1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

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meatyb

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Messages
49
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

lol so true about adding 10-20%:)
smokingcrater said:
You are over halfway to 50 mph, how much closer do you want!? :D

(previous owner lied to you, or never actually verified with a GPS. Boat speedo's can be notoriously inacccurate, and people tend to add at least 10-20% to their claimed speed...)
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2ndtry

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Mar 23, 2010
Messages
239
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

A 1997 mercury 2 stroke 115 has a max RPM of 5200 and a gear ratio of 2.07. looks like your 19" prop gives you the right RPM at WOT. Max speed should be just over 40 MPH, b at 35 mph you are getting about 22% prop slip. Perhaps a bit slow, but not much. 50 is out of the question with that motor, the 21" prop is already overpropped.
 
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todd ashley peters

Seaman
Joined
Nov 7, 2010
Messages
56
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Left my homemade wooden boat(12 ft, 82 20hp johnson)in the water for a week. next time out it was not as much fun. pulled it up on the floating dock, put the floor wax to the bottom. went from 20 mph to 27 that quick. that is a serious % of speed. Bad paint will do the same, kill your top speed and cost an arm and leg in fuel.
 
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TomB985

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 4, 2011
Messages
213
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

smokingcrater said:
Lots of tail wind and a strong current in a river, or someone swapped the cowl on that merc... 47 on a GPS on that setup is HIGHLY doubtful, as in not-gonna'-happen. I don't know what size cowl would fit on that, but maybe a 150?

I had a 115 merc on a 16' trihull (nearly flat bottom, very efficient, and only rated for 90), and that would just barely touch 47 on a good day.
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You can doubt me if you like, but this boat would do 45+ at any point with 4 people on the boat. The engine was purchased brand-new with the boat in 1991 as a leftover model. The boat was rated for 125 hp and was sold in '07 after the transom rotted out. I had my doubts about the speedo until verified with a GPS in '02. The boat did not have a tach so I have no idea what RPMs it would run at WOT.

With a Merc 115 it ran like a scalded dog, and I've been somewhat disappointed that my 190 HP MerCruiser V6 can achieve 1 MPH more with 75 more HP on a slightly heavier boat.
 
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meatyb

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Messages
49
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

the 21" prop is already overpropped.[/QUOTE]

i went to turning points website for prop selector put in all info and it even dared to say a 23pitch for best speed. i think thats way to much prop tho:eek:
 
M

meatyb

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Oct 10, 2011
Messages
49
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

. Bad paint will do the same, kill your top speed and cost an arm and leg in fuel.[/QUOTE]

the boat does have i would say several coats (from the looks of it) of bottom paint. im thinking stripping it all off and repainting maybe that will help?

i was at a recent boat show near me and found a local that soda blasts bottom paint off and leaves a smooth serface that he claims is ready for paint. he comes to me (boat is on trailer) and takes off trailer does his thing and ready for paint (but i dont think he paints) for $40.00 a ft. does that seem high??
 
etracer68

etracer68

Ensign
Joined
Oct 11, 2009
Messages
906
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Hull design, Bayliners have high lift hulls, and ride with less hull in the water. Sea Rays ride a bit lower, also a bit better ride in rougher water too.
 
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collegefund

Cadet
Joined
May 5, 2009
Messages
8
Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

I dunno if you ever figured it out but I recently bought a 2000 Maxum 1800 xr that has a Mercury 125 (2+2) outboard and it hits 44-46 on GPS every time while sitting on rev-limiter at about 7/8 throttle with me and a friend in the boat. It has a 17 pitch prop and, i'm not sure, but I think it's stainless steel. I want it to go faster though.. Im gonna put a 19p stainless on it or maybe even a 21p if it'll turn it. I've been looking around all night and ive seen a couple of threads about filing the edge of the prop to a knife-like edge to gain a few extra mph but you have to be professional about it or you'll eff up the balance.

Also, I have a Bayliner 1703 center console with a 85 Force out back that im currently sanding down and repainting the bottom with reg paint because it will only do 28 and it wont go past 4200 rpm with a brand new 15p un-cupped prop. It had real rough anti-fowling paint and I have no idea what else it could be.
 
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