Am I too light in the bow ?

[JJwithaSearay]

I have a 85 Celebrity 21 BR with a 350 chevy i/o, The boat seams fairly heavy and it has a nice deep V hull for busting through wakes.
Here's my challenge...When I get into any rough water, boat wakes etc it seems like I bounce a lot and the boat take quite a beating. I have it trimmed with bow all the way down. If I trim bow up even just a little the boat wants to bounce even on near-flat water. I bought the boat from a freind who basically re-did it from the hull up. Is it possible I need more weight upfront? If so, what's the best way to add it?

Thanks y'all

 

[Boatist]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

I do not know your boat at all. Does the 21 mean it is 21 feet. It does have a heavy I/O and that is good for ride. You say it has a nice deep V hull but do you know the dead rise at the transom?

Best way to determine if the bow is too light is take it out and trim the bow all the way down, outdrive all the way down or in.

Now bring the boat up on plane and note where the spray comes off the hull when the boat reaches a clean plane.

The spray should come off the hull ahead of the windshield. For the best ride it should come off way up front where the sharpest part of the bows.
I assume this boat is a modified V hull meaning it has a sharp entry and flatens out some from midship to the stern.

If you have to trim all the way down to get the spray to come off the foward part of the bow then I would move some weight up front. The ideal for best ride would be where the spray comes off the hull in the foward 1/4 with the motor trimed near the center of its adjustment. In this mode the bow does not try to reach the bottom of each troff but will stil stay low to cut the next Swell of Wave.

Difference type of wave need to be run at different speeds for the best ride.
Large swells like 5 to 8 feet in the ocean the only choice is to slow way down as slow as you can go and stay on plane. This usually requires Trim Tabs but motor trimed all the way down and running right at your lowest planning speed can work. Also here you are watching at least 2 swells ahead as you can steer around most of the sharpest or breaking swells but never more than 45 degrees off dead on.

Inland is totally different as you are dealing with a much shorter closer together chop. Again here you want the boat to stay pretty level and not diving to the bottom if each troff. In the short chop speed can make a big difference and each boat is different. Here slowing down sometime will make it rougher and speeding up will allow the bow to stay pretty level and can be a good ride. So if it a small chop and you have a rough ride at clean planning speed try kicking it up 5 to 10 Mph and see if it smothes out. If not all you can do is slow to your lowest speed where you can stay on plane and take chop at about 30 degrees off dead on or on the stern quarters and change from starboard to port to maintain the course you want.

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

From what I've read it sounds like you could benefit from a set of tabs...

It might be the cheapest way to fix your problem and would stop the porposing when you trimmed it up.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

J.J. - I have a 1992 celebrity 22 BR, W/ 350 I/O...Great boat.
Celebritys are heavy boats and take fine tuning to handle wave action,mine came with trim tabs, so trimming to ride is easy. i start off with tabs full down,drive tucked in/down,go full throttle till bow drops then drop it down to 2700-2900rpm at this point spray is coming off hull about midship,when encountering wave's approach head on,boat wake same thing,depending on height,if small accelerate thru wave if big,slow and go. It took about 20hrs to fully learn how she handles different wave situations,and i boat alot in the ICW so the conditions vary,but to answer your question...No don't add weight to the bow,its a real deep "V" so adding weight can cause boat to react poorly to certain situations,and cause dangerous steering and porposing ,just take your time to learn.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

i do believe these will help get the stern up and plane better.
http://www.iboats.com/Marine_Store/...17157--submit.Search--submit.x.52--submit.y.9

 

[JJwithaSearay]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

Thanks a ton for the info. I will look into trim tabs.
JJ

J.J. - I have a 1992 celebrity 22 BR, W/ 350 I/O...Great boat.
Celebritys are heavy boats and take fine tuning to handle wave action,mine came with trim tabs, so trimming to ride is easy. i start off with tabs full down,drive tucked in/down,go full throttle till bow drops then drop it down to 2700-2900rpm at this point spray is coming off hull about midship,when encountering wave's approach head on,boat wake same thing,depending on height,if small accelerate thru wave if big,slow and go. It took about 20hrs to fully learn how she handles different wave situations,and i boat alot in the ICW so the conditions vary,but to answer your question...No don't add weight to the bow,its a real deep "V" so adding weight can cause boat to react poorly to certain situations,and cause dangerous steering and porposing ,just take your time to learn.

 

[JJwithaSearay]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

Thanks to all for the great, very detailed information. I'll do a little more testing to confirm, but it sounds like trim tabs will be a relatively cheap solution.
JJ

 

[Boatist]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

When I added Bennett Adjustable Trim tabs to my boat one year after new it made it ride like a boat 4 feet longer. It is still the very best thing I added to my boat worth every penny. I personaly like the longer tabs 12 or 18 inch cord. I feel that when the bow lift on a wave the tabs go deeper on the stern and cause the bow to cut the wave better.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

J.J. - If your Celebrity doesn't have tab's ,getting them will greatly improve the ride, on a boat that heavy its almost mandatory,and please do yourself a favor..get Bennett,fully adjustable tabs..not the smart-tab do-dads,you want to be able to adjust for load...water conditions....wind..and current.not cheap but worth it.

 

[Jdeagro]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

Do a Search on Smart Tabs

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

Nobody else mentioned this but when I read that the previous owner re-did the boat from the hull up I thought it may be possible that the hull has a "hook" in it near the stern. This hook would essentially be a warped/non flat section of the hull that should be flat. This could cause all kinds of interesting problems. It might be worth taking a look at the bottom of the boat to make sure this isn't the case before dropping money on trim tabs...although I suppose trim tabs can help in counteracting the effects of a hook.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

While it is possible for the Celebrity to have a "hook" i rather doubt it,Hooks are caused by an area of the hull that "caves in" due to a weak hull,where the hull wasn't fully reinforced by glass and wood,celebrity's are very well built boats,extra wood & glass,compaired to other boats of same size and type (CC/BR) weight alot more,due to the engine weight,and lack of owner experience,coupled with lack of tabs,will make his boat prone to porpoising, having REAL tabs,knowing how to use them along with outdrive trim will greatly improve handling characteristics.

 

[RotaryRacer]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

My point is solely based on his statement: "I bought the boat from a freind who basically re-did it from the hull up."

What I thought that could mean is that his friend re-did the stringers, transom and sole due to wood rot. It takes care to properly support the hull while rebuilding everthing to keep the shape of the hull. Depending on how the hull was supported it could easily have developed a hook inadvertently. While I don't doubt that Celebritys are well built boat we have no idea what the previous owner did to it.

 

[ovrrdrive]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

My Dad's boat had a hook built into it to hold the nose down. Hw had to sand it off to improve the handling of the boat. I don't know if they still do that these days, but a "hook" used to be a safety feature built in to the hulls...

 

[marine4003]

Re: Am I too light in the bow ?

My point is solely based on his statement: "I bought the boat from a freind who basically re-did it from the hull up."

What I thought that could mean is that his friend re-did the stringers, transom and sole due to wood rot. It takes care to properly support the hull while rebuilding everthing to keep the shape of the hull. Depending on how the hull was supported it could easily have developed a hook inadvertently. While I don't doubt that Celebritys are well built boat we have no idea what the previous owner did to it.

Agreed - Having experience with Celebritys,i didn't want the new owner having too many things to contend with,and in the process of elimination i feel tabs are the issue not a hook.But then i have been wrong before...once