Sea worthy bow rider

[tpenfield]

T. Penfield, your post showing the relative slope of a Sting Ray bowrider and a Sea Hunt dual console is exactly the post I was looking for. Have it saved as a favourite now.

I think the ability of a boat to cut through waves is dependent on the angle of entry of the bow and if the bow slopes up from the stern. A Sea Hunt or a Key West is the 1st choice because of the 50 degree entry angle and bow sloping up. I may have to make a 2nd choice though and wanted to know if there is there a good resource for looking up the bow entry angle and bow slope of various other boats? This information and bridge clearance seem to be hard to find.

One 2nd choice boat I am considering is the Crestliner 19 XS with an outboard.

Don't know about the bow entry angle or bow slope.

If possible can you work your magic on showing the bow angle with the yellow and red lines? How do you do that? Knowing the bow entry angle

I was not able to find the exact model of Crestliner, but similar models look like 'river' boats. Probably not what you want on bays and the ocean.

 

[Jonboat2Bassboat]

Thanks,

Sorry, it's a Crownline 19 XS. A 19 foot boat with a 115 HP Mercury outboard. Seems a little under powered to me, especially if you have 4 to 6 people on board.

I have attached a few photos and, after looking at them with an educated eye (thanks Maclin for the bow photo) I think the bow entry angle is not sharp enough and the bow looks like (thanks tpenfield) it dips down from the stern.

Here are a few photos
Thanks

 

[Jonboat2Bassboat]

Thank for the bow photo Maclin. If you like, please let me know what make, model, length and year boat that is. I could then look it up and see if something similar would work for me.

What kinds of seas will it handle? I am thinking a 20 foot deep V boat should be able to handle 2 foot seas. Someone else posted that his Sting Ray would not handle 2 foot seas but it doesn't have a deep V bow.

 

[Maclin]

The pic I posted is my old 1991 HydroSwift 2200 Cuddy. HydroSwift made their later hulls for big water, but they are long gone. Most center consoles are shaped like what you need up front. Cutting thru the chop is one thing, but having that big apron-esque shape up front keeps it dryer, and less likely to stuff the bow. Now compare that to the boat profile pic in my signature, potential bow-stuffer that one.

 

[Jonboat2Bassboat]

Thanks Maclin, I see the bow dips and the bow is not a deep V with an apron. The saying "You notice what you know" applies here. Until I started asking questions here I didn't notice much about a boat that was obvious to those in the know.

 

[tpenfield]

OK Crownie 19 XS . . .

Not as bad as some, bit still a slightly downward sloping bow section. The Sea Hunt and Key West are still better options for bay and ocean going.

 

[Jonboat2Bassboat]

Thanks Ted,

Agreed, not as good as a Sea Hunt or a Key West in terms of bow slope and bow angle of entry. Will research why the 50 degree bow of these boats cut through waves but a Sting Ray boat won't.

 

[QBhoy]

Stingrays are no more than lightweight lake based speed machines. Nice looking at that, but would rattle themselves to bits and take on water in anything more than a chop.
Bow riders, by their very nature aren’t great for rough water as we know. There are sturdy built versions like Campion and similar, but even those would have to seriously think twice about rough water. Be almost unbearable to run anything like up on the plane. Loch Lomond even, has occasionally bothered mine.
I wouldn’t even dream of going in the sea off the west coast of Scotland in it.
As mentined big deep V high sided flared bow is what you’re after.

 

[porscheguy]

My $.02.

A seaworthy bowrider is known as a dual console. As has been stated, a DC is a center console hull, with something more closely resembling a bowrider cockpit.

Most modern boats utilize a fiberglass floor/cockpit liner. One of the more important features that’s standard on DCs/CCs is a self bailing cockpit. On a typical bowrider, if you stuff it, all the water that comes drains to the rear and into the bilge. From there it’s removed by the bilge pump. On a DC/CC you’ll have scuppers in the corners at the stern which will help shed a lot of water. In order for this to work you must have a tall hull.

As for the down sloping forward sheer lines on bowriders, that was largely a trend that arose in the 90s as boat builders realized they could market boats as salt or fresh water. If you look at bowriders prior to the mid 90s they don’t have this. Most had a fairly straight sheer line from bow to stern. By the late 90s they were attaching boarding ladders to the bow of many “freshwater” boats because they sloped so much.

That trend is finally dying because the market is now being driven by CCs which emphasize a Carolina flare up front and a tumble home inspired stern.

as For seaworthy bowriders that aren’t DCs, I’d say the yamaha jet boats are the best. Their bows are much higher than in years past. They keep their engine rooms well sealed. And they have self bailing cockpits.

 

[Maclin]

porscheguy nailed it. A self bailing deck is a must for boats in that will be taking water over the bow or sides or transom. Those boats look taller and ride higher in the water and may perhaps seem ungainly to a person wanting a sportier look, but they are much more seaworthy in the rough. Most deckboats have that type of deck, but those are not so good out in the weather.

 

[porscheguy]

Thanks Ted,

Agreed, not as good as a Sea Hunt or a Key West in terms of bow slope and bow angle of entry. Will research why the 50 degree bow of these boats cut through waves but a Sting Ray boat won't.

The bow forefoot is essentially the leading edge of the boat hull where it first contacts the water.

Look at the drawing of the red crownline in the photos above. Starting at the transom, look at the keel and follow it forward. You notice how it’s a straight line, and then just forward of the wind screen it turns and comes up to the tip of the bow? That part where it makes that upward curve is the forefoot. How it’s shaped makes a huge impact on how the boat cuts through waves.

Again, if we go back in time about 30 years, boats weren’t much smaller, but most engines had a lot less power. So boat builders were focusing on speed and planing time. They designed hulls that were all about lift with little regard for anything else. Lift gets you on plane, and the less fiberglass that’s touching water means the faster you can go. Many boats from back then have no pronounced forefoot. It’s just a long curved line that eventually straightens. The flaw in this high lift design is that it keeps the sharpest point of the bow out of the water, so the actual entry deadrise is much lower than 50 degrees.

Fast forward to 2018 and engines are way more powerful and efficient. Consumers are more demanding. So we’re now seeing the return of well defined bow forefoots.