Why Large Outboard?

[Surfcaster]

I read a story about the first Bassmaster Classic tournament. Bill Dance claimed to have caught the first bass in the first classic because his boat had the most horsepower of any boat in the field and he got to his spot the quickest and started fishing while others were still riding.

[retiredbosn]

First guy was an idiot with a new toy he knew nothing about.

Second guy was no stranger to boating. Pay attention to how he came in slow, made his turn, chopped the power just enough to let the back drop and lift the bow a little, then poured the power to it. The motor also has a little outward trim to it.

Years ago, I had a 17.5' I could pop around like that, but not my Stratos or Javelin. They just want to blow the prop out and settle in the water. Basically, what you are doing a low speed bat turn, which are a lot more fun than a high speed one.

I would ride in your boat anytime, correct. The only thing I'll add is someone showed boater one, the idiot, how to trim for maximum speed. Only thing in the water was his prop, with the pad touching the water. He almost lost control on his last left to right pass. Boater two was over trimmed pushing his bow down, he took the turn at a good speed, knew what he was doing. Point is, novice boat operators have allot to learn, being turned loose with a performance boat without instruction and training can quickly lead to disaster.

[tomustang]

[South FLA]

L

 

 

 

[thomas15]

When I envision my next boat, I see a fairly large outboard on it. Attached to that outboard will be a bigger boat.

[livemusic]

I read a story about the first Bassmaster Classic tournament. Bill Dance claimed to have caught the first bass in the first classic because his boat had the most horsepower of any boat in the field and he got to his spot the quickest and started fishing while others were still riding.

 

I wonder how fast these 2015 guys run their rigs in the big tournaments? How fast will a 300hp boat go, 80mph? Sheesh, that seems so dangerous. So many of these lakes have logs floating around.

[thomas15]

I wonder how fast these 2015 guys run their rigs in the big tournaments? How fast will a 300hp boat go, 80mph? Sheesh, that seems so dangerous. So many of these lakes have logs floating around.

 

It takes a lot of boat to support that outboard.

 

When I was a kid we lived in the Jersey Shore and had both inland and offshore access. One of my friends family had a 26' Henry Lurhrs cabin cruser with flying bridge, inboards, nice big boat. The father was a bluefish fanatic and many times his catch would be mentioned in the sports pages of the local paper.

 

Anyway, while out in the Atlantic Ocean and operating the boat from the cabin during a moderate rain, he hit a telephone pole in about 80 feet of water 2 miles off shore. Out to sea basically. Made it back but never operated again from the cabin, always from the flying bridge, even in November.

 

There is always something to hit and there are risks. Trick is to avoid as much as possible. I tell my son when he is out in the boat stay as far from other boats and any possible danger areas as possible. Never be in a hurry especally if your gut tells you to be cautious. Having said all this, I like to go fast on the water. The 35 mph I get out of the SS Minnow is as slow as I want to go.

[kikstand454]

I Co- angle.

A 20ft z commanche with a 225 Yamaha will easily do 75mph. With room to spare.

A 21ft bass cat pantera with a 250 will likewise be pushing 90.

Both these rigs could approach the 100mph mark.

Meanwhile, an 18' express hyperlift with a 150 on it will Max around 70.

All of these rides tend to cruise- even in tournements, around the 45-55mph range.

Its never the speed that makes me nervous- its the person I'm riding with.

[South FLA]

I Co- angle.

A 20ft z commanche with a 225 Yamaha will easily do 75mph. With room to spare.

A 21ft bass cat pantera with a 250 will likewise be pushing 90.

Both these rigs could approach the 100mph mark.

Meanwhile, an 18' express hyperlift with a 150 on it will Max around 70.

All of these rides tend to cruise- even in tournements, around the 45-55mph range.

Its never the speed that makes me nervous- its the person I'm riding with.

A Ranger 20' Z Comanche running 75 MPH easily with room to spare is not doing it with a stock 225 Yamaha.  More  like low 70s with a tournament load with a new 250 VMAX 4-Stoke, possibly 75 solo with a mid to light load and cold day and with correct propellor.

 

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/products/otb/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_hpv6_pro_rng-z20comanche-f225tlr.pdf

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/products/otb/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_hpv6_vmax_sabccf.tmp.pdf

 

Also, a Bass Cat Pantera pushing 90 MPH is also not even close to approachable with a stock 250.  Its also important to note that the max HP rating for Pantera's is 200HP.  However, the Pantera IIs are know for the speed for a 19' class boat with a 200 approaching mid 70s with light loads add weight and all bets are off, could still beat the Ranger with the bigger engine though. 

 

http://www.evinrude.com/Content/Pdf/neutral/performanceReports/PE488.pdf

 

Now an 18' Xpress with a stock 150 is not approachable Hyperlift hull or not

http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/bulletin_2stroke_vmaxhpdi_pro_xpr_h20ss_vz150tlr_2011-04-18_alm_2.pdf

 

Trust me I know I looked at many boats and obsessed about speed for a bit a few years back and once you get past the speed bug you'll realize it ain't all that. 60-70 is plenty fast enough for a tournament boat in my opinion and the faster boats give up too many other comforts to merit the extra speed in my opinion.

 

However,  if you want to talk about fast bass boats take a look at these peformance numbers:

 

http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/ALI_21XB_VF225LA_2015-01-28_BSS_0.pdf

http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_vmax-sho_turbo_bul_20xrd_vf250la_2011-01-06_bss.pdf

http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_hpv6_turbo_sa9e8a.tmp.pdf

http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_vmax-sho_vmax-ventless_xpr_x21ts_vf250la_2011-03-10_alm_2.pdf

http://yamahaoutboards.com/sites/default/files/bulletins/bulletin_4stroke_vmax-sho_vmax_bcb_pumaftd_vf250la_10-29-09_bss.pdf

 

For those reading the thread look at the MPG for the Bullet compared to even lesser powered Aluminium hulled boats w/150s and you'll realize that its not all about the speed. It gets 5.73 MPG at 36.7 MPH, WOW!