Carver hits waves hard on plane

[eastont]

I have a Carver Santego 27' and when it's up on plane if a boat comes opposite me and throws out a fair size wake, when I go over the first one, the boats comes down hard on the next one. I've tried to change direction etc, but it seems to be consistent. Even in rough water it will do the same. A friend has a SeaRay and his seems to either bounce from wave to wave or cut right through without any on the banging.
I hit so hard one time, my wife swore we hit a rock, and the cabin floor was covered with anything not nailed down. The stuff in the cupbourds was all over the place.

Could this be do to weight distribution, or am I allowing the bow to ride too high, and need to trim the bow down more?

This is new to me, I've had other boats this size and never experienced a similar problem.

All comments are appreciated, as usual.
Thanks

 

[ziggy]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

i've no real answer for ya. but i will say my boat, granted it's much smaller, does the same thing. man, i can rattle fillings out of my teeth is hits so hard..
what i've found is that i have to drive my boat. ea. scenario is different. going into the waves is worst for me and sometimes there is nothing i can do other than slow down. other times i can make the pounding better by approaching the waves at a different angle. usually 45* is what works best for me. i've also found that sometimes if i increase speed radically i can get up on top of the waves and bounce over them. it still beats hard but not so much as to rattling the fillings out of my teeth. usually trim all the way in works best for me.
i'll also drive around a wave that looks like it's gonna beat me to death. just a quick course change may be enough that i don't get the pounding on said wave.
look at your hull and read how the waves are gonna hit it. my boat is a real deep v in ft. but flatens out quick towards the back. if i catch a wave right at where the hull starts to turn flat i really get pounded. so i try to navigate so as not to catch a wave on that part of my boat.

i've considered trim tabs and believe that they could help me with my problem. but my transom is clean and i've learned to drive my boat in these conditions so have not put any on. i've pretty much cured my slamming into a wave by navigating..

good luck with her...

 

[25thmustang]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

This is ALL about how you approach the wake/wave and what you do before and during crossing it.

My boat if I hit a large enough wake will slam down. On my last trip out I did it one time to show a friend how it would react. Ended up knocking a bell off the side of the bolt (turns out the bolts were loose).

My boat is slightly larger, but a similar style/size. When I encounter another boats wake I throttle back a bit and get the bow up higher, hit the wake around a 45 degree angle, and take the waves like rollers. Boat rolls through them, not up over the first and slams onto the second. Too much speed and it slams down, basically any boat with the right wake/wave will have this happen.

Practice a few different techniques for taking larger wakes. I have found the sweet spot for my boat and in time you will too.

 

[dbkerley]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

I have the same boat as Ziggy and what I usually do is to bring her into the wake at greater than a 45 degree angle allowing it to slide over the crest and down in the trough before exiting the other side the same way. I don't always change speed only angle. The greater the speed - the greater the angle.

If I don't have the time or room to adjust the angle, I will throttle back and drop off plane long enough to broach the wave head on and then throttle back up to plane on the downhill side and move on along.

 

[rbh]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

Surf the curl DUDE.

but really. Just go on an angle.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

Every hull design is different, so this hull handling wakes or large waves differently would be normal. Sounds like you need to slow down if its that bad, trimming the bow down will help.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

my 26' carver santa cruz handles big wakes VERY well.... I am usually on the ohio river and most of the other boats dwarf mine..... I cruise 21 -25 mph and almost never slow down for a wake...... Except for the biggest ones I actually enjoy hitting them head on because it always delights me just how smoothly the boat takes em.... definately try trimming down.... my boat runs best about 1/4 up from full down (cav plate about level with bottom of boat)

you want the bow to cut into the wake a bit instead of planing over it.... you want to flatten the "hill" instead of jumping it

This is an issue that you need to figure out with some experimenting

 

[broark01]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

Carver Santego 27

"The hull responsible for this kind of performance is a modified-V, warped plane, which has a sharp stem entry and decreases to an 8 degree deadrise at the transom. Four lifting strakes are incorporated into the bottom, and wide hard chines give additional lift and turning stability. The 27?s 10 foot beam and 8,400 pound displacement (about 2,000 more pounds than comparable boats) also contribute to its solid feel."

Above from Sea Magazine:
http://www.seamagazine.com/boattests/DM_article.asp?id=399

I am guessing the 8 degree deadrise at transom might contribute to this type of ride.

 

[eastont]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

I've tried trimming the bow down, but the boat handles heavy, if you know what I mean. The trim tabs do not act quickly, so trying to make an adjustment just before the wake comes into play is almost impossible. Because we're on the 1000 Islands, boat al of a sudden appear from around various islands.
The worst are the guys who for some reason like to travel at the speed just before going on plane and they throw out a huge wake. I think they enjoy all the problems they create, not just to other boaters but to the shore line.

But I will Try to keep my bow trimmed down and see how that goes.

 

[QC]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

I was posting the exact same thing as broark . . .

Amazing thing is, I Googled (web not site) the 2667 Santa Cruz noted by smoke and this thread was already there . . . flippin' incredible they can search and compile that this quickly. About 10 minutes after the post.

 

[dbkerley]

Re: Carver hits waves hard on plane

I would love to be riding that Santa Cruz myself.