Coast Guard Contractor Warns on Bay Boat Design

[wishin i was fishin]

Saw this on another website. Stay safe out there and watch the testing video at the bottom of the page.

http://news4sanantonio.com/news/trou...bout-bay-boats

[Davewiseman]

Every boater should always wear a "kill switch", mandatory.

Be safe.

[rustyb]

What boat manufacture is that?
The attorneys are lining up.

[Rat-Red]

Eye opening video but they need include more detail on which design has the problem. I've never been on any "bay boats or flats boats" that whips around like that on its own in 25mph turn (unless it was intentional). The boat being test looked like a Texas Slam but no details were given on exactly which style or manufacture. I agree on wearing a kill switch always but that won't help a passenger.

[swglenn]

The "flats" boat design utilizes a shallow V bottom, deadrise, to allow it to float shallower than a deep V bottom. The ultimate shallow water design is a flat bottom. Flats boats are also wide for their length so they can float shallow. The lack of a deep V and the wide bottom can lead to a boat that slides in the corners while turning. Incorporating a tunnel and a jack plate to allow the motor to be raised while at speed in shallow water can make the slides worse.

If the boat is turned too sharply at speed it can "swap" ends as shown in the video. To reduce the possibility of this happening the boat can be slowed down, motor trim reduced, and if used, the jack plate lowered before trying to make a sharp turn.

Most of us with boating experience have had or ridden in boats that slide and know to slow down when this occurs. Inexperienced boaters or even experienced boaters in a new high horsepower "flats" style boat can get in trouble before they realize it.

[BananaTom]

Yep, Carolina Skiffs had this problem in the 80's.
Trying to do a u-turn caused them to slide, and dump everyone on board into the water.
When taking a corner, slow way down, we did.

[ratherbefishing186]

My 18' Xpress XP18CC gets slippery when doing sharp turns, i just take em a little slower than full tilt and its all good...but then with my little 70hp full throttle is only 28ish mph.

[lil bubba]

I have a carolina skiff 16 foot JVX...I took a sharp turn less than full throttle and it didn't slide , it chine walked like I never saw before...Never had this happen in my lifetime and I been running boats from 12-26 foot since I was 10 years old.....

[wishin i was fishin]

"Bay boats" that is a stretch. The obviously dont know boat hulls in the article.

From the tests they talk about the lack of chines on the hull and a smooth bottom as a major factor. I have always run aluminum hulls till recently. They slide and would try and buck you out before sliding due to the chines.

Also, about the video, those guys were expecting the boats to spin out. They were waiting to cut the throttle.

A captain would be holding on to try and stay with the boat and would take a second or two to get to the throttle.

Now put that on the water the boat spins and someone gets thrown. The boat is now at throttle heading straight for the person in the water feet away. No good.

Also be cautious when following one of these boats.

[B-Stealth]

Horrible story about the girl, but an absolutely pointless "test" conducted by the Coast Gaurd Contractor. If you look closely the engine was trimmed way out, and no telling what the trim tabs were doing. They manipulated everything possible to make that boat spin around.

[redchaserron]

That looks like bow steer. If you watch the video you see that sharp front entry "grab" the water in the turn, basically stopping the front of the boat and the back end slides around. I have a carolina skiff, it likes to slide or "chine walk" in a curve, but thats generally a smooth lateral motion, it's never wanted to swap ends.

I've also seen bow steer happen to flats boats with sharp entry drivng in a straight line into a quartering chop, the sharp entry would grab the wave coming in and spin the boat. Scary stuff to experience.

[keakar]

Originally Posted by wishin i was fishin

Saw this on another website. Stay safe out there and watch the testing video at the bottom of the page.

http://news4sanantonio.com/news/trou...bout-bay-boats

I don't see any video, all I get is the home page that says
"Hmmm, we couldn't find the page you were looking for.

You can visit the Home Page or try searching again"

I did however find it with this link: http://news4sanantonio.com/news/trou...bout-bay-boats