1980 17 foot aqua sport with trim issue

[Far67rar]

I have never really gave it a hard hole shot I always come up on plane kinda slow, as for the RPM's my tach say's wide open throttle is 5,800-6,000 but I am not sure if the tach is accurate. I almost never run the boat wide open I will bring it up on plane then back it down to about 3/4 throttle or about 5,200-5,400 on my tach

[MarshMarlowe196]

Considering how you've described the performance of the boat, and you state that the boat does not sit noticeably lower in the water than before-  What you're describing just might be the nature of the boat.  The 170 Aquasports don't have a very hard chime at all and ride wet because of it, so a wet Aquasport is normal.  They also don't respond significantly to trim adjustments either.  The low deadrise and relatively low weight of the boat makes for a rough ride in any kind of waves 2' or more.  It honestly sounds to me like you're describing how an Aquasport performs all the time.

I have a 19-6 and I just recently added the baitwells to mine, and I've honestly noticed almost no difference in how much the bow comes out of the water while I'm on plane after the baitwells were installed.

Then haul the boat, remove the brass inner hull drain plug and drain it. Unless the bottom is dirty with growth, 5 mph loss of speed is like having 3 extra people in the boat. Your stainless prop should have adequate cup to pick up the bow under normal conditions. Something is wrong and water may be the issue. Check and see if the rear livewells are draining properly when you run and not plugged with moss or barnacles. The holes are only a 1/4-5/16 inch in diameter. This may not cause the bow to drop but could kill top end if your are hauling around 15 gallons of water that can`t escape through the normal overflow drain system.

The baitwells are designed to be about 3/4 full at all times; underway or at rest, so even if they were completely full, it shouldn't affect the performance of the boat that much, at least in the experience I've had with mine.  Agreed, sounds like your prop might be damaged in some way.

Agree, water/growth are possible issues, as Fitz suggested. Not a pretty topic, but you may have waterlogged stringers.

Here's a thought. Check here on the board the dry hull weight as manufactured, add the engine weight, fuel weight, batt/ trailer weight, etc, then take her to some truck scales. You should get a fairly accurate idea. Pretty close, or not so close.

Best, and keep us posted.

gran

This is probably your best bet.

[Far67rar]

I would like to thank everyone for thier help this is a great web site. I am going to pull the boat out of the water, it is time for some new bootom paint and a new prop anyhow. Maybe this will let the boat dry out some, but from talking to people and the comments on this web site it sounds like there is nothing wrong with the boat that I am using it for the first time in rough water and the little boat just does not like it. I have owned this boat for five years and just this year started using it in Charlotte Harbor I love the boat and I am sure that as time goes on I will learn the bay and the weather. I will learn how to pick the good days to go fishing.