When do you come off the plane and go at hull speed?

[Lord Farringdon]

Now I know this is all very subjective made more difficult by peoples different understanding of waves heights and swell periods but in essence I just want to know when I should pull off the plane and go to hull speed. By way of background, it is easy for me to make this decision based on the noise I get from left hand seat! It is usually well within my tolerance level and I suspect well with Mr Sea Rays design limits but when the Admirals voice gets pitched I know its well passed her tolerance level. Mind you, she only really like its when sea conditions are dead calm so it's not really a good judge of what the boat can safely handle.

Recently I was on out on my own, came round the peninsular after a 40 min run on the plane, light fading, 2nm to go, and I ran into a fairly stiff head sea. This was one of those wind against tide seas with short periodicity and every now and then I was jolted by a rogue combination of waves. My self made rule rule has been three jolts in relatively quick sucession and that's it...reduce throttle. But on this occassion, I pressed on.

I have been impressed with the Amberjacks sea keeping. It's deep vee deadrise, sharp entry, weight and narrow beam seem to contribute to some pretty good handling in near whitecap conditions. But when it jolts, you can feel it's not right. I'm always thinking of those overhead cabinets and what's holding them up!

The majority of our boating is done in more splendid conditions but later in the day, on the way home, things can get a little lumpy. I know I make the safe decisions most of the time but I must say that on my own, with 2nm to go and light fading (vis still good) I may have stayed on the plane (20kts) a little longer that I should have and received a few good thumps in the process. But, by that time I had only 1nm to go and closer to shore it had dropped down a little. Gethomeitis was playing a strong part in my decision making. It made me rationalise that the boat should be able to take a couple of thumps now and then. After all, I see some of the smaller outboard craft out there with so much air under them between waves that they should have filed a flight plan before departure!

Sea conditions, boat size and passengers on board are all variables but what does everyone else do? As Sea Ray Skippers, when do you make the decision to drop off the plane and travel the rest of the way at hull speed? What pushes your 'that's enough' button? Your own tolerance or your perception of what the boat can safely tolerate:huh:


Terry

 

[tdappleman]

When I get yelled at....

Sometimes standing at the helm braced by the seat and holding onto the wheel makes the impact seem less than it really is. If I'm running home to avoid even more bad weather than we press on as fast as we dare. Otherwise we always throttle back - vinyl seats do not have a lot of 'grip' so it's more safety for the passengers than whether the boat can take it. It's just not fun getting pounded and having people and things sliding around.

 

[Four Suns]

This is very conditions and boat dependent. My personal rule of thumb is "no pounding" and I back off until it stops. Breaking door hinges and cabinetry is never good let alone what it does to the boat. I hear all the time about how the "boat can handle more than you" and I personally think that's crap. Look at people that spend a few days drifting in the Gulf on a capsized boat or a bow rider that has been swamped or a transom that's been torn off and it shows that boats that are beat up tend to break (in time).

All that being said, I try to stay on plane all the time. Sea Rays are not designed to be displacement hull speed boats and the rudders and hull give more control the more water that is flowing over it. Boats that are designed for displacement speed generally have barn doors for rudders... and for a reason. If you get in nasty seas, you'll find the rudders don't control the boat very well at 8 knots. I'm fortunate in the 480 DB as it is a well balanced boat and can stay on top of the water down to about 12-13 knots with the tabs fully down. Fuel efficiency sucks though...

I've also learned to never travel with a certain gas 410 DA... he seems to attract hours-upon-hours of small craft advisory/steep chop when he goes out. He should change his name from mrcomputerman to mrwashtub or mrbadkarma.

 

[Lake Erie Boater]

Mine is simple.

One "hit" on a wave vs. a soft entry and the throttles are pulled back. Lake Erie's period is so short that I see this alot. The beauty of the diesels is that you can back off and enjoy the torque. My AJ slow planned around 10 knots, so we would slow down and enjoy the ride. The jetskiiers salivate at the wake as well. :grin:

Saves the boat and the passangers.

 

[penguin]

When the pounding is visibly seen in a water bottle, can be heard with a thunk, or things start moving on table, that is when I back off. Like the others, I try to keep to a "slow plane". I will trim the I/O all the way down and then start feeding tabs if necessary. Coming all the way off plane results in going from 18-20mph to 6mph -- 3xing the torture time. So, we push on with the boat boat on minimum speed plane.

 

[IanBat]

Mine is simple.

One "hit" on a wave vs. a soft entry and the throttles are pulled back. Lake Erie's period is so short that I see this alot. The beauty of the diesels is that you can back off and enjoy the torque. My AJ slow planned around 10 knots, so we would slow down and enjoy the ride. The jetskiiers salivate at the wake as well. :grin:

Saves the boat and the passangers.

I'm with this, Having had a 20' for 7 years prior to the 33, and doing a lot of outside fishing. I just don't believe in gritting the teeth.

 

[Alex F]

I follow the same rule as Gary, no pounding. When caught in bad seas I bring the tabs down and slow down. I continue until the ride "softens". If I have to do additional adjustments I will alter my course to find the better angle to approach the seas to avoid pounding.

Being able to maintain the course on plane at 12kts - I'm surprised. Well balanced boat indeed. My 420 needs couple knots more to stay on plane. My 320 needed 16MPH as minimum speed.