Trial #2 For this trial, I tried to solve two problems, the mysterious leak and the slight overheating of the motor. To address the leak problem, I rebuilt the transom because it was partially cut away revealing the wood backing. I covered it with a piece of plastic and glued it in place using Stabilit Express. For the overheating problem, I dropped the prop size from a Prather 220 to a Prather 215. |  |
| With the Prather 215 prop, the boat cavitated like crazy when first started. If took several seconds for it to get on plane. |  |
Once it got on plane, the boat moved out at a respectable speed. | 
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| I tried lowering the the strut to cure the cavitation problem. This helped but it did not go away completely. |  |
| The ride pads seem to help as the boat was able to get out the water a bit better then the first trial. Speed was ok but I think there is more to be had. A new prop and motor combination may be the trick to get more speed without severely impacting run times. |  |
| The movie to the right demonstrates the current speed of the boat with the Prather 215 prop. I still think the boat should be faster. |  The above video is 4.5 meg mpg file. Click on this link or the picture to view it. |
| This boat is very stable. It never spun out or rolled during a turn no matter how tight or how fast you pushed it. |  |
| The motor temp after running the Prather 215 was very reasonable. No overheating here. |  |
| Just for fun, I swapped the metal Prather prop for a plastic Graupner 40 mm prop. I expected the speed to drop severely.... |  |
| ...but I was completely wrong. The boat was just as fast and it did not cavitate. Looks like the Prather 215 prop was just too small. |  |
| Unfortunately, I forgot to check the motor temperature after running the Graupner prop. Also, this prop was not the one that usually comes with the kit. I am not sure what is actually specified for this boat. |  |
| After each run, I found about 2 ounces of water. This problem is going to drive me mad! |  |
Trial #2 Conclusion Well dang, rebuilding the transom didn't solve anything. I still have a leak in the hull. Water is either coming in from the hull seam or is being pumped in via the flex cable. I will strip out all of the electronics and submerge the hull upside down. Bubbles should indicate if there is a leak. The boat handles beautifully and runs at a decent speed. The ride pad helps lift the boat up and increase the speed a bit. I still think there is more to be had. I plan on swapping out the motor with an SS1 and trying out a few more props. Even if I can't get the boat to go any faster, it is still a lot of fun. |  |
