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50+mph bennington

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Geewest

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Just came across this video;

Guy has a 2275 with a 350 I/O

This video shows him going 50+ mph via his stock speedo.

Just wondering? People with the big Outboards or Big I/O's

Whats your Top Speed

The best i have ever been able to get out of our 2575 R with a 350 mag I/O is around 45.

Whats yours
 
I have achieved about 43-44(speedometer) with two on board and the top up. Think it will get a bit faster if I took the top down and maybe went minimal fuel in the tank.

By the way, it is a 2275 RCW with ESP and a Mercury Verado 250.

andy
 
amr7333 said:
I have achieved about 43-44(speedometer) with two on board and the top up. Think it will get a bit faster if I took the top down and maybe went minimal fuel in the tank.

By the way, it is a 2275 RCW with ESP and a Mercury Verado 250.

andy
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Andy thanks for chiming in

That's about what I would expect 44 Mph. I don't know if the boat in the Video had a ESP kit of lifting strakes ect. He does have the Bimini removed so maybe that could account for 1 to 2 MPH,

My Boat is a 25 so maybe the extra few feet= Drag in the water and weight.
 
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I have watched that video in the past and he is running light he has no bimini on the boat and the doors in front and back are open. Any kind of extra wind drag has been removed. Not sure of his tube setup either.There was no GPS confirmation of actual speed and I put zero reliability in the accuracy of marine speedos.
 
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I have the 2575 QCW with the 350 Mercruiser and the Bravo III props. The best I've ever done was on delivery day when the tubes were spotless and there was absolutely nothing stored on the boat. Even the fresh water tank for the sink was empty. The lake looked about like his lake did that day, and I was the only one in the boat. The bimini was down but my doors were closed. It held around 46 after I adjusted the trim up slightly when I was at top speed. It seemed to have moments where it wanted to go faster but the only consistent reading I could get was 46 on both my GPS and the speedo. The worst I've ever done was when I let the boat sit in the water for 3 weeks mid summer and the tubes had a carpet of green fur on them. My top speed that day was 28. I spent all day in the water under the boat cleaning it, and then all the next day in front of my house with a power sprayer and tube cleaner getting it all off. I learned my lesson. It's amazing how much speed was lost by letting the tubes get dirty.

This is what I looked like mid cleaning. There was a green stain on the road for a week after I was done.

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The Bravo 3 with twin props is supposed to be 2 to 3 mph slower then the single prop. He says he has a single stainless Mirage prop with 19 pitch. In another one of his you tube videos he says the boat has the ESP package.

So if Butchkid says his 25 foot Q go's 46 Mph with the bravo 3 and the same 350 motor then 50 Mph with a single prop out drive with a 22 foot boat with no biminis and very light seems very possible.
 
In the last few years any number of people have done this on 3-log pontoon boats of various brands with a jackplate mounted 250 horse outboard.

I point that out only because its useful to know that this is a more achievable number than many people think.

Also, in terms of wind resistance, it's not as simple as most of us assume either. While this isn't scientific, I have noticed that I get my best speed with a full tank of gas and an open bimini. I SUSPECT it's because:

  1. The full tank sets down the rear and raises the front, albeit slightly, and;
  2. Although the bimini adds drag by filling with air, it also adds lift and the lift slightly outweighs the drag.

The best way to maximize what you have is by experimenting with props until you find the one that works best and if you have an outboard; equipping your boat with a jackplate, preferably a hydraulic one that can be raised or lowered while moving.
 
One more thing I have noticed that a light chop on the water can give you a few mph. Our boat go's it's slowest on glassy water. I also noticed that a bit of head wind (air packing under the hull) can have a slight lifting effect that might off set the extra wind resistance. It would be interesting to do a speed test via GPS ,

1, Bimini up vs Bimini down vs Bimini removed.

2. Full tank vs empty tank

3. Headwind vs tailwind
 
Faster with full tank and bimini open... Reminds me of a Mythbusters episode where they found a pickup with the tailgate up gets better mileage than one with the gate down. With the gate up, a slow moving "bubble" of air forms in the bed, and causes less drag. You'd have to see the wind tunnel (or water tunnel) tests they do on the show to get a good picture of it.
 
I don't have the guts to do 50mph with the bimini open. I think it is stamped on there not to exceed 15mph. I have a double bimini which is a lot of sail to catch wind. I sure would hate to rip the fabric or bend a support pole. I know, I know, people have done it I'm sure. I would like to see a Mythbusters episode on how much wind it would take to rip a bimini off of a pontoon. :)
 
There seems to be a number of engine/hull combinations (with strakes) that get to the 44-46 mph range. Every mph over that seems to take nothing but horsepower.

To get into the 50's would probably take 250 hp, a hydraulic jack plate, and demo'ing a # of propellers. The fastest boats will probably be 3 higher performance toons with 300 hp motors.

Remember that high quality doesn't exactly make Benningtons the lightest pontoons on the market. Light weight is a factor in top end speed.
 
My on-line boating mag that I received today has a 27 foot Suntracker tri-toon with strakes and a 250 Mercury Opti-max running 50.4 with a GPS. 8.3 seconds to 30 mph. Steve
 
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