Deep V or Tri-Hull

[donaldhh]

Greetings Experts:
We plan to upgrade our boating hobby. The Lund has an 80 hp Merc and the Grumman a 40 hp Mariner. We plan to use the boat on a 5200 acre lake mainly for fishing and as the boys get used to it some skiing and tubing as well. We're not sure about all the planing and bouncing around issues which some boaters regretfully complain about after they've made their purchase. Would also like to add a trolling motor (stern or transom ? ) for getting in the coves and close to shorelines. Can the motors be throttled down enough ?
All thoughts greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Donald

 

[southkogs]

Welcome aboard Donald.

The forums are a bit goofy right now due to some technical issues and I can't see your photos. I'll take a poke at your questions without seeing the boats, though.

V hull will ride smoother than a tri-hull. There's no way around that. However, depending on the lakes and how much wind they typically have it may not be too big a deal. I'm on rather large lakes, and we can get some significant chop (for inland water) and my tri-hull isn't too bad. On smoother water, I really like the ride of the tri-hull, and the stability it offers at anchor. I can walk all over mine without much tipping or rocking.

The tri-hull will offer a better wake for skiing. It won't matter as much for tubing, but for skiing it should drop a nice flat wake for them. Though, a 40HP will be difficult (but not impossible) to ski behind - not quite enough power.

I've never owned an electric trolling motor, but I have trolled and gone shallow in a 70HP and a 35HP. Depending on the water depth and type, you can do both with those motors.

Hope that helps a little.

 

[SigSaurP229]

Vhull you won't regret it.

 

[coolbri70]

+1 for the v hull opcorn:

 

[Pony]

I would vote Deep V if possible.....mainly because you can go aluminum then. Most fiberglass trihulls around here are in pretty rough shape from neglect or just age. (cant really see from the pics what you are looking at). I had a trihull in the past and it was much more of a pain in the rear tow and move around. With the v-hull it really depends on the size. I fish regularly with 3 people and all of us can stand on one side and the boat barely moves. It hands chop well too. I spend a lot of time boating on a 140,000 acre lake that gets really rough really quickly.

 

[MikDee]

A Vee hull, or a mild V hull, no Deep Vee in a small boat, too much side, to side rocking! Tri-hulls can slam a lot in rougher water.

 

[Starcraft_CSS]

I had a 79 doral 16' trihull with a 90 merc. Although it was the most.reliable boat I've ever owned, I wouldn't buy another tri hull. Was spent in fresh water on smaller lakes and was terrible in the lightest of chop. Was a good fishing boat though, nice and stable when anchored.

 

[SigSaurP229]

I have owned 3 trihulls and they will absolutely beat you to death in a chop. I just had my first real experience handling a Vhull with my rebuilt 16 Starcraft, it only took two rides to convince me that I will never have another trihull again. One ride was in heavy chop at the beginning of the ride I was hanging on to the steering wheel for dear life remembering how bad my trihull rode in those wave by the end of it I was relaxed comfortable and had a great time. I've boated on Trihulls for 13 years mainly because they were a cheap way to get on the water. Never again.

 

[H20Rat]

Just bought a tri-hul! (well, its a 1994 deck boat that is fairly large and heavy, so it rides fairly well) Anyway, it depends entirely on the lake that you are on, and what conditions you expect to be out in. That is similar to the size lake I boat on, and you can get some serious swells on it!

Despite the bad ride, tri-hulls do have advantages. They are more efficient than a single V hull, much more stable when not moving, and as someone else mentioned, put out a flatter wake for skiing.

 

[Texasmark]

Depends if you value "at rest" stability and a bit more cockpit space for the boat length over a comfortable ride, especially at water toy speeds. Having come through the era of the 60's and 70's when tri-hulls were the rage, to get an open bow allowing for passengers up front of the windshield you had to have one. Well, when you have a wife and 4 kids in an 18' boat, those up front seats come in mighty handy. Besides, as compared to jump seats like a lot of I/Os have, on either side of the motor cover, having that weight forward REALLY improves performance.

In today's design world, the shortcomings of the tri-hull have been realized and soft riding V hulls are available with bow riding seats. Whoope!

Forget the tri-hull. 5200 acres isn't all that big, but big enough to get some serious wind across it. As of late, I boat on a 1000 acre city lake and its bad enough.

HTH,
Mark

 

[Starcraft5834]

Don.. lots of good points... I've had a trihull for one season, granted it was a smaller boat 15ft.. now have a 20ft cuddy with deepV. if you only go boating on days with winds at less than 5mph,, get a trihull,, if you plan on going boating on any "normal day" winds 5-15.. get a deep V... a trihull on any larger lake with any amount of chop,, will "bust your chops", teeth/head/jaw, jolt your body, slam your keester off the chairs.. if you like that.. get a trihull.. if you dont want that,, get a deepV... I dont mean to be mean.. just saying the way it is with a trihull..... enjoy!!

 

[southkogs]

Smokingcrater and I seem a little alone ...

Something else to consider. There are really a couple of types of tri-hull boats. If the three "sponsons" are all the same depth, it's a true tri-hull. If the center sponson seems to be a little bigger/deeper, it's technically a "cathedral" hull and will be a little softer on the bigger waves. That's what my boat is.

Don't overthink this either: Boston Whaler and Carolina Skiff have been putting out modified tri-hull designs that take on BIG water and wind for years. Try 'em out and see which you seem to like better.

 

[Starcraft5834]

Got to admit South.. Trihulls tear across the water in the right conditions.. (relatively calm) pretty sweet... they are fast..(dont see to many racing boats with deep V's do we? ......and best to fish out of, little tip, very stable.. I liked mine,,, just not big enough for the big lakes I go in...

 

[SigSaurP229]

I had a blast with all of my trihulls, they are definetly quick my 16' with a 65hp would plane almost instantly and would run about 34 mph lightly loaded. That being said, it was just painfull even in just a 6" chop. Now I am all about a wide beam deep V

 

[southkogs]

There we go! A little lovin' for the square-jaw, water-slappin' engineering of a tri-hull

Plenty of good reasons to be in a V-hull too. And most of the boats on my list of "maybe somedays" are not tri-hulls

 

[thumpar]

Consider the size of the boat too. The 16.5' we had would beat us up when the wakeboard boats were out even at slow speeds. The 20.1' with 8'6" beam will plow though them at 35mph cruise..

 

[jestor68]

Greetings Experts:
We plan to upgrade our boating hobby. The Lund has an 80 hp Merc and the Grumman a 40 hp Mariner. We plan to use the boat on a 5200 acre lake mainly for fishing and as the boys get used to it some skiing and tubing as well. We're not sure about all the planing and bouncing around issues which some boaters regretfully complain about after they've made their purchase. Would also like to add a trolling motor (stern or transom ? ) for getting in the coves and close to shorelines. Can the motors be throttled down enough ?
All thoughts greatly appreciated.
Thank you
Donald

I'd take the boat with the 80 hp motor.

 

[donaldhh]

Greetings again;
Thanks all for all the great info. I previewed my pics before I posted my question. Not sure what happened. With all the responses offered, I believe I will lean toward the V-hull. The wind always seems to go west to east and some days even in the summer there seems to be a chop on the water. Again, thanks for all of the great info and your experiences. I hope this post helps others as well. Great Day to All.
Donald

 

[donaldhh]

Greetings again;
Thanks all for all the great info. I previewed my pics before I posted my question. Not sure what happened. With all the responses offered, I believe I will lean toward the V-hull. The wind always seems to go west to east and some days even in the summer there seems to be a chop on the water. Again, thanks for all of the great info and your experiences. I hope this post helps others as well. Great Day to All.
Donald

 

[Texasmark]

All due respect to the comment about different tri-hull hulls, I recall the brand Trisonic for one. They sold a 17 and 19' locally. The 17 was more of a conventional tri hull with center and sponsons relatively close in height. The 19 was a significantly different hull whereby it was a deep V monohull with lifting strakes and all and at the beams were these much smaller sponsons which really weren't used under way at any kind of reasonable speed so you did get the benefit of the deep V hull, but you got the sponson stability when at rest.

I "Lusted in my heart" (Jimmy Carter) for one of those but they were way too expensive for me to afford as not only would I have to spring for a 19' but most had the 165 hp l6 I/O and were heavy meaning I would have to spring for a larger towing vehicle too.

Mark