Getting up on Plane at Lower Speeds

Guys,
I have a 2011 Competitor 185 Tiller that I bought used last Fall. One of issues I have right now is at lower speeds the bow rides so high up in the water. I am running a stock prop on my 90 4 Stroke Yamaha, haven’t looked at the model yet. Any suggestions on what I can do to offset this issue? This boat is a big step up from my 16 ft V-hull with a 25 4 stroke, so I feel I’m still learning the boat. I did have to add the Hydrofoil to my 25 horse on my old boat because of the same issue.

Any weight(batt,anchor,etc) that can be stored in the front?
Is it trimmed all the way down?

Motor is trimmed all the way down, I do have 2 batteries up front as well. Not sure how much weight I can cram in the storage area. This is also with at least one adult up towards the front of the main deck area.

My 165 tiller 60hp came with a fin on the motor. I ran it that way for 8 years, last year I took it off to see what if any difference it made.
I gained 3mph with it off but I did loose the ability to cruise at lower speeds of about 12mph planed out. With out the fin it takes a bit more speed to plane and I don’t have as much control of the hight of the bow as I did before. In the past I could run slow with the bow really high to control spray or keep it lower to plane out faster or plane at a slower speed doing high speed (13mph) walleye graphing.

loren_keizer wrote:

Motor is trimmed all the way down, I do have 2 batteries up front as well. Not sure how much weight I can cram in the storage area. This is also with at least one adult up towards the front of the main deck area.

When you say trimmed all the way down, have you also adjusted the trim pin/stop to a lower position in the transom bracket?

There is a movable pin in the transom bracket that allows you to adjust how far downward the outboard can trim down. Did you move this pin to a lower position? It sounds to me like the past owner could have had this set up incorrectly and you’re not trimmed down far enough.

Grouse

mark-bruzek wrote:

My 165 tiller 60hp came with a fin on the motor. I ran it that way for 8 years, last year I took it off to see what if any difference it made.
I gained 3mph with it off but I did loose the ability to cruise at lower speeds of about 12mph planed out. With out the fin it takes a bit more speed to plane and I don’t have as much control of the hight of the bow as I did before. In the past I could run slow with the bow really high to control spray or keep it lower to plane out faster or plane at a slower speed doing high speed (13mph) walleye graphing.

4 blade prop would give you better control of the bow – You will lose a little top end however. A hydraulic jack plate would surely fix the problem if all else fails.

Trim tabs! But that’s the expensive route but will give you the most control and best results.

Thanks for all the suggestions. It looks like I have some options to look into to help resolve the issue. I’ll do my best to post an update as I work to correct the issue.

I just bought a new-to-me 2006 Alumacraft Navigator 165 CS with a 90 HP Mercury Optimax. I noticed it doesn’t stay on plane at slower speeds. I am thinking of getting a SE Sport 400 hydrofoil to help stay on plane at slower speeds. It is the same as the 300 model except it clamps on the cavitaion plate instead of having to drill holes in it. I have the SE 200 on my 25 hp and it really helped with getting on plane quicker.

I would be willing to bet money you’d be satisfied with switching the prop on that 90 opti to a spitfire. The 4 blades will get you on plane way faster, and you will actually lose very little top end.

wimwuen wrote:

I would be willing to bet money you’d be satisfied with switching the prop on that 90 opti to a spitfire. The 4 blades will get you on plane way faster, and you will actually lose very little top end.

I would second that, I put one on my 90 merc and it helped get out of the hole faster and also stay on plane at lower rpm. I went down from 19p to 17p also when i did the chamge and didn’t notice a speed loss to any extent that mattered. getting more rims at WOT (though that could be me getting better at playing with the trim too)