Lively zodiac
 

Hi all

I have a 4.5mtr zodiac futura air floor (new style with big blunt ended
tubes) with a 30hp Yam 2 stroke on a tiller. The boat really flies and
feels very stable with two or more in it, however if I try to use it on my
own it gets a bit hairy with the front end climbing to nearly 45 degrees
before dropping back onto the plane and then bouncing all over the place, it
feels as though it could flip without too much help. Short of putting a
couple of bags of sand in the front I'm at a loss to know what to do. Any
ideas anyone, I've wondered about bolt on hydrofoils, doelfins etc, but
having no experience with such things its hard to know what the effect would
be. Obviously sitting further forward would help but that would involve
steering gear, throttle control gear and fixed seating which would make a
nonsense of the main reason for this type of boat, ie it has to be easily
and quickly erected and put away agian afterwards.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards Ian

Lively zodiac
 

"Ian Kay" wrote in message
...
Hi all

I have a 4.5mtr zodiac futura air floor (new style with big blunt ended
tubes) with a 30hp Yam 2 stroke on a tiller. The boat really flies and
feels very stable with two or more in it, however if I try to use it on my
own it gets a bit hairy with the front end climbing to nearly 45 degrees
before dropping back onto the plane and then bouncing all over the place,
it
feels as though it could flip without too much help. Short of putting a
couple of bags of sand in the front I'm at a loss to know what to do. Any
ideas anyone, I've wondered about bolt on hydrofoils, doelfins etc, but
having no experience with such things its hard to know what the effect
would
be. Obviously sitting further forward would help but that would involve
steering gear, throttle control gear and fixed seating which would make a
nonsense of the main reason for this type of boat, ie it has to be easily
and quickly erected and put away agian afterwards.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards Ian

I have the 9-10 foot Zodiac Zoom, and I love the Zodiacs.
What is the name plate rating for max HP for that vessel?
30HP sounds like a a hell of a lot of power for that rig.
Do you know if the "back" end is coming out of the water?
i.e., do you notice it "cavitating"? (engine reving real qucik)
My zodic has a rigid floor, and I've seen that new style one.
Also, are you sure that you have the right pressure in both,
the floor tubes, and the main vessel? Mine gets really
weird when underinflated even by just a small amount.
Another thing about Zodiacs is, you need to get them
onto plane quickly (since they are effectively flat bottom)
On mine, (with a 8HP Johnson), I lean real far forward
onto the front bench seat to get it on plane, then readjust
once on plane. I've played with the hydrofoils bolt on
things, but thats not gonna help your situation. Just make
absolutly sure that your engine does not exceed the max
HP spampted on the transom plate, and make sure you
are properly inflated all the way around. And throw your
weight forward when getting on plane, and get on plane
fast. I had the same issues, and a Zodiac does take some
getting used to - took me a few weeks to get the feel of it.
Once I did, I had that dam thing doing things that you
wouldn't believe. Did you get the boat new? With motor?

Lively zodiac
 

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
. ..

"Ian Kay" wrote in message
...
Hi all

I have a 4.5mtr zodiac futura air floor (new style with big blunt ended
tubes) with a 30hp Yam 2 stroke on a tiller. The boat really flies and
feels very stable with two or more in it, however if I try to use it on
my
own it gets a bit hairy with the front end climbing to nearly 45 degrees
before dropping back onto the plane and then bouncing all over the place,
it
feels as though it could flip without too much help. Short of putting a
couple of bags of sand in the front I'm at a loss to know what to do.
Any
ideas anyone, I've wondered about bolt on hydrofoils, doelfins etc, but
having no experience with such things its hard to know what the effect
would
be. Obviously sitting further forward would help but that would involve
steering gear, throttle control gear and fixed seating which would make a
nonsense of the main reason for this type of boat, ie it has to be easily
and quickly erected and put away agian afterwards.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards Ian

I have the 9-10 foot Zodiac Zoom, and I love the Zodiacs.
What is the name plate rating for max HP for that vessel?
30HP sounds like a a hell of a lot of power for that rig.
Do you know if the "back" end is coming out of the water?
i.e., do you notice it "cavitating"? (engine reving real qucik)
My zodic has a rigid floor, and I've seen that new style one.
Also, are you sure that you have the right pressure in both,
the floor tubes, and the main vessel? Mine gets really
weird when underinflated even by just a small amount.
Another thing about Zodiacs is, you need to get them
onto plane quickly (since they are effectively flat bottom)
On mine, (with a 8HP Johnson), I lean real far forward
onto the front bench seat to get it on plane, then readjust
once on plane. I've played with the hydrofoils bolt on
things, but thats not gonna help your situation. Just make
absolutly sure that your engine does not exceed the max
HP spampted on the transom plate, and make sure you
are properly inflated all the way around. And throw your
weight forward when getting on plane, and get on plane
fast. I had the same issues, and a Zodiac does take some
getting used to - took me a few weeks to get the feel of it.
Once I did, I had that dam thing doing things that you
wouldn't believe. Did you get the boat new? With motor?


Hi

thanks for the reply,

Max engine (recommended) = 30hp, I suspect that 25hp would have been good
enough and 15kg lighter as well however the engine was new and represents a
considerable investment. I would lose too much changing it now
Max engine (allowed) = 40hp, I think that would be frightening
Engine (60 KG) only half the max transom weight
Definitely not cavitating
Boat was new and came with Zodiacs inflation pressure gauge, so it should be
ok. It also agrees with the gauge on my air pump
Planing quickly is not an issue, wind it open and it nearly jumps out of the
water, I suspect that on my own there is insufficient weight in the front
You cannot get far enough forward in a 16ft boat and I don't fancy using a
tiller extension with the rig so lively
This is not my first inflatable. I had a 9ft Zodiac cadet previously with a
Suzuki 5hp 4 stroke, a very different beast
Yes the boat and engine were bought new together from a dealer

Like I said with at least two in the boat (one up front) the boat feels
balanced; handles beautifully and flies (30 mph). Its just when on my own
it feels a bit hairy, even when on the plane the front end feels light
(thats why I was thinking hydrofoils, aren't they supposed to keep the front
end down ??), I don't know what speed it would achieve, I haven't been that
brave (stupid) yet.

Anyway thanks for the reply

Regards Ian

Lively zodiac
 

On Sun, 10 Sep 2006 20:56:14 +0100, "Ian Kay"
wrote:

Like I said with at least two in the boat (one up front) the boat feels
balanced; handles beautifully and flies (30 mph). Its just when on my own
it feels a bit hairy, even when on the plane the front end feels light
(thats why I was thinking hydrofoils, aren't they supposed to keep the front
end down ??), I don't know what speed it would achieve, I haven't been that
brave (stupid) yet.

Keep as much weight forward as possible such as the fuel tank and
anchor. Heavy duty velcro can be useful for keeping the tank where
you want it. Also, keep the motor trimmed all the way down. If all
else fails keep a 5 gallon jerry jug of water up forward in addition
to everything else.

Lively zodiac
 

Wow, all good information, thanks....

I'm actually considering something like what you got.
So how much was the whole setup, and did it come
with a trailer? Thats one thing I could never understand,
all that money for some of them high-end Zodiacs (like
the Yacht lines etc), and no fricken trailer. Go figger.
So did it come with a Mercury 2 stroke 30 HP ?

So yeah, hearing your situation, (and never having
a Zodiac as big as yours), I never thought of it, and
yeah, I can totally see the situation. 16 fot boat, 6 ft
human, 2-foot tiller handle makes that front of the
boat really far away. Maybe some bricks would do it.

I'm just not convinced that them bolt on deals would
help. I played with on my smaller Zodiac, and wasn't
worth the hassle of drilling holes in the cavitation plate.

So just how well does it go with two people in it?
How fast? (using a hand-held Garman GPS etc)

Man I do love the Zodiacs, and would love to
have a bigger one. (maybe not quite 16 foot,
but something in the 12-15 foot range.



"Ian Kay" wrote in message
...

"Mr Wizzard" wrote in message
. ..

"Ian Kay" wrote in message
...
Hi all

I have a 4.5mtr zodiac futura air floor (new style with big blunt ended
tubes) with a 30hp Yam 2 stroke on a tiller. The boat really flies and
feels very stable with two or more in it, however if I try to use it on
my
own it gets a bit hairy with the front end climbing to nearly 45
degrees
before dropping back onto the plane and then bouncing all over the
place,
it
feels as though it could flip without too much help. Short of putting
a
couple of bags of sand in the front I'm at a loss to know what to do.
Any
ideas anyone, I've wondered about bolt on hydrofoils, doelfins etc, but
having no experience with such things its hard to know what the effect
would
be. Obviously sitting further forward would help but that would
involve
steering gear, throttle control gear and fixed seating which would make
a
nonsense of the main reason for this type of boat, ie it has to be
easily
and quickly erected and put away agian afterwards.

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Regards Ian

I have the 9-10 foot Zodiac Zoom, and I love the Zodiacs.
What is the name plate rating for max HP for that vessel?
30HP sounds like a a hell of a lot of power for that rig.
Do you know if the "back" end is coming out of the water?
i.e., do you notice it "cavitating"? (engine reving real qucik)
My zodic has a rigid floor, and I've seen that new style one.
Also, are you sure that you have the right pressure in both,
the floor tubes, and the main vessel? Mine gets really
weird when underinflated even by just a small amount.
Another thing about Zodiacs is, you need to get them
onto plane quickly (since they are effectively flat bottom)
On mine, (with a 8HP Johnson), I lean real far forward
onto the front bench seat to get it on plane, then readjust
once on plane. I've played with the hydrofoils bolt on
things, but thats not gonna help your situation. Just make
absolutly sure that your engine does not exceed the max
HP spampted on the transom plate, and make sure you
are properly inflated all the way around. And throw your
weight forward when getting on plane, and get on plane
fast. I had the same issues, and a Zodiac does take some
getting used to - took me a few weeks to get the feel of it.
Once I did, I had that dam thing doing things that you
wouldn't believe. Did you get the boat new? With motor?


Hi

thanks for the reply,

Max engine (recommended) = 30hp, I suspect that 25hp would have been good
enough and 15kg lighter as well however the engine was new and represents
a
considerable investment. I would lose too much changing it now
Max engine (allowed) = 40hp, I think that would be frightening
Engine (60 KG) only half the max transom weight
Definitely not cavitating
Boat was new and came with Zodiacs inflation pressure gauge, so it should
be
ok. It also agrees with the gauge on my air pump
Planing quickly is not an issue, wind it open and it nearly jumps out of
the
water, I suspect that on my own there is insufficient weight in the front
You cannot get far enough forward in a 16ft boat and I don't fancy using a
tiller extension with the rig so lively
This is not my first inflatable. I had a 9ft Zodiac cadet previously with
a
Suzuki 5hp 4 stroke, a very different beast
Yes the boat and engine were bought new together from a dealer

Like I said with at least two in the boat (one up front) the boat feels
balanced; handles beautifully and flies (30 mph). Its just when on my own
it feels a bit hairy, even when on the plane the front end feels light
(thats why I was thinking hydrofoils, aren't they supposed to keep the
front
end down ??), I don't know what speed it would achieve, I haven't been
that
brave (stupid) yet.

Anyway thanks for the reply

Regards Ian