2004 Triton TR 21 speed

[Carterjig68]

Hey guys, my dad and I have a 2004 tr 21 with a merc racing 250 optimax. We can get it to around 65 before it chine walks although we have hit 70 once and can get it to around 67-68 sometimes. We feel that it could potentially go faster and are wondering if you guys had any tips to help with chine walking or overall speed. Thanks.

[Carterjig68]

We actually just considered the chance that our hummingbird is wrong, because we fly past most boats on the water.

[cfalco]

You might look at weight and what the boat has inside it that can be taken out to increase speed.   If it is not screwed down leave it at home and try.  Even water that might be in the flooring or seats, let it sit in the sun and really dry out, lose all the extra stuff and give it a go.  Good luck and be careful.  Fastest I have ever gone on a boat was 86mph.   My current boats are in the 50's but I am working on rebuilding one now and going to trick out the engine and I am making it as light as I can for speed.  I am going with lightweight flooring, cabinets you name it.    It is very cool to hit 80+

[Carterjig68]

1 hour ago, cfalco said:

You might look at weight and what the boat has inside it that can be taken out to increase speed.   If it is not screwed down leave it at home and try.  Even water that might be in the flooring or seats, let it sit in the sun and really dry out, lose all the extra stuff and give it a go.  Good luck and be careful.  Fastest I have ever gone on a boat was 86mph.   My current boats are in the 50's but I am working on rebuilding one now and going to trick out the engine and I am making it as light as I can for speed.  I am going with lightweight flooring, cabinets you name it.    It is very cool to hit 80+

Awesome. Thanks for the tips. Best of luck on the rebuilding.

[Way2slow]

I would think that boat would run in the lower to mid 70's with ease if the setup was right.  Triton's are pretty quick boats.  I have wiped what I call that "Triton" grin/smirk off a number of drivers running in the low 70's that passed me when I was just cruising.  It's just my old ragged looking Javelin runs in the low 80's with two people and gear.  Oh! By the way, that old ragged Javelin is running 327hp  at 6200 rpm on a blue printed hull and a proper setup.

The thing about it is, first you have to make sure everything about the boat is good.  There can be absolutely no play in the steering and it has good, stiff motor mounts.  If that motor is able to wiggle any on it's own, keeping it from chine walking can be next to impossible.  If everything is good to go, you still have to learn to drive a chine walker and don't ever think for a second you can drive through it.  It's all about keeping the boat balanced on the pad and keeping one step ahead of it with minute steering corrections. 

Once you get that part accomplished, then it a matter of how much money and time you want to spend getting the setup right.  Not may props are going to come out of the box giving you peak performance and even then, you may have to try several different ones to find one that even comes close.  Each time you are trying one, you will probably have to play with engine height, so if you have a hydraulic jack plate, that will make life a whole lot simpler, because manually doing it is trial and error and time consuming.  

[Airman4754]

I have that same boat with a 225 Opti and I can get it to 68mph in calm water. With a 250 Racing Merc you should be clearing 70mph. 

[WRB]

If you are having trouble driving at speed and experiencing chin walk problems....don't go faster! Most chin walk problems are indications of driving skills, trim height and weight balance. You can fix the trim and weight balance, only practice helps your driving skills, things go wrong very fast over 70 mph.

Tom

[jbh3]

On 6/5/2016 at 9:45 AM, WRB said:

If you are having trouble driving at speed and experiencing chin walk problems....don't go faster! Most chin walk problems are indications of driving skills, trim height and weight balance. You can fix the trim and weight balance, only practice helps your driving skills, things go wrong very fast over 70 mph.

Tom

Good advice here. You can also get some advice on the optimum setup for your combination. That rig should scare 80 with a healthy engine, the correct setup, and a good driver. Do NOT try to "drive through" the walk. Increase trim, throttle and your comfort level in small increments. It will take some seat time. Be careful!