21SS Extreme

[leckbass]

I have a 21SS Stratos Extreme with a new to me 225 HO DI. I put on a 26 Razor 3 blade. 3.5" PTP

I used to have a very tired Evinrude 250 DI and had to run a 25 tempest to get out of the hole. The Tempest was too small for the new 225.
Boat always ran best at full trim. I've been running to 225 for about 3 weeks, haven't pushed it too wide open throttle yet (lake speed limit.) I've been running at about 5200 RPMs and getting 47-48 miles an hour. Huge rooster tail.
Today, I "accidentally" was running at just a little bit less than full trim and noticed that my MPH shot up to 54-55 at 5200. I have 18+ on PSI.
Does this mean I need to raise or lower my Jack plate?

I appreciate your help.

[Finlander]

Rooster tails is wasted energy. You typically don’t want one. It signaling too much trim angle and loss of hook. Trimming in just enough for the cup to hook and pop the bow up is where you want to be. If you are just now noticing this makes me wonder just how tired that old 250 really was?

All of my 201’s and especially 21’s or post 2003 201’s could be sluggish out of the hole but propping g small is a mistake. Prop big on a 201 and add extra lift with a hot shot plate or hydrofoil. I ran a 27 Tempest on my 07 201, 225 Etec HO for 74 MPH. You do not need a hydraulic jack plate but I would have one. An 8-10” Atlas with a TH hot shot plate would totally wake that Stratos up!

conditions where you might want to run a rooster…shallow water running or when there is lots of debris floating in the river. You get the prop as high up and angled as possible which minimizes the impact if you where to hit something.

[leckbass]

Rooster tails is wasted energy. You typically don’t want one. It signaling too much trim angle and loss of hook. Trimming in just enough for the cup to hook and pop the bow up is where you want to be. If you are just now noticing this makes me wonder just how tired that old 250 really was?

All of my 201’s and especially 21’s or post 2003 201’s could be sluggish out of the hole but propping g small is a mistake. Prop big on a 201 and add extra lift with a hot shot plate or hydrofoil. I ran a 27 Tempest on my 07 201, 225 Etec HO for 74 MPH. You do not need a hydraulic jack plate but I would have one. An 8-10” Atlas with a TH hot shot plate would totally wake that Stratos up!

conditions where you might want to run a rooster…shallow water running or when there is lots of debris floating in the river. You get the prop as high up and angled as possible which minimizes the impact if you where to hit something.

I figured my old 250 was getting tired because it could not spin 26 raker or my 26 razor. The boat would never get on plane unless I was by myself. It wasn't sluggish out of the hole... it was stuck in the hole...

[Finlander]

21SS means 99-2002 Fict era. That Ram motor did not have the best history. When you say DI, are we talking Merc or Etec?

my 93 had more power than any of my later Stratos boats and could be trimmed to the max and not lose bite or drop the bow. I could come fast to a corner and turn hard into it the just slide around the corner like a drift car. The noses of the boat never hinted at falling and it held that high attitude through the turn and slowly came straight with the motor. The 93 was the second year for the XL hull at 20’4” including the run rails so actually it was 20’2” tip to tail. Triple step hull meant it was actually 19’ and change from the pad to the nose and that 200 XP was the first year for the loop charged round cowling and likely had the 225 carbs. My 07, 20’9” 201 with and Etec 225 HO had too much weight out front and needed a 300 to deliver the same performance as the earlier models. It still delivered 74 with a 27 Tempest.

[leckbass]

21SS means 99-2002 Fict era. That Ram motor did not have the best history. When you say DI, are we talking Merc or Etec?

Sorry about that 2005 225 HO Evinrude DI

[leckbass]

21SS means 99-2002 Fict era. That Ram motor did not have the best history. When you say DI, are we talking Merc or Etec?

my 93 had more power than any of my later Stratos boats and could be trimmed to the max and not lose bite or drop the bow. I could come fast to a corner and turn hard into it the just slide around the corner like a drift car. The noses of the boat never hinted at falling and it held that high attitude through the turn and slowly came straight with the motor. The 93 was the second year for the XL hull at 20’4” including the run rails so actually it was 20’2” tip to tail. Triple step hull meant it was actually 19’ and change from the pad to the nose and that 200 XP was the first year for the loop charged round cowling and likely had the 225 carbs. My 07, 20’9” 201 with and Etec 225 HO had too much weight out front and needed a 300 to deliver the same performance as the earlier models. It still delivered 74 with a 27 Tempest.

I started with a 2000, 200 horsepower Evinrude ficht, ran that from 2000 till 2016, then it blew, then I had a 225 Evinrude HO, that was awesome, but I only had it for a few months and long story short I hydrolock the motor... then came the 250 Evinrude DI, been using that for the last five years, but I had the feeling it was going to go and it did... now I'm back in a low hour 225 HO 2005 Evinrude

[Finlander]

OK, they are the BRP improved motor under the Fict cowling, pre-Etec. A quick read has them as one of the good ones that will deliver 1000’s of hours. Not bad at all. Back in the day they made the early Stratos boats thin and light. This made them fast but the flex caused stress cracks. I ordered the kevlar option in my 95 which did stiffen the hull but my 95 motor was not as strong. The later Extreme era added a bunch of weight to the hulls that was not well received at the time because folks buying Statos expected speed. We are talking 80 mph out of a 225 powered 201. The silver lining is the durability factor and all composite construction means there is more of them still around today. The extra glass thickness added both weight and durability. Upholstery and carpet ware out but you have a better base hull for reconditioning when the time comes.

Now, to raise or lower the jackplate? We need to know how she feels at WOT. The prop lifts to the highest point it can in the water column at speed and the hull is attached to it. At low speed the jack moves the motor up or down but at speed you are actually raising or lowering the hull down against the water or up off the water and the prop motor are fixed. So when someone is out of control chine walking all over the place is usually the result of not enough water pressure against the pad resulting in a loose feel. So we raise the jack plate which lowers the prop to pad applying more water force to the pad. Since the weight of the boat is always changing throughout the day or tournament, so does the PTP sweet spot change. A lighter boat can run the shallowest PTP and a heavier boat a bit more. This range can be as little as a 1/4” so the hydraulic jack is a must have toy on any high performance boat to quickly find and adjust the sweet spot of control.

I do not know how fast you are running but its the same hull as my 07 201 XL so I’ll bet its 69-71 with a 26 Razor, maybe a dit more. Not fast enough to loosen this hull much but you can take your hands off the wheel at that speed.

[Rip Bass]

The 1999-2001 Stratos extreme hulls were different from the XL hulls and drove/handled very different. The Extreme hulls had lifting wedges on each side of the pad to provide lift to those heavy hulls,which they did,but made them handle like crap. They listed to port very bad at low speed and would fall off the pad and lean extremely bad in turns but they were fairly fast on a straight run.

[Finlander]

The 1999-2001 Stratos extreme hulls were different from the XL hulls and drove/handled very different. The Extreme hulls had lifting wedges on each side of the pad to provide lift to those heavy hulls,which they did,but made them handle like crap. They listed to port very bad at low speed and would fall off the pad and lean extremely bad in turns but they were fairly fast on a straight run.

Those lifting wedges can be seen on my 07 XL. The core design is exactly the same and carried thru to the Evolution. They just stretched it to 20’9” and added 450 lbs to the hull without upping more HP. The 250 rating helped but I do not believe that came along till later and 300 would have been perfect for that hull IMHO.

[leckbass]

OK, they are the BRP improved motor under the Fict cowling, pre-Etec. A quick read has them as one of the good ones that will deliver 1000’s of hours. Not bad at all. Back in the day they made the early Stratos boats thin and light. This made them fast but the flex caused stress cracks. I ordered the kevlar option in my 95 which did stiffen the hull but my 95 motor was not as strong. The later Extreme era added a bunch of weight to the hulls that was not well received at the time because folks buying Statos expected speed. We are talking 80 mph out of a 225 powered 201. The silver lining is the durability factor and all composite construction means there is more of them still around today. The extra glass thickness added both weight and durability. Upholstery and carpet ware out but you have a better base hull for reconditioning when the time comes.

Now, to raise or lower the jackplate? We need to know how she feels at WOT. The prop lifts to the highest point it can in the water column at speed and the hull is attached to it. At low speed the jack moves the motor up or down but at speed you are actually raising or lowering the hull down against the water or up off the water and the prop motor are fixed. So when someone is out of control chine walking all over the place is usually the result of not enough water pressure against the pad resulting in a loose feel. So we raise the jack plate which lowers the prop to pad applying more water force to the pad. Since the weight of the boat is always changing throughout the day or tournament, so does the PTP sweet spot change. A lighter boat can run the shallowest PTP and a heavier boat a bit more. This range can be as little as a 1/4” so the hydraulic jack is a must have toy on any high performance boat to quickly find and adjust the sweet spot of control.

I do not know how fast you are running but its the same hull as my 07 201 XL so I’ll bet its 69-71 with a 26 Razor, maybe a dit more. Not fast enough to loosen this hull much but you can take your hands off the wheel at that speed.

One more week of guiding and then on free for the summer. Will hit WOT next week!