22 cruiser with 90hp; best way to improve planing

J

joechiro35

New member
I have just purchased a permatrim to add to the engine. Currently I am having issues with driving the boat. I seem to be lifting the bow really high during the initial acceleration. It seems like a slower start seems to help with that. Also when I am going at a faster rate, as I trim above the horizontal line on the gauge in choppy waters the engine seems to lose some traction of the water. I am trying to get the bow up to help with the pounding of the waves. I want to go faster in choppy waters with less poundage if that makes sense.

There also seems to be water getting into the back transom when I am accelerating too fasts. It happens because the stern gets pretty low and water gets in that way. It seems that the back end may be too heavy and I don't know why. There is a 54 gallon gas tank at the back which has metal aluminum framing over it. I thought they were plastic gas tanks. Could this be adding more weight? And if so will permatrims help? I've taken out the kicker engine just to see how it would do and it seems to plane better...also as I use up some gas it seems like it is at a plane quicker.

input would be greatly appreciated
 
If the boat doesn't have trim tabs already, you should look into getting some. They really smooth out the ride in the chop.

Also, just adding some weight to the bow may help balance things out. Try putting a cremwmber up in the birth and try it again. Our anchor and 50' of anchor chain in bow locker seemed to do the trick in our boat.

The pounding in chop you experienced might be just the typical c-dory handing. Its hard to say without riding on the boat. We slow way down to 12 knots when wind waves build. This helps alot. The relatively flat bottom doesnt provide for the smoothest ride. It's the compromise I live with, and feels good when you pass the fast boats at the fuel dock.
 
It sounds like you are trimming the bow up to smooth the ride when you should be trimming the bow down for less pounding into waves.

Let that sharp bow do some wave splitting for you.

When starting from a slow speed to get on plane keep the motor trimmed down all the way to keep the nose lower and yes a permatrim will aid that nose down trimming a great deal. If you have a large fuel tank in the stern WITH the other standard tanks and they are all full, that would not help your cause a bit.

Greg
 
Yes, the Permatrim will help. But the combination of both the permatrim and trim tabs will also help even more. My first boat had neither, My second C Dory has both, and it really helps.

There was an option for a larger tank at one time--and I suspect that you have one of these boats. Also you want to be sure that the core didn't have any moisture--and extra weight there. Get as much weight as you can forward.

As Greg said, get that bow down into chop--remember that the gauge reflects the engine--line up, means engine up--line down--engine down. Start with the engine all of the way down.

Yes, more weight forward helps. We carry a lot of weight with the boat loaded for a month at a time--in back we carry a freezer and large ice chest, with a box for extra canned goods, shovel stoe, barbecue etc. We also have the camper back.

Dinghy goes forward-outboard on cabin floor at times, all clothes, cameras, extra gear on the forward bunk. But no problem with a 90 Honda
We have the trim tabs --most of the way down--and the boat came with a Doelfin-I prefer the Permatrim and may change it out.
 
All you need to do is put the bow into the chop. Use your engine trim and your trim tabs to put the bow down and that should take care of most of what you are experiencing. You can put things back towards the middle in good water if you live in an area where you get it.

I have found that CD 22 do not pound nearly as bad as a number of folks indicate if the trim is right, the speed is around 15 mph or lower, and the chop isn't terribly steep. In fact, there are a lot of times I can comfortably travel at around 20 mph going into 2 foot chop. Going with 2-3 feet of chop, I can travel 20-25 mph without the dreaded pounding. It all depends on how steep the chop is of course as there have been lots of times I had to go 8 mph into 4-6 foot steep wind waves - no fun.....
 
thataway":1a5mde2l said:
Yes, the Permatrim will help. But the combination of both the permatrim and trim tabs will also help even more. My first boat had neither, My second C Dory has both, and it really helps.
Click to expand...

One more vote for Permatrim! It works!!!
 
During long cruises in Southeast Alaska after fueling we have 100 gallons of fuel in the cockpit, which is an additional 360 pounds extra alone over the standard full 40 gallon tanks. This along with much additional weight from other items & still have no problem getting the bow down into chop with the combination of trim tabs & Permatrims on twin Honda 40's. The addition of Permatrims to the trim tabs for us turned into a major improvement from previous trips heavily loaded in a like manner. We too like others described try to balance the overall extra weight as best we can between bow & stern as well as port & starboard & use amount of trim needed with varying weight to best get up on plane & keep the bow down going into the chop.

Jay
 
Wandering Sagebrush":1ddnaht2 said:
thataway":1ddnaht2 said:
Yes, the Permatrim will help. But the combination of both the permatrim and trim tabs will also help even more. My first boat had neither, My second C Dory has both, and it really helps.
Click to expand...

One more vote for Permatrim! It works!!!
Click to expand...
I always vote for Permatrim. Installed one on our original Suzuki 70hp. After we upgraded to the Suzuki 90hp after the first year, did not originally install the Permatrim but instead installed Bennett M120's, which Tyboo Mike claims is tailor made for the CD-22. Noticed the trim tabs were not nearly as effective or sensitive to adjusting the bow up and down as the Permatrim was. So I ended up installing a PT on the Suzy 90hp as well. Much better. Now I use the trim tabs more for lateral trim of the boat. The combination works very well.
 
The Bennett hydraulic are the best, but more difficult to install. I have Lenco Trim tabs which are electric. Both companies are good service--and both are about the same price for the C Dory. Whenever you put any mechanically fastened item on the transom, you need to line the hole you cut with epoxy to seal the core of the transom to prevent water intrusion.

Jazzmanic is correct that the trim tabs are more for lateral trim--but I use both in combination in the roughest chop to get the best balance and trim in the boat. I have had boats with no trim tab, added the Permatrim, and then the tabs---and boats which had neither and added first the Permatrim and then the Trim Tabs to see which helped the most. Conclusion was the best was both--and it was a lot of difference from the basic boat. There is also a learning curve on driving these boats--tacking off to one side in heavy head seas, as well as trim, speed etc.
 
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