance. It could slow your top end a little.Don't go to the 19,a 15 would help our hole shot but it appears you may over rev with it.

 

[mpsyamaha]

Re: Sea Ray slow to get on plane, slow in general, thoughts?

sounds to me like you are ok with the 17p prop you have now. possibly switching to a lower pitch 4 blade or maybe just a different 3 blade could improve performance

it does seem like it would be a little faster than 37mph, i know that a 24' searay sundeck with the 5.0 merc with bravo3 will do mid 40s with a near full load on board.