22' Classic Blackhawk

[KMT15]

What do you guys have to say about this boat, im very interested in purchasing one. How does it compare to a 22 classic with a 502 with a Bravo one?

-KMT15

[roadtrip se]

kmt115,

First of all, welcome to the Donzi.net board.
Great people here with lots of experience.

The blackhawk boats have been the subject of many a discussion here. Just go up to the corner of the page here and hit "search" and enter
"blackhawk" and you will find plenty of info.

I have the 502 bravo boat and also know the 502 blackhawk boat well. I would be happy to answer your questions and can turn you on to some low hour blackhawks, if you would like. Send me an email, if you would like to discuss these boats.

Todd
somewisbey@earthlink.net

[Woodsy]

K..

Todd is right... these boats definitely cause alot of discussion. My personal belief is that they are somewhat overpriced. But thats just me.

I also think that that the factory put too much rocker into the bottom of the hull. They also didn't raise the X-dim (drive) up high enough. These two flaws caused a very ill handling boat, with porpoising being the biggest complaint. Alot of the BlackHawk boats had the Blackhawk drive removed and a Bravo put on. Speedwise, the factory BlackHawk boats were 5-7mph faster than thier Bravo counterparts, even with the excess rocker & deep X-dim.

I have been doing ALOT of research Donzi & otherwise about the BlackHawk drive. I just hung one off the back of my '97 22 Classic (454MAG) in the stock Bravo position. I don't have the hard data yet (GPS), but it is faster. It doesn't porpoise, sometimes it can be induced to porpoise depending on waves etc, but you can usually trim out or speed out of it. The seat of the pants feel is that she is definitely faster. She is alot more stable, no torque steer at all, hands off at 70mph.

Just my .02

Woodsy von BlackHawk :D :D

[blackhawk]

Definitely a harder boat to drive. But it sure is a lot of fun once you figure it out. :D The rocker in the hull makes the boat very loose. Which makes the boat faster and makes it FEEL a lot faster. Woodsy is right about the porpoising, but that is my only complaint. Plus, once you learn how to use the tabs you can control it. Hey Woodsy, I was talking with a Donzi dealer that was pretty familiar with the Blackhawks and he said he thought the drive was mounted too high.

[Woodsy]

I think most of the problem is/was too much rocker... the drive couldn't overcome the rocker and get the nose to fly nice without using alot of tab.. tab scrubs speed. Waleye (Steve Marr) talked to one of the Blackhawk development engineers who stated point blank that the drive was too low. His X-18 with the drive mounted properly (high) in a word ROCKS.. no tabs on the boat, no porpoising, no ill manners, just rock solid @ 77mph with a stock 350MAG. I have it mounted way too low on my 22 Classic, (stock Bravo position) and I have very little to no porpoising. It runs like a shorty Bravo. She does run really good considering, and next year will be MUCH better. I scored the extension box, so now I have almost all of the parts for my experiment next spring. I just need to score the IMCO hydraulic steering. I assume after your outrageous $$ rebuild, your experiment is on hold?

Woodsy :D :D

[blackhawk]

Actually, the "experiment" is still going to happen. I just got my drive back today. The mechanic went over a few things on the "shift upgrade kit"(top-end gear kit) with me which was kind of interesting. Man, they replaced everything in my drive. Oh well, it's better than new now! :D I am installing hydraulic steering and drive shower before the weekend and then I am going to put some easy hours on my drive over the weekend. I will probably be trying the "experiment" next week.

[mjpcowboy]

Even though I am a ZX man I think the Black Hawk is an Awsome boat! The classic look is always great but that boat has the look. Best of look searching because there are some in great shape out there. Always love a Donzi!!!!!