reids rides

Now that boat has a serious problem, be rest assured it was never built to perform that way. Whomever, should get the hull terminolgy straight and not make this into a fairytale.

I've got a very quick '70 Mustang and was curious about the steering with the gunwale question. I think I know what he was referring to in that if you run some of these boats quite fast (45-55 mph) upon harder deceleration many will tend to hook or catch the chine and nearly pull the wheel from your hands, veering quickly to one direction. According to Art at Southeast CC, it can have a bit to do with the rudder as it did in my case. Mine would do it both when running at high speed and when slowing down quickly. A newer (straight) rudder fixed that.      

My two cents worth,
Rudder shaft wear certainley will have a bearing with the handling.The design of tow boat rudder are designed to pitch the bow down in turns. High speed rudders are of a wedge type work just the opposite.
However in my opinion most of the propellers are too close to the rudder.High speed props should be of stainless to reduce blade flex and stretch. They need only to be the width of the prop puller away from the back of the strut. This puts the prop closer to the bottom and further from the rudder, also helps eliminates excess vibration. The rudder for higher speed should be deeper than the prop. Also when adding more serious power the diameter of the prop especially on the narrow hull should be less. The larger diameter under added torque and power will twist the hull on the chine. Noteing older boats ran Michigan props that had a 0 or less rake and pushed the nose down. The newer props run 5- 10 degrees positive rake keeping the bow up. The boat under full power should break the water at least behind the engine.
To emphasize, prop size, I've driven displacement race boats 100 + MPH most of my adult life and have seen boats go upside down when a blade broke or a shaft broke and jammed the rudder, etc. When you add more power to boats that were not designed for, other considerations have to reconized. Just my two cents worth.

MY 2 cents and opinion.
Most boats when porposing usually need more pitch, when going down in diameter more pitch usually is needed, however there are exceptains.

I use a menkens steel custon 3 blade, + 9 rake 12X16 and a 12X17 6 + rake cupped staiinless OJ 4 blade. The OJ custom stainless 4 blade is the smoothest, and fastest on nitrous. Stainless blade are better as they tend not to flex and stretch. More torque and hp require SS Blades.

That' true, Why ask if you already know the answers.
We could debate this forever, However I won't, go with your best instinct. When that boat was built is was meant to pull skiers with the bow down. However if you have added all this power in the boat. With all the orginal hardware as is,you can and will lift the transom and will push the bow down right on the spray rail.
Your analogy on prop changes make no sense to me, 600 RPM differential should be 5-6 MPH. My 1981 stock Ski Nautique ran 4800 RPM on a 13X13, 48 MPH on the radar. To turn more pitch for more RPM you need more power not a prop change. My advice to you on props is call Eric Johnson and buy from someone that will work with you. He will go the extra mile. There is a prop formula to follow, might make it easier. Good luck with your endeavor.

Merry Christmas All! The presents are all open and Santa brought me a 1966 Correct Craft Brochure. I'll send some pictures to post from it asap.
Back to the discussion of speed, rpm, and prop sizes, would it be possible to start a new topic regarding this. Can Keith move these last couple of messages pertaining to this? I certainly don't know how to.
Maybe some clarification is needed on the prop issue I was referring to. Indeed, if you picked up 600 rpm you would expect 5-6 or more mph, assuming this increase in rpm was with the same prop size. This particular 16' Mustang with original 210 HP 302 would only run 46 mph at 4400 rpm with the 12x14 prop. Engine/hp enhancements brought the rpm up about 800 rpm and added 10 mph to the top speed, with that SAME 12x14 prop. The goal was then to see if alternative prop sizes, going up and down in pitch and obviously affecting rpm, would increase boat speed. It turned out that the original Federal 12x14 produced the best speed. The combinations and theory are similar to changes in rear axle ratios in a car. I feel trial and error is the best means to arrive at the right prop package, though I've seen very few instances where a prop other than the factory original will significantly increase speed if at all. You can indeed go down in pitch and get a better hole shot and pull, but your top speed rpms are gonna typically go up +/- 300 rpms per inch of pitch removed and will have you turning the engine out of it recommended max or power band, and I doubt any more speed. Going up in pitch will detract from your pulling power and the engine will not generally be able to turn to its recommended rpm max, putting undo stress on the engine, and typically lowering top speed.

As for rudders, Bill would you expect a wedge rudder to run faster than a ski type or just handle differently? This Mustang, as mentioned previously, can scare unsuspecting drivers when slowing down quickly, the way it grabs the starboard chine and pitches. Don't know if that's inherent in this hull or still a rudder problem/issue. Anyone else have or seen this same problem?
-Happy Holiday Boating

There's a new Reid Ride up on the site:

1972 Correct Craft Skier