Bowriders that handle waves well?

[Texasmark]

Without reading other's comments, The deeper the V and heavier the boat, the softer the ride. Undesirable side effects: The longer to get on plane and the more HP required to propel the boat (with and without water toys in play) at a given speed. With that said and having had the same problem when my family was young and we boated often was that.........no biggie....go for the softer ride.

 

[velociraptorfarmer]

Without reading other's comments, The deeper the V and heavier the boat, the softer the ride. Undesirable side effects: The longer to get on plane and the more HP required to propel the boat (with and without water toys in play) at a given speed. With that said and having had the same problem when my family was young and we boated often was that.........no biggie....go for the softer ride.

Yep. A deep V and a heavy boat with a good amount of deadrise are the secret to a smooth ride on rough water.

For only being 18 1/2' long, my 99 Sea Ray handles chop pretty damn well due to 20 degrees of deadrise and a 2700lb dry weight.

To play it safe, I think something in the 3000-4000lb+ range in the 20-23' range should be more than enough.

 

[tpenfield]

I got 22˚ deadrise and 12,000 lbs. on the 'new' boat . . . hoping it smooths out the seas a bit

 

[racerone]

Factory builds stuff that dealers order to fill empty showrooms.

 

[Texasmark]

Yep. A deep V and a heavy boat with a good amount of deadrise are the secret to a smooth ride on rough water.

For only being 18 1/2' long, my 99 Sea Ray handles chop pretty damn well due to 20 degrees of deadrise and a 2700lb dry weight.

To play it safe, I think something in the 3000-4000lb+ range in the 20-23' range should be more than enough.

A co-worker bought an 18' closed bow Sea Ray with a 165 I/O and I drove it while on an outing one day many years ago. With Texas' usual high winds, and a large lake, the ride was very smooth.......and Sea Ray mono hulls I have seen fit the bill as I mentioned.

 

[dingbat]

Deadrise’s (transom) contribution to rough water performance is highly over stated.

For rough water performance I want weight, bow flare and a steep deadrise at the bow.

I run a continuous variable deadrise hull. Noted for it “soft” ride, it has a 45 degree deadrise at the bow which tapers to 20 degrees at the transom.

A very well behaved hull in the run. Minimal snap roll at rest and runs with the best of them in the slop.

 

[ahicks]

Deadrise’s (transom) contribution to rough water performance is highly over stated.

For rough water performance I want weight, bow flare and a steep deadrise at the bow.

I run a continuous variable deadrise hull. Noted for it “soft” ride, it has a 45 degree deadrise at the bow which tapers to 20 degrees at the transom.

A very well behaved hull in the run. Minimal snap roll at rest and runs with the best of them in the slop.

Seems like with something like that you could adjust your trim and speed to handle everything from snot to a ripple....

 

[Sprig]

Handling waves and rough water has a lot to do with the skill and experience of the boat operator/captain. Knowing what your boat can and can’t do is important too. A knowledgeable skilled operator knows how to adjust speed and throttle in rough water. Direction and how to approach waves. How and when to trim up or down. They especially know when they shouldn’t venture out due to conditions. Yes the size and design of the boat is important but equally so is the skill, experience and knowledge of the boat operator.

 

[undercover500]

Handling waves and rough water has a lot to do with the skill and experience of the boat operator/captain. Knowing what your boat can and can’t do is important too. A knowledgeable skilled operator knows how to adjust speed and throttle in rough water. Direction and how to approach waves. How and when to trim up or down. They especially know when they shouldn’t venture out due to conditions. Yes the size and design of the boat is important but equally so is the skill, experience and knowledge of the boat operator.

We took our 19 foot bowrider out on a rough day, probably not super rough compared to the ocean, but we were seeing 1-2 foot waves regularly, and some probably got closer to 3. This was on a long inland lake with very nasty winds. I'm sure it depends on the boat as well, but I just kept fiddling with the trim and throttle to make sure we were sitting high and dry. Once up on plane and moving around 20-25mph, I found it better to trim down a tad, as fully trimmed up she was bouncing a bit on the waves, but trimmed down just a tad helped to smooth it out. We were riding through probably 2 foot chop at 30mph, just as dry as can be. I'm sure hull design matters up to a point, but after that, if you decide to run your boat like an idiot, you're not going to have a good time.

 

[Lou C]

I keep the bow cover on when it gets rough & built a stronger support for it so it doesn’t collapse under the weight of the water. My 88 F/W has a 21* dead rise so it’s pretty stable in rough water.

 

[Scott Danforth]

I have been out in sudden storms with 7 foot rollers in the SeaRay. with the bow cover on, and constantly on throttle or off throttle to progress as needed, it was OK, however puckering. every time I crested a wave and stuffed the bow into the next wave, the wave went over the bow, up over the windshield and landed on my head. that is where the bilge pumps come in.

handling rough water is partly the boat, mostly the guy at the controls