200 booked thru December!!

[Hollywood]

That's great but sounds more like a hurtle instead of a road block when it comes to building a quantity of boats.

[TRBenj]

The gear reduction transmission does not effect the top speed of the boat. Here is why. The propeller has a higher pitch, it moves farther forward for each revolution, but turns slower. If you take the pitch of a propeller on a Ski Nautique (16) and divide it by the gear ratio, (1.23) you end up with 13.008. A lot of ski boats with 1 to 1 transmissions are running a 13 pitch prop.

I agree for the most part- but some will argue that a reduction drive tranny will be slightly less efficient due to the extra set of gears that are utilized, thus slightly slower (top speed) than an equivalent 1:1 boat. Speed vs. RPM should be very similar when propped from the factory though, both being very close to 1:1 (speed vs. RPM).

Like I mentioned before, the 200/Excal is being shipped with a smaller prop (15" pitch vs. 15.5" on the 196) which will raise the RPM's at speed by at least 200. If youre pushing a lot of hull (which sounds like its the case) then add a few more RPM's to maintain any given speed. +400 RPM's at skiing speed is quite a bit.

The gear reduction transmission does gain two things, A right hand propeller, with a clockwise turning engine, and you gain a little efficiency. The propeller pushes the boat farther forward with each revolution, and does not spend as much time spinning.

I somewhat disagree here. While the reversal of engine rotation is certainly a benefit, the benefit of the reduction drive is not efficiency. Its benefit is holeshot. From my experience, prop RPM will be roughly equal on boats of equal size and horsepower- to some extent the diameter and pitch dont come into play since they are initially slipping. The 1:1 boats tend to get an instant 2500 RPM when going WOT out of the hole vs. about 3000 RPM for the 1.23's. (2500*1.23=3075) Being higher in the powerband right from the start translates to a faster rate of acceleration. The 1.23's are undoubtedly quicker than their 1:1 counterparts.

Top speed of a boat is about 80% hull design, and about 20% motor.
I have driven a 1999 Ski Nautique, with the 502 Python motor. The boat was new, so I did not hold WOT very long, but it went right up to 53 MPH, indicated on the speedos. Not much faster than my 1997 Ski Nautique, about 45. But it was a whole lot quicker. About a third more horsepower, for 8 MPH.

It definitely takes a lot of hp to make a slow hulled ski boat fast, no doubt. Having played this game quite a bit, Id say that 8mph faster is a LOT faster! Adding power to increase top speed generally helps holeshot and midrange RPM as well (when done properly). When pushing the hulls towards their limit, you get diminishing returns (especially on the newer, slower ones). Add 10hp and you might gain a mph from 42-43. To go from 48 to 49 you'll probably need about double that (20+ hp).

[oldslalomskier]

Well, when I was watching these things at the Worlds, I was surprised to see how high they rode compare to the 196. Of course they are wider and heavier so that has an impact. And with all of them having a "pad" (Hydrogate in CC's parlance) they should be faster than what everyone is saying, no? Hmmmm....

In any event, I suspect CC will be tweeaking the 2011s to fix not only the small annoyancs, but maybe addressing the speed as well. At least I hope they will...

[oldslalomskier]

Hey - anyone have hull specs on the 200? Deadrise etc.

[DanielC]

I completely agree that 8 MPH is a huge increase. The point I was making that in order to get it, you had to go from a Gt-40 engine, about 310-315 HP to the 502 Python engine, with 430 HP, and increase of horsepower of over a third as much. My first boat was a 16 foot outboard, with a 135 Mercury motor. Lightly loaded, and trimmed out so not much of the hull was in the water, and it would go over 50 MPH.

The gear reduction transmission does have some other benefits. The propshaft is below the crankshaft centerline, this allows less propshaft angle. There is an efficiency increase there. The angle change from the transmission allows the engine to sit more level. No doubt that the gear reduction lets the motor have more RPM on initial takeoff, increasing the power available for a faster holeshot, but I believe the larger propeller is able to push more water, increasing the thrust available upon initial acceleration.

Having said all that, I believe the gear reduction transmission is actually an advantage in gaining top speed, in spite of a slight loss for the extra set of gears.

[oldslalomskier]

You don't have to add gear reduction to change the output angle

[SNMike]

One reason for the new factory was to get around having to wet sand each and every boat due to air quailty issues. The fact CC was able to product great boats out of the old place was amazing.

Correct. Not to mention it was in need of repair.......been there since 1925........that says most of it. But it also took up 4-5 city blocks, with different buildings on each block. Corporate offices, shipping, manufacturing etc.

A new modern facility,that housed all aspects of the business, with twin test lakes made perfect sense to me.

Regards!! Mike

[DanielC]

Lets see, you want to change the angle so the motor is sitting level in the boat. More of a problem with older carburetor motors, than with multiport fuel injection.
While we are designing out ideal ski boat we would like to get the front (transmission) end of the propshaft as low as possible, to minimize the difference in propshaft angle compared to the direction the water is flowing past the propshaft.
You can only lower the engine until the oil pan hits the hull.
Normal motors turn the wrong way for a right hand propeller.

So one set of gears reverses the rotation, and allows the output gear to be lower than the input gear, (lowers the propshaft front end). Put a bevel on the gears, and you have changed the angle. Since the gears are there, why not put in a reduction, that has proved to be beneficial?

How else are you going to change the angle? A "U" joint?

[oldslalomskier]

You've never seen an Infinity I take it?

[DanielC]

I have seen an Infinity boat. I believe it is a mid engine "V" drive, if I remember correctly.
"V" drives use gears.

[oldslalomskier]

Gear reduction was useful when all you could get was 250-275 hp. Now with almost 350 hp in stiock engines and associated torque, you are adding cost, complexity and weight.

[Craft]

If you were to ask a dealer what was selling best 4 years ago they would tell you it was a wakeboard boat bought by 20-40 year olds.

What will they tell you today? Most people can't get the credit to spend $75K on a boat. They might be able to get $35K together to buy a ski boat though.

Times are a bit different in the financing world today.

Tim

That's been my complaint for the last 15 yrs. The price of these boats has gone up exponentially, and you hit the nail on the head. Easy credit means bigger market. Bigger market means more demand. Well, you know the rest...

Cash used to be needed for buying power. Well, I guess its actually come back full circle and now you need it again. So, for CC to come out with a $55K tournament boat in this economy seems either bold or ridiculous. Only time will tell.

[j2nh]

Good interview with Correct Craft President and CEO Bill Yeargin concerning the state of the industry in Boating Industry.
Keys for me: Consolidation and profitability at lower volumes.
" ...consensus is that we will not see things improve until at least calendar year 2011 or 2012."

http://www.boating-industry.com/output.cfm?id=2309707

My two cents is that the downturn has and will continue to produce a glut of late model used boats which is going to make selling new tough especially when the prices of new boats continue to climb. I could purchase TWO late model 196's (06 and newer) for the price of ONE 200 with a 6 liter (roughly $60).

[Flipside]

Guys I have an '01 SAN and I replaced my GT40 with a 343 and I can get up to 50 mph (even higher if water is dead flat) and still have RPMs to spare. I don't believe you need a 409 on a 'smaller' Nautique??? I believe I have an ACME 480 prop. I can tear your arms out out of the hole, and still have higher top end speed since I changed my engine.

[behindpropellers]

Guys I have an '01 SAN and I replaced my GT40 with a 343 and I can get up to 50 mph (even higher if water is dead flat) and still have RPMs to spare. I don't believe you need a 409 on a 'smaller' Nautique??? I believe I have an ACME 480 prop. I can tear your arms out out of the hole, and still have higher top end speed since I changed my engine.

Its the hull design. Same deal with a supra slalom boat. A lead sled.

Its just like an airplane. The plane may be exactly the same but when you change the wing it will drastically change the drag.