Rough Conditions... how rough have you been in?

[Newport RI]

Hope all had a great week end....Had a question... I am getting use to the boat (q25 with F300) in rougher conditions. I am located in the North East as many may know in Newport RI/salt water... it can get hairy out there. I have no interest in risking it far out to sea but to get to a couple neat calm coves in my area one has to venture through some areas that can get VERY rough... (right in front of Castle Hill Inn for one) waves and wakes coming at various directions... 3 footers and some near 4+ at times and can get worse from there. We went out the other day and I went slow+ extra cautious, and thinking maybe two slow as we took a few over the bow.... where I felt if we were going a bit would have been ok but then again the ones that came over the bow were not that bad as we were going slow, if we had some power down guess not sure how would have faird... would we have plowed through them or gotten more wet?

My question is for those who have had theirs on some rougher waters how to you drive? half throttle down with some power to ride through, slower rolling over each wave etc or other... powering up and then down sometimes an option when the waves can be timed a bit (when they are consistant) but sometimes just not the case...I wasn't going must past 18mph range...

Thoughts and thanks in advance?

 

[cwag911]

What I try tomdo is hit them at an angle. The slower you go the wetter you'll get.

 

[Remediation]

We are just back from our Canada fishing trip. On Monday we had 20 knot winds and 3' whitecaps. On the lake the waves are close together and we just get to speed 15-18 mph and meet them head on. I like head on to keep the side roll minimized. Plus the driver stays dryer. We only have 2 toons so we don't plane. The boat just cuts through the tops of the waves and the ride is not bad. We took several waves over the bow/fence before we got to speed. With ocean/bay waves, I would keep the speed up get on plane and trim the nose up.

 

[BigKahuna]

Oh yeah been in the Narragansett Bay/Mt. Hope bay many times and it can get rough! Back in the 80's we weren't in a Q either but a 19 foot bow rider..........anyway gotta keep your speed up and try to hit them at a slight angle like Carl said. Too slow and you'll get wet/swamped...........too fast makes for an even bumpier ride..............gotta navigate between the waves so to speak.............

 

[Chasedawg]

The reason I bought a Bennington 2550 was because it was the only tritoon that could take on 4 foot white water waves at WOT. My dealer took me out and we hit WOT for five miles. It didn't matter what way we entered the waves the boat performed great with not a drop of water on the boat. We were completed dry through every turn and angle trying to get water on board.

I use to be an offshore power boat racer and I'm use to hitting waves hard in large v-hull fiberglas hulls. I was amazed how the Bennington 2550 GSR performed.

 

[FarNorth]

We boat on a large lake and choose our Bennington for its ability to handle rougher water with less bumps than our old fiberglass v hull. Others have already correctly talked about taking the waves at an angle and keeping your speed up a bit. Make sure you are using the length of your boat to your advantage. You have considerably more boat in the water than a traditional v hull when on plane, this should allow you to bridge between waves and stay on top of more than one. The only time the boat performs in a way that can be uncomfortable is when we are forced to move parallel to the direction of the waves. We minimize this time as much as possible when it gets rough.

I should also add that we rarely run at WOT but do try to keep the boat on plane as it does sit significantly higher in the water. For us thats somewhere around half throttle.

 

[LakeRat1]

Unfortunately for me the Loto SLOP got the best of the front end of my Benni.....Cruiser wakes were terrible.....on Saturday.....From now on the Benni goes from the Lift to the cove.....No going down the main channel......at Lake of the Ozarks on a holiday weekend.....

Now -- How do I get this dent out of the front, replace then entire thing.... Can I and the fiberglass front like on the Q series?