V20 Pilot House??

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by jasoncooperpcola

OR i can forget the window and just cut a hole and stick my head thru it! Thanks BGreene

That was great - thanks for the laugh !

[jasoncooperpcola]

What kind of speed loss can i expect with a pilot house? With a 45 degree windscreen that is curved. I still have to get in the boat to figure out how tall it will be.

[bgreene]

You could do a " simulation "....................

1. Mount a front section that would represent the front facing wall of the pilot house.
( wind blocker, drag )
2. Add weight on board to represent the total estimated additonal pilot house weight.

Run the boat with these items on board, and check your speed.
I bet this would be reasonably accurate.

[jasoncooperpcola]

That would work BGreene. Definately get some weird looks. I just thought of something else. What about the guys with full bimini enclosures? That is the same as a pilot house. So what speed loss do the boats with bimini enclosures encounter?

[bgreene]

Originally Posted by jasoncooperpcola

That would work BGreene. Definately get some weird looks. I just thought of something else. What about the guys with full bimini enclosures? That is the same as a pilot house. So what speed loss do the boats with bimini enclosures encounter?

Bimini - not much weight so mostly wind block related drag...........I'd guess 2-3 mph off the top speed from the front panel.

If you want speed, forget the pilot house and rip out everything not needed to float the boat. Seats, windshield, bow rail, everthing..........then over power the boat with a Mercury 250hp Optimax on a jack plate with high performance prop. Should see 60 mph.

This boat would then be about as easy to re sell as a V CC with a pilot house !!!

[jasoncooperpcola]

Not really worried about top speed. I am worried about the loss of speed and fuel efficiency. Right now I have a 94 2.5L Mercury 200 that I haven't even run on the boat yet. I hope after a 30" bracket and maybe a jackplate, I can hit the high 40s. Anything is better than 28mph full throttle from the 150 Johnson that came on the boat.

Been thinking about a hybrid pilot house/hardtop design, where I can swap windshields for a half windshield or a full windshield. We have a company down here that specializes in boat windshields and I have emailed the owner and he wants to look at the boat to see what is possible and whats not.

[RidgeRunner]

Loss of speed is one thing but the loss of manueverability with a stiff breeze at slow speeds could cause some embarrassment at some point.

I agree with Bgreene with a small stipulation, I think it is fairly well proven it don't take a stripped down version to see 60 mph with a 250, LOL. T-top, 40 gal livewell/leaning post, 94 qt igloo full of ice and beverage, dual batteries, stereo with 4-8" Pioneers that sound great, fresh and raw-water washdown, dual bilge pumps etc. Stripped down and no top I would think would be good for another 5 mph:-)
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