Tinnie set up.

[Space Ace]

Hi there, I'm new to boating and recently purchased a second hand 3.75m Savage snipe with a 9.9 Johnson on it for fishing in my local lake and river. I took it for its maiden voyage and was surprised how much the bow of the boat sat up out of the water and the steering was very twitchy , the water was to rough to get up speed so I don't know what it will travel like on the plane. Theres no false floor in it and I'm not carrying much gear with me so there's not much extra weight on board. Can any one offer any tips on setting it up to handle better.

Cheers.

Space Ace.

[Fab1]

Hi there, I'm new to boating and recently purchased a second hand 3.75m Savage snipe with a 9.9 Johnson on it for fishing in my local lake and river. I took it for its maiden voyage and was surprised how much the bow of the boat sat up out of the water and the steering was very twitchy , the water was to rough to get up speed so I don't know what it will travel like on the plane. Theres no false floor in it and I'm not carrying much gear with me so there's not much extra weight on board. Can any one offer any tips on setting it up to handle better.

Cheers.

Space Ace.

Im guessing its tiller steer with all the weight(you) and tank at the rear and very little in the front.

The only thing I can think of is perhaps adjust the trim pin to tilt the leg of the out board In and move the fuel tank forward.(This should bring the bow down a little and get you up on the plane quicker)

I may be wrong but most boats I've seen that size have 15hp outboards.

Hopefully that outboard is mounted at the correct height on the transom also.

Cheers.

[big Neil]

Yep good advice from Fabian. You need more weight forward, but also check that the motor is vertical down the back of the vessel, as Fabian suggests.. Even adding another person forward and opposite will help. Your motor is probably slightly underpowered though this isn't a problem really. Will just take you longer to get from A-B, that's all. If vanes can be fitted to the motor this may also help getting up on the plane quicker...though it's not essential. Hope this helps a bit.

[stevefish]

Weight, take a mate or some bags of sand to talk to. Whichever your happier to take along

[macca02]

Hi there, I'm new to boating and recently purchased a second hand 3.75m Savage snipe with a 9.9 Johnson on it for fishing in my local lake and river. I took it for its maiden voyage and was surprised how much the bow of the boat sat up out of the water and the steering was very twitchy , the water was to rough to get up speed so I don't know what it will travel like on the plane. Theres no false floor in it and I'm not carrying much gear with me so there's not much extra weight on board. Can any one offer any tips on setting it up to handle better.

Cheers.

Space Ace.

As all the others have suggested, more weight at the front. (Another person, Battery - if you're going to add some electronics)

I've got a 25hp on my very old 13ft tinny, its really light and previously when not on the plane you had to stand up to see.

Since I've added in false floors, casting deck at the front and a large battery at the front. This has made a huge difference to handling as the weight is a lot more evenly distributed.

[raging]

Extend the tiller steering with a pvc pipe and sit in the middle seat?

Safety people might not be happy with that, so get a longer kill switch lanyard etc.

[CapnSkipp]

Deffonately put some weight up front chief

Live the dream, not dream it.

[GEB]

Hi,

While the advice given so far is all good stuff, especially " extend tiller arm and sit further forward". Which is commonly done by sliding a length of PVC pipe, of the appropriately size, over the tiller arm throttle. By doing that you can move (your) weight forward without adding extra weight to the boat. At the moment, from what you describe, all the weight is in the stern which buries the engine leg in the water, this creates a lot of drag and gives "twitchy" steering because only the hull is only floating on the last bit of the stern.

One of the most commonly overlooked thing ps on a small motor/boat combination is the rigging of the motor. IMO you're a bit underpowered but that can be mostly overcome by rigging the motor correctly. A correctly rigged motor will give you the best fuel economy, most power, least carbon buildup and engine longevity. It's not hard to correctly rig a motor but involves a bit of trial and error but will only cost you time and effort.

1. Make sure the motor is centred on the transom (Secure the motor with a strap or chain to the hull. This could save you a very embarrassing and expensive experience. I've seen it )

2. Raise or lower the motor ( whichever is required ) so that the anti-ventilation plate is level with the bottom of keel ( where it meets the transom) Depending on engine shaft length and transom height you may not be able to achieve this. If not, in the situation you describe, it would be better to be a bit higher rather than a bit lower.

3. Put the trim pin in the hole(s) closest to the transom i.e. motor trimmed all the way in (down)

4. Launch your boat and with it's normal load see how it performs now. Get it up on the plane, if you can. Take note of how it responds to throttle and steering ( and weight distribution). This will give you a starting point.

5. If rigged like this gets you on the plane, check where the anti-ventilation plate is in relation to the water. Ideally at Wide Open Throttle ( WOT ), with normal load, the anti-ventilation plate should be either just on or just above the water surface and at 90 degrees to it.

6. From this starting point ( even if it doesn't get on the plane ) you can then adjust trim out until steering response and overall performance firstly starts to improve then when it starts to decline and then trim back in one hole. Trimming in (down) will give you "bow down", Trimming out (up) will give you " bow up". If you find you have very little trim out before the prop starts to ventilate then drop the motor height 1"(25mm) at a time until it improves. Also you'll find that any adjustments,up/down it in/out will affect the steering response.

7. You could also investigate changing the prop to improve the performance but I think you'll find that there's little choice in props for small motors. A 4 blade prop would give you some stern lift but even if you can get one to suit, the cost of the prop may not be worth it ( to you). If you have an Operators Guide for your also refer to it as they usually cover engine rigging as well. If you haven't got the guide domain online search as they are usually a free download from the Manufacturer.

Also don't just take my word for the "engine mounting" advice. Here's a link to a very good article, by Ken of Prop Gods, on engine height/propping. While it's mainly intended for larger HP motors, basics are still basics and I used it as a guide to rigging/propping a Quintrex 310 Car Topper with 5HP 2 stroke Yamaha and my current boat, Stacer 399 Remote steer PTT with 30HP Evinrude E-TEC and I'm very happy with the results.

http://www.veradoclub.com/index.php?topic=137.0

Cheers

GEB