Boating in heavy chop. 28' Cabin Cruiser

[rs2k]

I've always though that you should take waves and heavy chop on at a 45 degree angle. I was boating in about 30 MPH winds and 2 - 2.5 feet breaking waves/chop about a week ago and found that the boats runs pretty darn normal when just taking them on head on or tail on. If I take them at 90 degrees the boat runs smooth but tends to roll. If I take them on at a 45 degree angle the boat doesn't roll as bad but every once in a while the large leading chine on the boat will fall right onto a wave and pound hard. I tried all of this at around 30 - 35 MPH. I can do full throttle when running parallel with the waves the boat ride is smooth but the boat will sometimes porpoise a bit. If the waves are the right height it will tend to slowly oscillate from porpoising to flat running.

I usually run at about 30 MPH when the water is rough. This creates a reasonably smooth ride. I was just running faster for testing purposes.

Big difference from driving my 18' tri-hull. I can't even plane the tri-hull when the waves get more than about 1 foot high. I'm able to plane the cabin cruiser even when wave height approaches that of a yard stick.

All of this takes place on a lake, so there are no swells to contend with. I will be heading out to the ocean this winter however.

 

[Steve Mahler]

Re: Boating in heavy chop. 28' Cabin Cruiser

You must have a pretty deep V, my bayliner 26 would never allow running comfortably at 30mph in 2 ft + chop, more like 18mph for me.

Anyhow, sometimes we like to run straight on so you dont have the wind whipping wave spray up into the cockpit when running at angle.

 

[rs2k]

Re: Boating in heavy chop. 28' Cabin Cruiser

You must have a pretty deep V, my bayliner 26 would never allow running comfortably at 30mph in 2 ft + chop, more like 18mph for me.

Anyhow, sometimes we like to run straight on so you dont have the wind whipping wave spray up into the cockpit when running at angle.

I usually sit behind the window if it's really windy. I've only had it in close to 3 feet of chop. At that height 25 MPH was fast enough. 30 MPH at that height made riding up front uncomfortable.

Here's the front of the boat. It's only a 45 degree angle Vee. You can see the displacement waterline as the copper paint on the bottom of the boat. It's when those large chines hit the waves at an angle that it gets uncomfortable.

 

[Kracken]

Re: Boating in heavy chop. 28' Cabin Cruiser

Nice boat, what is the year and make?

I would say it has spent some time in the ocean. The style is older so while it might rattle a few filling loose, no fears in 3 foot chop, that is a solid boat.

 

[rs2k]

Re: Boating in heavy chop. 28' Cabin Cruiser

It's a 1980 IMP Kansa with twin Chevy 350s. It was made and has spent its life in Kansas. It is a solid and well built boat. It's also a fast boat (at least for me), I've had it up to 44 MPH. It's currently a big fish in a little pond, but I look forward to making it a little fish in a much bigger pond this winter. I'm getting all the bugs worked out so that it'll be ready for deep sea fishing.