Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 23
  1. #1
    Member
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Montgomery, TX
    Posts
    988

    Boat pitching side to side when running

    I'm still learning to drive my Cougar. This past Saturday we were running up the lake in a little bit of chop and the boat kept pitching side to side. Is there a way to lessen this? We could slow down and trim down and that helped, but I would think I could run faster than the low 30s.

  2. Member
    Join Date
    Jan 2015
    Location
    Ruther Glen,VA
    Posts
    878
    #2
    As long as the boat is set up properly, it is merely some chine walking that happens with all performance hulls and your BCB is certainly one of those. That boat will run well and it will require some driver input to keep it on the pad. It is going to be a matter of seat time and maybe getting with someone that can drive it well to coach you a bit. You can lessen it by raising the motor but you need to watch rpm, water pressure, and prop as some props do not like to run high like the trophy model. This will put the boat in less of a performance mode but will also increase steering torque and bring on another set of circumstances.

    Check you prop to pad PTP somewhere around 3.5 inches is a good starting place for all around performance.

    Don't just hammer the throttle and run the trim up fast. These hulls are VERY trim responsive and you can easily over trim. Increase rpm and make small increases in trim until you feel the boat lift. Stop trimming until you feel comfortable and make small corrections in steering as the boat wants to "search" on the pad. Old school ways to feel the boat is to place your foot near the keel on the floor so you can feel the boat through your body.

    I know it sounds crazy but seat time is your friend. Don't go trying to stick it in a turn at 65-70 until you get used to her. She will let you know real quick if it takes a bobble after it hooks up.

  3. Member bigfish1259's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    Springfield, MO
    Posts
    2,090
    #3
    Here's the best explanation I've heard from the man himself Pat Goff;
    1. If your boat isn’t wanting to walk it’s not setup to it’s potential.
    2. When you understand what caused it, only then can you understand what you should do to prevent it from starting.

    Here’s why it starts: your prop is rotating to the right. That force tries to take everything right with it.
    Your boat wants to go straight. Those two forces working against each other causes the wobble.
    Your job is to prevent it from starting. You do that by never letting the boat flop over to the right. So when you get it, it’s a constant left turn against the prop torque which lets you balance the boat on the pad.
    How do you learn? Go out on a wide part of your lake and do wide sweeping left turns, increase throttle and trim until you feel the boat lifting on pad. If you start getting out of balance and it starts to walk trim down and start over. You do NOT start sawing on the wheel, that makes it worse if aren’t feeling the balance. You had to learn to balance to ride a bicycle, this is just like that but with a 40mph cross wind.
    Or find one of us to show you in fifteen minutes.

  4. Moderator Fishysam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Jamestown North Dakota
    Posts
    9,318
    #4
    The boat has a pad and a left and right side, the wobble is it leaving the pad and bouncing from side to side, the minor steering input will keep it balanced on the pad, I have a different boat but with experience I can see how the chop is coming under the boat before it wobbles I can kcan balance it.

  5. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2017
    Location
    Little Red River, AR
    Posts
    3,929
    #5
    Chine walk and learning to control it:

    https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/bass...6.html#p156505

  6. Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2010
    Location
    Conroe, TX
    Posts
    6,512
    #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Bahala View Post
    I'm still learning to drive my Cougar. This past Saturday we were running up the lake in a little bit of chop and the boat kept pitching side to side. Is there a way to lessen this? We could slow down and trim down and that helped, but I would think I could run faster than the low 30s.
    he's saying he had to drop to low 30's to prevent. something else going on. he aint chine walking from 35-50

  7. Moderator Fishysam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Jamestown North Dakota
    Posts
    9,318
    #7
    Running 35-50 at any angle to the chop can without doubt make it wobble same action for fixing chine walk just a bit sooner and more input
    Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089

  8. Member jp71291's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2011
    Location
    West Monroe, LA
    Posts
    5,551
    #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Fishysam View Post
    Running 35-50 at any angle to the chop can without doubt make it wobble same action for fixing chine walk just a bit sooner and more input
    It’s still driver input. A cat is a driver’s boat. Not just anyone can step into a Porsche and drive it to its potential. Some would say they didn’t like it cause of blah blah. A cat is a high performance hull. Behind the hands of a good driver it’s hard to beat.
    ___________________________________
    2016 BassCat Cougar FTD
    2016 Mercury Pro XS 250

  9. Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Cartersville, Georgia
    Posts
    1,622
    #9
    The easiest way I know how to explain it is when you ride a bicycle you have to balance yourself on it. If you have too much weight or lean on either the left or right side you will fall off the bicycle as you did when you was a kid. Driving a boat that will actually get up on pad is the same thing. You have to balance the boat on top of the water the same way you did as a kid on a bicycle. You didn't violently lean to the left when you needed to balance the bicycle because you where losing balance to the right. Most people that I see trying to drive one when it starts walking is they over correct too much. It dose not take as much as what you might think at first. Once you learn to drive it you will think to yourself that it was much easier than you thought.
    2000 Triton Tr21
    2002 Mercury 250 Pro XB

  10. Member
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Montgomery, TX
    Posts
    988
    #10
    Thank you all for your help. I wasn't thinking about chine walk since I wasn't going very fast. I guess the chop on the water is accentuating the chine walk. We will be back out there Saturday and I will focus on balance and steering wheel input. All we have been doing is trimming and trying to hit any waves/chop and the correct angle. No additional steering input.

  11. Member
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Lanier Gainsville GA
    Posts
    480
    #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Bahala View Post
    Thank you all for your help. I wasn't thinking about chine walk since I wasn't going very fast. I guess the chop on the water is accentuating the chine walk. We will be back out there Saturday and I will focus on balance and steering wheel input. All we have been doing is trimming and trying to hit any waves/chop and the correct angle. No additional steering input.
    bahala one thing that helps me settle down any side to side in my puma, is to make a small left correction. Enough to start the slightest turn. If the osolation stops it’s chine walk. And the boat is looking for some driver input ( trim, jackplate, or start steering)to correct If it’s waves it will not stop. Also remimber slowing down isn’t the real correction for chine walk. Down trim a bump or two to regain control. Chopping the power at high trim settings can result in one massive move to the right.

    Im still learning to drive mine. And honestly don’t think I’m very intuitive yet. But every chance I get I put my jacket and kill switch on and got make wind! I know I make the previous owner of my boat laugh when I say my personal best is 74 for 4 miles. I’m sure he could run the boat 80 in his sleep.
    2017 Puma FTD
    250 Pro XS
    lowrance gen 3, 9 and 12
    Ultrex 112 36v 45”

  12. Member
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Lanier Gainsville GA
    Posts
    480
    #12
    Quote Originally Posted by Bahala View Post
    Thank you all for your help. I wasn't thinking about chine walk since I wasn't going very fast. I guess the chop on the water is accentuating the chine walk. We will be back out there Saturday and I will focus on balance and steering wheel input. All we have been doing is trimming and trying to hit any waves/chop and the correct angle. No additional steering input.
    bahala one thing that helps me settle down any side to side in my puma, is to make a small left correction. Enough to start the slightest turn. If the osolation stops it’s chine walk. And the boat is looking for some driver input ( trim, jackplate, or start steering)to correct If it’s waves it will not stop. Also remimber slowing down isn’t the real correction for chine walk. Down trim a bump or two to regain control. Chopping the power at high trim settings can result in one massive move to the right.

    Im still learning to drive mine. And honestly don’t think I’m very intuitive yet. But every chance I get I put my jacket and kill switch on and got make wind! I know I make the previous owner of my boat laugh when I say my personal best is 74 for 4 miles. I’m sure he could run the boat 80 in his sleep.
    2017 Puma FTD
    250 Pro XS
    lowrance gen 3, 9 and 12
    Ultrex 112 36v 45”

  13. Moderator Fishysam's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2016
    Location
    Jamestown North Dakota
    Posts
    9,318
    #13
    Playing in chop at 30-50 mph I steer quite a bit to keep the boat level (to the horizon), because the front and back of waves are what the hull wants to ride on and they are constantly changing, this makes a wobble unless you are going strain into or with the waves,

    but by keeping the keel straight down that eliminates the wobble but takes effort, also a benefit is a smoother ride since the hull won't flat land on the next wave
    Mercury 250 proxs 2B115089

  14. Member iron banks's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Metairie, LA
    Posts
    7,223
    #14
    That is not chine walk it is just a characteristic of BCB in a chop at those speeds. I'm sure it has something to do with the hull design. It does not bother me. All hulls are a series of compromises.

  15. Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Mishawaka, Indiana
    Posts
    813
    #15
    Last weekend road in a Cougar as a co-angler from Kentucky Dam past Paris Tn. Weirdest darn feeling coming from my Ranger Z21. As we're heading out of the marina was looking for a grab handle on right side of the seat. My pro said there wasn't one? Then stated "she'll roll a bit in boat chop, but won't throw you out," He was right. With the beak in the water it cut trough chop pretty good. Mid trim the boat would quickly roll side to side when hitting boat wakes, it wasn't violent. On pad it was pretty stable, I was comfortable enough to let go of the grab handle and relax. A couple observations on the ride. We we're never over trimmed causing chine walk. He was constantly driving/working the steering wheel. No slapping and only experienced the mid boat jolt once.(miss read barge wake) Passed a ton of boats. For me the number one like is,No freaking plastic/ rattily noises! Solid boat with very little plastic trim.

  16. BBC SPONSOR Bass Cat Boats's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Mountain Home
    Posts
    15,041
    #16
    Thanks for the review lisa1117

  17. Member
    Join Date
    May 2017
    Location
    Montgomery, TX
    Posts
    988
    #17
    Thank you all for the replies. Very interesting reads. I need to find someone local to go out with me in my boat for some driving lessons. We are getting better each time out though and I look forward to applying what I have gathered here.

  18. Member lpugh's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Sacramento Ca
    Posts
    5,140
    #18
    This is not chine walk, My 03 Cougar does this to. Mainly when in minor rough water and trimmed a little to low. I call it keel steer, lift the bow a little or change the angle of attack on the waves and the problem is gone. My P2 never did this. Regarding chine walk for this boat, only happens above 74 mph with extremely light loads and is very easy to control. I think guys are trying to run to much trim up on cats that complain of chine walk
    Any steering points that are loose will make both these problem far worse, get rid of any slop including in the helm. My Cougar runs at 8% prop effc and 75 mph in good conditions trimmed just above neutral. Rooster tail very little maybe 1 to 1 1/2 ft. Both cats I have owned like to be 100 lbs heavier on the right side. Set the PtoP 1/4 in deeper than where it runs the fastest, and run a torque tab on the skag.
    Thank You Leon Pugh

  19. BBC SPONSOR Bass Cat Boats's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2004
    Location
    Mountain Home
    Posts
    15,041
    #19
    8% is right on the money.

    Most everything you mentioned is spot on!

  20. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Livingston,Tx
    Posts
    2,212
    #20
    My Caracal likes to run heavier on the starboard side as well I’ve noticed.
    2018 Bass Cat Caracal
    Yamaha 225 SHO

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast