Exceeding a boat's horsepower limit

[Danarchy]

Have any anglers here ever exceeded their boat's horsepower limits? I have once, it was a 14' alluminum v hull boat, that was rated for a maximum of 5 hp. With some reinforcing brackets in the back, we fixed a 20 horse mercury on the little boat's transom. This was by far the most fun boat I ever operated. At the hole shot, the front end of the boat would stand almost straight up, but as the prop dug in to the water, the force would quickly push the bow back down and it would plane out instantly at top speed. On windy days though, it would get a bit scary, and I would never trust friends or family to try and control the "River Rocket". It would often smoke past larger runabouts and ski boats, with a huge black priate flag ripping in the wind. This was probably the highlight of my childhood. Have any members here ever done the same? What were your results? Have you ever been fined for doing so? I've been stopped by local DNR before, but they've never actually looked over that.

[dave the dope man]

Well I can't say as I remember seeing a Max HP Rating plate on any of the aluminum boats that I grew up in, however, My grand-dad used to run a 15 Hp outboard on a 12 foot flat bottom aluminum boat.

Now, Lets just wait for Papa to chime in here. He's got stories for days on over-powering boats. Lets just say this should be fun and informative.

                DONT TRY THIS AT HOME!!!!!
 
                   Dave

[Way2slow]

Lets see, my Stratos 285 Pro is rated for 175 hp.  I'm running a 3.0 looper that started life off as a 200 but after a couple of years of porting and playing with a half dozen different  power heads, it's about 300 hp.  It's pretty quick too.

My Stratos 169 V is rated for a 140, I'm currently building a V-4 130 hp looper that should have approx 175 hp to go on it.  Gotta get than I-6 merc off it.

My jon boat is rated for 15 hp and I run a 25 hp Merc most of the time.  Some rivers/lakes in GA have a 10 hp limit so that's about the only time I run my 9.9 on it.

So, I would have to say I wouldn't be a good one for not recommending over powering a boat.

Forgot to mention, in GA, there are no laws against overpowering a hull.  There are no speed limits and the only time the DNR will bother you is if you are driving in a reckless manor or go ripping through a congested area where there are lots of skiers or PWC's

[TNFISHRMAN]

Heck, Way2slow I thought we were supposed to go rippin through the middle of skier's and PWC, They sure do it to us!!!!! I'm sure everbody has a favorite skier or PWC story!

[Danarchy]

I was recently going over the Wisconsin BASS federation tournament rules and regulations and I found out that over-powered boats are not allowed in Wisconsin tourneys. A $100,000 liablility boat insurance is also required.

[Way2slow]

Most all tourneys don't allow over power boat.  BASS is very strict about having any mods done to the motor.  Most tourneys will also require liability, $100,000 being the normal minimum.  A lot of local clubs are going to this also because of the liability factor if someone got hurt in their sponsored event.

You will see a lot of guys running modified, (hot rod) motors in tournaments but buy just using the model number and SN of the motor against what the hull is rated for, they are pefectly legal.   My motors ID says it's a 200, so what it's putting out almost 300, no one but me knows that so, if my boat was rated for a 200 I would be perfectly leagal.

I don't fish tourneys, I like to enjoy my fishing and not have to work that hard.

[dusterjim]

My very first Bass boat was a 16 footer. I don't remember the manufacturer. It was a tri hull. It was rated for a 50 HP motor. It had a 75 HP Force motor on it when I purchased the boat. It was actually a pretty fast boat for a old tri hull. The down side of this set-up was that the boat would chine walk really bad at high speed and messing around with the trim to get it to go faster.  If you have never had your boat chine walk really bad on you it is quite an experience. If you have seat cushions they may end up being ripped. 

The bass boats today are much faster and with much larger motors. I know several guys who are always trying to go faster, got to get to their favorite spot before someone else..that run overpowered boats. Re-worked motors or just putting a bigger motor on their boats. I have ridden with a couple of guys who live with chine walk. Very scarry when you are the passenger and have NO control.  Wouldn't recommend it for the beginner boater. Can be hazardous to your health! JMHO!

Jim

[BIG PAPA]

Over powering boats is something you have to be very respectful of. It can be a good thing if you are responsible enough to be careful. I did have a couple of drastically overpowered boats when I was young. If you just use the amount of power you need it is a great setup. In other words I had a 235 evinrude set on a 16 ft. Skeeter Starfire. sounds crazy and I guess it was but, I could run with the 150 guys at about half throttle and use less gas than they did. and if somebody wanted to race there was little competition out there. I remember a thread on Shadow boats a while back talking about how fast they were and the were very fast. I was running side by side with a 175 skeeter starfire on Toledo one day in a top six tourney down off of the old 1215 boat row on Toledo bend, there is a straight away about a mile and a half long at a place we call the t-cut. The water was glass and we were running about 65 I guess and about 25 yards separated us, when a venture ( a very fast boat that weighed very little) and a shadow pulled in between us and acted like the were hot suff shooting there roostertails about 20 ft. high and laughing at us cause we were so slow. Guess they thought I was running wide open. (I did have a 150 cowling on my boat ) as overpowered boats are not allowed. Well lets just say after the tourney that day they both looked me up and wanted to know how I blew them away at around 90 mph.
All I ever told them was that my boat was set up right and they needed to get with a racing team to see how to do it. Now that boat was so squirrely I had to keep my front livewell full and a 6 gallon tank filled with water on the front deck to keep the nose down If I wanted to run. No gps at that time but My wife had a first cousin that was chief of police in Bossier city . I got him to radar it on Cross one day at 86 mph. with a little chop on the water.I also had a 14 ft. tidecraft , stick steering boat with a 125 evinrude on it. Now that boat was scary as the faster you went the harder it pushed the nose down in the water, but even with that it was very fast for the day. I never knew how fast it would go but I could run with the skeeter wranglers with 115's and they would run in the low 50's.
On that boat if I just cruised the speed the boat was designed for I could go forever on a tank of gas. I eventually had a console built for that boat and with the weight brought all the way back and the steering wheel I could cruise close to 50, people thought I was nuts. but actually it was a nice rig as long as I kept the speed down to what it was designed for. I am in the process now of working out a deal on a Wildfire with a 200 merc EFI that has been worked for racing drag races
That boat will run close to 90 In a quarter mile. We are a long way apart on price so I do not know if it will work out but I am sure going to try.

papa

[Mike Cork]

Papa, I knew you were a little crazy. Sometimes I wonder just how lucky you are I bet that was fun to drive.

[Way2slow]

Shoot, back in the late 80's, while still in the Air Force, I used to do a lot of wheeling and dealing with boats and motors to help pay for my fishing.  Because of a number of motor trades, for a while there I was using a 15' ProCarft rated for 85 hp with a 200 Merc on the back of it.   The fun part about that thing was no hot foot and single cable steering.   Talk about a handful to drive, don't think I ever knew how fast it would run.   With two people in it you could haul *** but by yourself, it was impossible to drive past 60 mph.

My wildest ride was a 16' Allison back in the late 60's with two 135 BHP mercs on the back (at 83 mph, it was about the fastest boat on the late back then).  That was when I was a whole lot younger and had a lot higher pucker factor than I have now.

[Skeeter1]

Hey Papa, do you have any pics of your old 16" Skeeter?

I just put a 125 Force on mine but that's only 5hp over the hull rating. I have to remove the 125 decal and put on a 120 decal. Luckly they share the same cowling so I don't think anyone will think twice about it.

The DOD Tournament has a rule against over powering the hull also.

YOU GUYS ARE NUTS!!! 300hp on a Stratos 285.

[BIG PAPA]

I don't think I have any, mine must have been a little bigger it was rated fo a 150. in fact it was called a 150V skeeter starfire and was just under 17 ft. long

papa

[Skeeter1]

Oh ok, mines a Starfire SF-115. 16'4"

[Trey]

Papa,

     Who are you trying to work a deal with on that Wildfire?  Is it Smith's?  Just wondering.  I talked to Mel the other day and he said that he was getting ready to build a Prosecutor in a 19 Foot model.  Man those boats are FAST!

Trey   

[Fish On]

Hey may be stupid question but is there a ratio from thrust to horse power cause I got 55 thrust throlling motor and i was wondering horsepower

[Way2slow]

Horse Power,

Yes, you can determine how much horse power your motor puts out.  The only reliabe way would be to use the motors current (amps) draw and voltage.  With that info, there is an electrical formula you can use to convert that info to hp.   There's probably one to convert the thrust to hp but don't have that one.   If I had to guess, I would guess it's around 1 1/2 - 2 hp.

[Fish On]

alright thanks a lot!!