Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

I have a 92 J14 skiff center console with a 30 hp honda fourstroke with a 10x11 ss prop. 9 gallon gas can and battery are under the bench in the back. Also a battery up front with the trolling motor.

It takes about 13-14 seconds to reach plane with my 210lb self? this normal for a skiff? I under stand the fourstroke is heavier. There is not a hyrofoil on the anti cavitation plate and I am looking at installing one.

I have read about the water in foam and am installing one and will drill in the back... hope no water comes out.

Would a 10x12 prop help? WOT is withing the norm at 5300rpm.
Thanks in advance.
Corey

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Skiffs should come on plane rather quickly. Is the motor mounted properly? Does this motor have tilt/trim? Trimmed down/in would offer the faster time to plane. I have a 17' flat bottom and she only has 4O HP and she is just about always on plane.

Others will most likely mention Smart Tabs.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

I have read about the trim tabs. It does not have power trim, but currently have it set at the third hole from the transom. I ran it with the second hole and same results. Ill try it at the first hole next thime. Do hydofoils work?

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Hydrofoils are love/hate. Some people swear by them; others ridicule them. Smart Tabs: An overwhelming majority love them. Rarely a complaint.

Move the motor in more since you are good on upper RPM. It can help.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

I have a J19 with a 50, with power tilt/trim.

First, don't put tabs on a 14' boat. better to invest in tilt if you can add it.
I am also in the camp that thinks whale tails are useless, or worse.

Mine takes a long time to get up on a plane when heavily loaded but it gets there eventually. Like minutes. I run over shallow water for lift, raise and lower the bow, etc. It's that flat bottom with no steps, I think. Empty, it starts on a plane!

So if you aren't getting trim/tilt, you have to level the boat. Start by putting the gas in the center console (test it this way: with an almost empty tank, put 2 5 gallons jugs of gas or water in there). See if you can move the battery, too. But a 14 doesn't have much room. Frankly, I think a 30 4 stroke is just too big for that boat; the beauty of the C Skiff is that a smaller motor can do the job.

Not sure what you are saying about "water in the foam" and "installing one." Look at the design; the hull is a series of cells approx 4" wide and tall, running across the width. Each cell is sealed. You would have to know which one has water in it (hint--look at your deck screw holes). Even then, they don't drain and they don't dry out. you'd have to cut out the top of the whole thing and pull out the foam. (A guy posted a series of his efforts over several months to dry out a whole C Skiff--fail.) But think about it: the little bit of water that can fit in a foam-filled compartment 4" x4" x 40" or whatever, can't weigh enough to matter--it's less than a cooler of beer. Leave it be--but I'd still be interested in what you were going to install--a pump maybe?

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Sorry, proofread, proofread, proofread.
A transducer is going on the back for a fish finder. I have thought the 30 was a bit overkill as well, but I am not a crazy young guy that wants to scream from spot to spot. I will give that a shot; moving the weight.
Thoughts on prop? The standard prop for that motor was a 9 3/4 x 12. Would going to the 12 insead of the 11 make it faster and according to the rule of thumb, I would loose 200 rpm per inch of pitch, so WOT would be 5100. Range is 5000 to 6000rpm.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Does it come up on plane quicker with another person in the front of the boat? If so, you could add 1 or 2 50lb. sandbags in the front to help balance the weight.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Funny... brought my 12 yo son who runs X-country track and weighs nothing so not a very good conrol subject to use. Still had slow plane time. He did catch a kick butt bass tho.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Move the motor in and use a smaller prop, and relocate the weight. You are lightly loaded, thus the engine should be approaching its max RPM operating range at wide open throttle. Low-end performance will improve immediately.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

swap to a 10" pitch prop.... a 12' pitch would be worse. adjusting trim down helps with holeshot but hurts top speed.

also as mentioned above move as much weight forward as possible... both batts all the way forward and fuel in the center

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Oh and YES smart tabs would likely be a HUGE improvement

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

Thanks everyone. By the way, according to gps, at 4700 rpm I was doing 26mph. I was on plane.
thanks again.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

when you install the transducer, fill the holes with 3m 5200 and you will be fine. Actually, on a carolina skiff, I think the transom is solid glass so it doesn't matter, but why chance it.

One thing about that boat, which I;m sure you know but others might not, with the perfectly flat bottom it slides like crazy and high speed is a scary thing. If the 14 has the chines like my 19, they grab in the middle of a slide and can throw you out. So while you want to run on a plane, achieving high speed might not be a good goal. And since you wouldn't be pulling skiiers, a slow hole shot usually isn't really a problem, just the nature of the boat. Not worth investing hundreds of dollars to fix.

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

My Uncle in N.C. took my daughter out in his 19ft skiff and I felt the slide. He has a much larger engine. I dont care for the slide at all, so I dont hammer in to turns. Most of the fishing I do is on a large river or in the south Louisiana marsh. For me, the faster the plane, the less time the lower unit and prop has a chance of hitting a hidden crab trap

Re: Plane time on Carolina Skiff J14

This seems to be a circle ..... to me. I just pulled up the Carolina Skiff www and for the J14 which is only 13' long, 30 hp is the maximum recommended hp. "Somthing is dreadfully wrong as I feel this burning pain in my side"....Marty Robins, "Maria" the Mexican Maiden he fell in love with. What's the big deal?

Myt 2c.

Mark