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Lifting Strakes

From what I understand, the boat pretty much stopped in its tracks and slowly rolled over with all the weight and inertia transferred to one side. Nobody was hurt. Boat and motor were unscathed. Amazing.
 
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The Plot thickens. I saw this picture a year or so ago and when it was posted I was told it was a Bennigton with a Upper deck. And they had people on the upper deck while turning and the boat rolled, Yes I agree this needs to have it Own thread LOL
 
But Not to beat a dead Horse. Our old boat 2575 RL I/O tripple pontoon with Lifting strake's on the inside and outside of all 3 toons, Turns so flat at speed and leans the oppasate way your turning sort of like hooking a corner in a 71 Caddy serious Body roll. I could see if you had your boat weighted wrong at speed in the right conditions you could roll no problem
 
This pic is from 07, back when I got the pic/info from a very good dealer source. If it has been posted elsewhere within the last year, maybe the poster received bad info. It is the internet ya know. ;) Heck, maybe I received bad info about the model right from the beginning (wasn't told it had an upper deck), but I do know that it was new with under an hour on it. I can see this happening with either scenario though. The point of the post/pic was to raise awareness of the possible dangers of turning too hard with a fully straked std. 3 tuber. I've tested the turning limits of mine.....it'll lift.
 
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Wow. I never would have dreamed something like that was possible... Thanks for posting. Surprised the photo/story hasn't surfaced in the last year or so I've been on the forum. I'm really stunned over it. That photo's worth 10,000 words. I'd say this is definitely worthy of it's own thread. Actually, I wouldn't mind if this site was shut down for a week or two except for this single thread! That's insane.

So, I've been replaying all the scenarios over in my mind that I've been in, in the last year or so with our new boat, wondering if I was ever close to this situation. As I think back, I've never once felt like I was anywhere close to this situation "by the seat of my pants" if you know the car driving term. I've pushed many cars to the limit on a regular basis (Celica GT, Supra, Camaro, Mustang GT) in hot weather, cold weather, rain, and snow (which is the only thing fun about winter in the midwest), trying to "feel the edge". You do, over time, develop a sense for just where the edge is (if you push it often enough). So I'm thinking I would have sensed, or felt, even the slightest grab by an outside strake. I've never felt it.

I'm hoping that my 115 HP combined with no power steering makes a situation like this almost impossible for me, but I will definitely be more aware of this, especially turning into parallel waves. With a full load, we bog down so much I can't believe this would be even remotely possible, but I will definitely not forget that photo! Wow. Have I said "wow" enough yet?

Do you think the driver of that boat hit a rolling wave parallel to the boat at the same time too? A perfect storm kind of situation? I could see the boat falling sideways into a roller while in a hard turn making this much more likely. Just like snowboarding (always keep the front edge of the board up or you will face plant when it grabs). The photo shows the lake being calm, but we all know how fast that can change.

Thanks Ben. I will definitely be more aware, especially with regard to how weight is distributed in the boat and it WILL affect which way I decide to turn, when I have to turn hard.

The web is a wonderful thing as far as sharing info like this. This forum is priceless.
 
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I do remember asking my dealer during the test drive the question about whether I could turn the boat as hard as I could while under full throttle. He said no problem...

Not saying he was wrong, but knowing this can happen is eye opening for me. Thanks again for posting. It would be nice to know the whole story on this.
 
Kaydano,

Just remember that it's a pontoon, not a Grand Prix racer. :) Typically it's the unusual or unique circumstances when accidents, as depicted in that pic, can happen.

Now that I've heard it, I'm inclined to believe that the "top deck" scenario would be more probable. Either way, the end result is the same.

Just be aware, know your boats driving characteristics, and enjoy.
 
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Bigtop said:
Wow!!!! I truly hope no one was badly hurt. That is one of the down falls of outside strakes.

That is one advantage of the ESP package. No outside strakes and the inside foils grab the water on the inside side of the turn. I have had mine loaded pretty heavy to one side and am still able to turn pretty hard the opposite direction and the boat will still bank in the turn.
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Don't think that the ESP boats are imune from this. They actually are more prone to it in my opinion because they are capable of speeds and banking into turns, and being able to bring the ouside tube out of the water and the wind catching it like a kite in the right breazy conditions it would not take much of a breaze to catch it and flip it.
 
It's been several years since we've seen this picture. It's a boat with an upper deck made of foam core, which explains why the boat is sitting so high in the water. A regular boat would use more of the tube displacement to keep it afloat.

Reportedly, a number of factors contributed to this boat over-turning. Passengers seated on the upper deck while underway (not recommended...WARNING STICKERS!) and "spirited" boat maneuvering were major factors. We do not recall if tubes were being pulled or what the water conditions were at the time, as those may have been factors as well.

In general, as boat speed and power increase, boat operating skills become more and more important. Lifting strakes should not be to blame for this accident. If that were the case, Bennington would not offer them. It is good to see Club member comments regarding driver safety; however. It is always good to be cautious.

All Bennington owners are encouraged to take a safe boating course and to use common sense while considering passenger load, water conditions and driving ability.

TB
 
Bigtop said:
Wow!!!! I truly hope no one was badly hurt. That is one of the down falls of outside strakes.

That is one advantage of the ESP package. No outside strakes and the inside foils grab the water on the inside side of the turn. I have had mine loaded pretty heavy to one side and am still able to turn pretty hard the opposite direction and the boat will still bank in the turn.
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Earlier this week we had the opportunity to ride in 22' Benns all with 150 Yams

One had twin Elipticals

One had Express Pkg

One had the new SPS Pkg (Full length 25" center toon) This was the only one that would bank like the ESP in a corner, the others cornered flat.

Twin elipticals seemed the fastest but poorest cornering characteristics.

BTW, the SPS is not as hard on the wallet as the ESP!!! This will be a popular package!
 
Bill N said:
Earlier this week we had the opportunity to ride in 22' Benns all with 150 Yams

One had twin Elipticals

One had Express Pkg

One had the new SPS Pkg (Full length 25" center toon) This was the only one that would bank like the ESP in a corner, the others cornered flat.

Twin elipticals seemed the fastest but poorest cornering characteristics.

BTW, the SPS is not as hard on the wallet as the ESP!!! This will be a popular package!
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Bill, just to be sure that I am understanding you correctly; The SPS is the Tritoon, three 25" toons-no eleptical toons. Did these have any lifting strakes on them? Any other comments you can share on this?
 
Link said:
Bill, just to be sure that I am understanding you correctly; The SPS is the Tritoon, three 25" toons-no eleptical toons. Did these have any lifting strakes on them? Any other comments you can share on this?
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You're testing my memory here.

I don't believe believe the SPS has strakes unless added at additional cost. Same goes for the Sea Star steering.

Underdeck wave shield is included though.

Once again, the ESP & SPS were the only configurations that banked on the corner. I don't know if that allowed it to turn sharper, but it made passengers feel more at ease in a sharp corner & less stuff sliding side to side in a tight turn.
 
I have the Express Tube w/150 Yamaha and strakes only on the middle tube. It easily gets the nosecones out of the water and tops out at 40 mph @ 6000 rpm's (15 pitch). The same boat the other day was reported @ 42 mph with Ellipticals--as would be expected.

My Express Tube boat doesn't corner anywhere as good as the ESP hull--simply put. Handling would be much more comfortable if the boat was equipped with power steering, but $2K to add it is not in the budget. The SeaStar steers fine up to about 5000 rpm's, where it gets hard to turn. As we all know, the Express Tube is a performance/cost compromise, and a good one at that. I'm not complaining.

Fortunately, our lake is very wide and deep. We will never pull tubers in small creeks where very tight handling is required.

But I would get the new full length hull if I was ordering a new boat today. It also appears to be a good performance/cost compromise.
 
as long as you are thinking of a CHANGE I would recommend an elliptical center toon (more buoyancy for more people) with the strakes, small change big results in planning, speed and load capacity. As for the boat that turned over, operator was a boaters nightmare.
 
I look at like a big piece of plywood and a severe turn allows air (wind) under and is a perfect mix for capsizing. seems like there is a lot of emphasis on speed lately. I guess my idea of being out on the water and just cruising around at about 20 is outdated. I figure if im in that much of a rush to get somewhere I would take another mode of transportation other than a boat. The trip should be the fun not the arrival.
 
Have a 24SSLX witH SPS200. I have tried every maneuver I could think of and never felt uneasy! The center tube has strakes along with performance foils on the inside of the outer toons. It does lean in corners, especially at lower speeds and harder cornering (return to tuber). But at the end of the day..... You can't fix stupid!
 
Have you considered just ordering an Express Tube with strakes?

My 24SSLX with the Express Tube will run just as fast as the full length toon--40-41 mph with a F150 Yamaha.  The rear just sits slightly lower at a rest, but that's no issue.

With $100 per hour  labor, removing your engine pod, re-engineering all the electrics, etc. and adding the full length toon will be a very, very expensive proposition.

With the Express Tube, you don't have to go through all that.  It's easy to mount.
 
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