Sabre FTD setup

[bellens]

Hey guys,

Longtime lurker here, second-time poster. I have a question on behalf of my nephew. He has a 2015 (or close to that) Sabre FTD with a manual jackplate and Merc 150 fourstroke with a 23 tempest plus. I measured Prop to Pad the other night and we are looking right at 4".

It has lost some major top end speed and we are wondering what could be up. It ran well (as in 60ish) prior to this season it seems. The motor seems to run fine otherwise, but he's only seeing a max of 5200 RPM at WOT and a top end of a bit over 40 MPH. Obviously something is not right. He runs loaded fairly heavy and between the two of us you're looking at a good 400+ pounds of man, but still...

We tried adjusting hotfoot with no difference, and before we have the motor checked out, I thought I'd check with the experts here. Any ideas? I was thinking maybe raising the motor 1/4" and trying that, but I also read that the fourstroke likes to run a bit deeper than a Pro XS, so I don't know.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Brent

[J Risco]

If it ran well before you shouldnt have to play with the plate. Did the prop get hit/damaged? Also, over time they loose cup but not enough to account for almost 20 mph.

If it's not a badly damaged prop, or something dragging on the boat, it's time to let a tech take a look at the engine. Could be down a cylinder from a bad coil or something like that or maybe a clogged fuel filter... no way to know without looking at it, would just get guesses like I gave...

[bellens]

Thanks J Risco. That makes sense. The prop has been dinged, but very minor (at least visually). I can't imagine that would account for an almost 20 mph loss, so I will suggest he takes it in to have the motor looked at.

[n2ratfishin]

Have the motor looked at. I ran both a 2s 150 and a 2s 175 on the same Sabre FTD hull and both of them ran better deep on the Jack plate. Losing that much speed doesn't make sense even in the summer. He should be running at least mid 50's.

[JStew]

I agree that there may be some motor issue. However - you shared some prop damage as well as he runs very heavy. The Sabre is a very load / weight critical hull. It's a performance hull that wants to be light and nimble. Fill the front boxes with lead heads, jigs, and soft plastics and the hull will not lift the bow . If there's prop damage - that could kill both bow lift as well as stern lift. It's an air entrapment hull that doesn't like to carry much weight in front of the consoles. If the hull won't lift and run clean, due to prop damage and load weight, the smaller low displacement motors don't have the torque to turn up into the power band. The storage on the Sabre is set up to carry a ton of stuff just like the bigger hulls - but doesn't have 3.0L torque to push it or hull length for leverage to lift it.

Ivan at BCB says 10lb. on the bow equals 100lbs. on the transom equals 1 mph. If that's a general statement with a 20' boat - it's amplified with the Sabre. Load all light stuff in front of the consoles and about 10lbs. of tackle - the rest behind the seats. Load the front, fill the gas, heavy partner and his tackle - it'll fall on it's nose......

[Midnight Rider]

I think you have a cylinder down for whatever reason. I'd raise the jack plate up with the Tempest Plus 1/4" at a time if you're at 4" PTP, until you see either a rise in rpm with no increase in speed, or a water pressure drop, then drop it back down 1/4. And, as stated above, try to keep anything heavy out of that front most compartment...use it for cushions, life vests, rain suits, boat fenders, etc. I put all my hard baits in the most rearward front storage, and keep my soft plastics, weights, jig heads, etc behind one of the seats.