Re: Performance numbers
Connor,
I think low speed planing is all about weight distribution. My Seafari would plane at about 12 kts (with a Bahamas type load, including about 80 gallons of gas) with the 300 lb 115 hp V-4, a 13 3/4 x 15 SST prop, a Doelfin and trim tabs. On the Bahama trips I always had a lot of gear in the cabin including a couple of dive tanks in a rack I built aft of the head, the gas jugs were carried amidships, and I put a 60 qt cooler in the stepdown. I mounted pad eyes in the 4 corners of both the cockpit AND the cabin. I ran a web of lines between them to keep everything from shifting around in rough conditions, and I didn't put any heavy stuff in the aft area of the cockpit.
Current rig with a much heavier motor (+ 130 lbs) sitting 30" further aft on a bracket would not plane below about 18-19 kts, UNTIL I went to a 4 blade prop! A stern lifting prop makes a world of difference. It now planes easily at about 12 kts. I bet that Duoprop, with 2X the number of blades, creates a lot of stern lift. Both the Seabird and 25 Seafari have so much deadrise that I would think they would struggle at low speed without a good stern-lifting prop. Denny
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