1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

[meatyb]

hi all
i have a 1997 sea ray 175 br ob 115 2 stroke seems to be slow as S#$T tried 3 diffrent props 17 pitch gets me up out of hole fast!! no top end maybe 30mph?? 19 pitch ok holeshot about 34-35mph @5200 wot and a 21 pitch not so good hole shot but maybe 36-37 mph top end @ 5000 wot is that it for this boat? prevois owner told me should be close to 50mph??


just me and one other adult 20 gals fuel and no extra gear just the required stuff. water was semi calm but not glass? any help would be great anyone have this same setup and what speeds are you getting? thanks

P.S all props are aluminum 3 blades

 

[2ndtry]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Those numbers seem reasonable to me. What motor is it? I know 115, but what make/model?

 

[capslock118]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

i have a sea ray 1995 with a 135hp ob and it tops off at 40mph.

YMMV, but that looks about right to me...

but what do i know? maybe my pitch is off too.

 

[45Auto]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

My 1997 17' Bayliner with a 120 topped out in the high 30's.

prevois owner told me should be close to 50mph??

Guess that depends on your definition of "close", doesn't it? Probably a good reason to take a boat for a test run and verify that it's performance is what the owner claims before you buy it .....

 

[Philster]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

I don't see any alarming numbers. 115 HP topping out on a 17.5' V bottom boat at mid 30 's or a touch more? Sounds about right.

 

[Don S]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Do you use the trim and raise the engine up a little at a time to see if the speed increases?

 

[meatyb]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Sorry should've stated it's a mercury

I've trimmed it up Till it ventilated so yeah I've trimmed it

Didn't really buy it to do 50mph just seems kinda slow to me for such a small boat with a large motor I
Guess.

Thanks for the feedback so far.

 

[Philster]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

115 isn't a 'large motor'. I've been on17.5-18' boats, including my old Chappy, that were rated for 150 or more, so a 115 is nice, but pedestrian. There are numerous 300+ HP boats that top out at 50.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

well reading the title I thought to myself 32-36 mph would be about right.... your numbers are right where they should be.

 

[etracer68]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

My 16ft with 1987 90hp crossflow Johnson runs 37/38 mph on gps@5300 rpm with a repitched 19 to 17 ST SS prop. Boat weighs 1000lbs dry, plus motor, and 16 gal fuel, two people, and 200lbs of stuff. Also 4hp mariner hanging on back. It rips out of the hole, and planes in less then 3 sec. When I tried alum 19p it would only do 35 MPH@ 5200 rpm. I would say your in the ball park. Seems the SS prop made the big diff.

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Yup, no apparent deficiencies in the boat's speed as far as I can estimate. We had a 17' bass boat with the Merc 115, and it wouldn't get much more than about 38-40mph or so fully trimmed out on glassy seas. On a side note, I'm not impressed with that particular Merc engine and always felt like the 'ol 90HP Johnson SeaHorse had as much power.

 

[barrrj]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

I have a 18ft four winns 115 johnson with a 19pitch and do about 37 wot, it weighs in about 2000lbs i believe with engine, tank, batteries and two adults.

 

[TomB985]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Most of these responses surprise me. I grew up with a 1989 Starcraft SS180 with a 1990 Merc 115 2-stroke outboard. In 2002 that 18' bowrider would still reach 47 MPH on the speedometer and verified with GPS. It was an aluminum "modifie V" hull, but why should a newer, 6" shorter boat go 12 MPH slower?

 

[haulnazz15]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Most of these responses surprise me. I grew up with a 1989 Starcraft SS180 with a 1990 Merc 115 2-stroke outboard. In 2002 that 18' bowrider would still reach 47 MPH on the speedometer and verified with GPS. It was an aluminum "modifie V" hull, but why should a newer, 6" shorter boat go 12 MPH slower?

Maybe you had a tail wind, lol. Hull design, weight, prop, etc. all have something to say about the top speed.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Most of these responses surprise me. I grew up with a 1989 Starcraft SS180 with a 1990 Merc 115 2-stroke outboard. In 2002 that 18' bowrider would still reach 47 MPH on the speedometer and verified with GPS. It was an aluminum "modifie V" hull, but why should a newer, 6" shorter boat go 12 MPH slower?

Lots of tail wind and a strong current in a river, or someone swapped the cowl on that merc... 47 on a GPS on that setup is HIGHLY doubtful, as in not-gonna'-happen. I don't know what size cowl would fit on that, but maybe a 150?

I had a 115 merc on a 16' trihull (nearly flat bottom, very efficient, and only rated for 90), and that would just barely touch 47 on a good day.

 

[H20Rat]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

prevois owner told me should be close to 50mph??

You are over halfway to 50 mph, how much closer do you want!?

(previous owner lied to you, or never actually verified with a GPS. Boat speedo's can be notoriously inacccurate, and people tend to add at least 10-20% to their claimed speed...)

 

[pokman]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

I am kind of with Tom on this one. I have a 01 bayliner 18ft with a mer115 4 stroker-I know this is a totally different motor but I can see 40-42mph all day. I also had a 94 Rinker 17ft with a 94 merc 125 and could hit 45mph on that setup-pretty much the same motor as you got. But according to everyone sounds normal, my first thought was 40mph.

 

[skibrain]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

Seems a bit slow to me.

Weight of boat?
Condition/how clean is hull?
Maximum rated rpm of the Merc? (I'm guessing 5500 rpm)
Motor mounted too low on boat (too much lower unit in the water?)
I'd recommend trying a SS prop (maybe an 18" pitch with some cupping) that gets you to max rpm.

 

[tboltmike]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

My '75 Arrow Glass tri-hull, 17.3' and 1,100 lbs dry, with its original 115 johnnie, V4 crossflow, would do 42ish when new. In the mid '80's an OMC directive came to to retard spark 4 degrees to use unleaded fuel. This dropped the speed to 40 and revs to 5200. This has a stainless 13"x18" pitch 3 blade prop. As the engine aged, the speed droped to 38 and 4900.
Re-engined a month ago with a new 130 ETEC, but using the same prop. Now goes 45 at 5800 same conditons as above, just me in a protected bayou. With 4 people, 42 still at 5800 in a stiff head wind.

 

[meatyb]

Re: 1997 sea ray 175 bowrider 115 outboard top speed?? seems slow

i think boat weighs in at maybe 2k? hull is clean its bottom painted which i think is killing me speed wise
stamped on motor WOT 5250 MAX and it looks like its mounted as low as it could be? the bolts are at the top of motor bracket

how much lower unit should be in water? while its wot and planed perfect cavitation plate is hoovering around 3/4 from top of water

Seems a bit slow to me.

Weight of boat?
Condition/how clean is hull?
Maximum rated rpm of the Merc? (I'm guessing 5500 rpm)
Motor mounted too low on boat (too much lower unit in the water?)
I'd recommend trying a SS prop (maybe an 18" pitch with some cupping) that gets you to max rpm.