130 Super Sport Difficult to Reach Plane
Posted: Mon May 23, 2016 2:07 pm
In 2015 I purchased a 2006 Boston Whaler 130 Super Sport. I outfitted the boat with a 14-gallon bait tank behind the helm seat, electric trolling motor at the transom, an additional Group-27 battery, and upgraded to a 9-gallon fuel tank. When I fish by myself [the boat has] no problem getting on plane, but with any other person above 100-lbs [the boat has] difficulty. After a great deal of research, I found this to be a very common outcome with the [130 SUPER SPORT and Mercury 40 HP FOURSTROKE] combination. Here is how I solved this problem.
The engine mounting height was wrong from the factory. The [anti-ventilation] plate was well below the plane of the bottom of the boat. An adjustment was made and this improved the [acceleration onto plane from a standing start], but [the boat was] still slow to plane.
After reading a great deal about the right propeller, I asked Tom Clark about propeller options. [He recommend the 12" x 11" Stiletto Star.] The propeller was changed and [acceleration onto plane from a standing start] again was improved, but not as I hoped for. Don't get me wrong, I will never fit an aluminum [propeller] again because [the propeller in use now] really bites even in heavy chop, but planing at lower speeds was [a problem].
The last thing I wanted to do was add a Doel-Fin or something similar; just the looks of those thing looked stupid. The problem here was I read so many posts about people who added them to their 13-foot Boston Whaler boats and had nothing but praise for them. I read every post I could find on different types with different responses, I mean days of reading.
I finally decided on the PERM-Trim; I am not affiliated with the company, I just did research. I went with this is due to very positive customer feedback on performance, material construction, and finish. It matched my Mercury 40 HP FOURSTROKE. This one little $100 piece of metal completely changed all aspects of performance with my boat. [The boat's acceleration onto plane from a standing start] and planing are instant, My boat does not porpoise any more. The boat can plane at low speeds. The boat handling is great, and top speed may have fallen by [no more than] 2-MPH--but who care when everything else is great? I was thinking of selling this boat, now it is just as I imagined it would be for a small bay boat.
I hope someone finds this useful.
Best,
Rusty Bennett
Huntington Beach, Ca
The engine mounting height was wrong from the factory. The [anti-ventilation] plate was well below the plane of the bottom of the boat. An adjustment was made and this improved the [acceleration onto plane from a standing start], but [the boat was] still slow to plane.
After reading a great deal about the right propeller, I asked Tom Clark about propeller options. [He recommend the 12" x 11" Stiletto Star.] The propeller was changed and [acceleration onto plane from a standing start] again was improved, but not as I hoped for. Don't get me wrong, I will never fit an aluminum [propeller] again because [the propeller in use now] really bites even in heavy chop, but planing at lower speeds was [a problem].
The last thing I wanted to do was add a Doel-Fin or something similar; just the looks of those thing looked stupid. The problem here was I read so many posts about people who added them to their 13-foot Boston Whaler boats and had nothing but praise for them. I read every post I could find on different types with different responses, I mean days of reading.
I finally decided on the PERM-Trim; I am not affiliated with the company, I just did research. I went with this is due to very positive customer feedback on performance, material construction, and finish. It matched my Mercury 40 HP FOURSTROKE. This one little $100 piece of metal completely changed all aspects of performance with my boat. [The boat's acceleration onto plane from a standing start] and planing are instant, My boat does not porpoise any more. The boat can plane at low speeds. The boat handling is great, and top speed may have fallen by [no more than] 2-MPH--but who care when everything else is great? I was thinking of selling this boat, now it is just as I imagined it would be for a small bay boat.
I hope someone finds this useful.
Best,
Rusty Bennett
Huntington Beach, Ca