Re: Rookie Question.....Sorry
Holeshot is the time it takes for the boat to go from a standstill to being on plane. On plane means when the boat is riding on top of the water. You cannot mistake this sensation. When you are sitting still, and wish to get going, you give it full throttle or at least 2/3rds throttle. this depends on how powerful the boat is. If it is a screaming bassboat for example, you could end up in trouble. If it is an average powered runabout, then you can give it full throttle. The front of the boat will come up, and as the boat starts running on top of the water, the front will come back down and you will run level.
At this point you can throttle back to a cruising speed. It is never wise to just drive around at full throttle all the time. It wastes gas. If you throttle back to about 2/3rds throttle, you save considerable gas and are still going a good speed. For a lot of boats, cruising speeds in the mid to high 20s can be the most efficient. Again this depends on the boat/motor combo. A bass boat might be most efficient at 50 mph whereas a runabout may be most efficient at 30. You have to experiment.
Holeshot is also affected by trim. For the quickest holeshot, you want to trim the drive all the way in, accelerate to planing speed, and trim the motor back out. Again, this takes experimenting. The easiest way to trim out for a certain speed is to trim out until you lose propeller bite (you can hear it, the rpms climb). Trim back in just enough for the prop to hook up. At this point the boat should be in an efficient running position with the least amount of drag. A good running position is when the rear 3rd of the boat is the only part touching the water. You have to just experiment. You can get a feel for it. Or you can just drive around on full throttle and burn gas....