1995 Sundancer 330 V-Drive Real World Draft

[keysohana]

Hi everyone, I am getting ready to pull the trigger on a 1995 Sundancer 330 with a 7.4l carb and v-drives and wanted to know from anyone who has had or has that year model what their real world min draft is? I live in the Florida Keys and have a 3 foot min draft requirement.
Note from the brochures, not sure how, but they quote 1995 as having only a 25 inch draft with inboards? versus other years all having a higher draft number??

Any input on that would be great as well.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Creekwood]

Do you mean 3 ft maximum draft? If all your water was flat calm and your boat did not dip at the stern on take off before you get on plane, you can probably work with 30 inches as the still flat draft.

But....... in terms of real life and how shallow water you would want to run in, I am never comfortable in less than 5ft. All it takes is a boat wake of 2ft in 3ft of water to become 1ft and you are bouncing on the bottom on $5,000 worth of rudders and props.

 

[Saverio]

the 330 has tunnels that's how they get the 30 inch mark

 

[keysohana]

Thank you very much for the reply, the area I need to go through is a protected bay and would not have to worry about boat wakes, I would not attempt to jump on plane over fear of squatting stern too low, but rather just idle in over the 3 ft bottom, note the 3 ft is at low tide only

 

[RollerCoastr]

Hopefully it's all sand... I'd keep a close eye on the water pump/impeller health - sand will shorten their life considerably.

Also keep in mind that a 330DA with BB's planes-out much better with plenty (if not full) tab. She's stern heavy, yet has plenty of power. Planing with tab vs. without is night and day.

 

[keysohana]

Hi, sorry for the ignorance, but what are BB's? (as in "BB's planes-out much better....)

 

[RollerCoastr]

Big Blocks. 330's came with either 5.7's or 7.4's. Some people think that the high bow and slow-to-plane behavior is the nature of the beast, but power and tab does much to tame that. They're in reality a great-running boat.

 

[keysohana]

Got it, thanks! I will have the 7.4l and looks to have extra large tabs. Will have to do some tests to see how much water she drafts on plane with tabs.