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Yes I think I'm doing very good with the 50. My goal was to optimize what I had and I think I've done that. I am happy with it and I'll sit tight for now.
jamesgt727 wrote:
jack plate won't get you any attributable benefit except porpoising. You have hit the wall of performance, the only thing left to do is modify the hull. I can assure you I am the most experienced with the 15' hull and mods. Extending the strakes to the transom will transform your hull into a faster more stable machine. You are just a bit under powered to really be concerned with one or two mph.
Claiming to be the most experience with the 15' hull is a pretty big claim. I have a stock hull and my boat only goes 47-48mph, but I do have a little bit experience with my 15' whaler and playing around with the engine, props, jack plate and engine height.
The 5" setback manual Jack plate on my 15' does not porpoise w/ 260# 3 cylinder OMC I know quite a few other 15' whaler owners with jack plates and none of them have porpoising. (60 & 70hp motors) Maybe your hull mods have an affect on jack plate mounting or perhaps the engine weight of an overpowered motor is causing the porpoising with a jack plate. Its a pretty big claim to say it doesn't have attributable benefit. I have been reading the couple whaler forums for 10 years, every 15' Classic whaler I have seen do a GPS measure 46-48mph has been with a jackplate. Most 70's do 42-44mph mounted on the transom.
It doesn't, we've done five now and ran them with various motor configurations of Yamaha 70 and 90 HP two-strokes and four-strokes and Merc 90 two strokes and a Mer T.O.P. 115 some with jack plates some with out. If I am repeating myself too much I apologize in advance, but the classic 15 hull is a skiff with potential for tinkering, and the inherent limits of the hull are not hydrodynamic, they are aerodynamic. My aspirations were above normal, and just like anyone exploring the limits, we found all of the little details that make the system work better in general. Extending the strakes has an all around positive effect, that even make the hull more efficient at lower speeds. When I studied the mods, the wet running surface area was reduced from stock configuration by more almost 50%, which was dramatic in the boats behavior, speed, and efficiency.
I have jack plates on all of my small skiffs, and honestly would not recommend them for a small boat like this unless you troll rivers, flats, or shallows. They do have a tendency to cause porpoising and are not worth the marginal gain. I would say a 50# jack plate would have better results putting in in the front locker as a ballast, than it does on the transom of a 15. I should know, I've tried it.
