Can a 18 "spin out"?

[N2DEEP]

I was pulling my wife around on a deck tube this weekend for the first time. I started out at lower speeds around 15 with the tabs down to stay on plane. was making great wake to get air with the tube. After a few yawns and bored looks from her I quickly picked up the pace, left the tabs down, and began to cut really hard, water was just over the deck on the lower side in the turns..A couple of times it felt like the stern was going to cut loose or spin out. Is this possible on a 18c with a cleaver and is it dangerous? BTW the yawns turned to screams and :cussball: :biggrin.: A good day.

[Speed-Racer]

My guess is yes...If you cut the wheel hard enough in one direction, any boat should spin out...

[N2DEEP]

Thanks for the response. I have done this in a flat bottom ski boat just fine but I was wondering if I could spin out safely with the deep v and stern drive.This might seem like a stupid question, but it is fun in a ski boat or jet ski. Have any of you done this?? Thanks, :biggrin: N2-stupid stuff.

[Speed-Racer]

Well most ski boats have 3 small like fins on the bottom of the hull somewhere near the middle. They lock the boat into turns...

I was with a friend one time doing about 45mph, and he turned the wheel hard over and the boat swung around hard, and of course throwing us into and out of our seats a little, it was pretty cool, at least for me!

A jet ski is a blast to spin out! Just hang on for your life, and you will get soaked :biggrin.: ...try it slower at first so you know what to expect

[Formula Jr]

Can you imagine how neat it would be to be paid to find out IF a boat will spin out?

Hey Donzi! I'm up for that!.... and Willing to relocate.....you might not get your boats back in one piece though....and I'll show you what breaks and what falls off. And all you have to do is pay me money. I'll tow it to all the events. And free rides.. Okay I might pay for gas sometimes. .:)

Owen.

[Dr. Dan]

:smash: I may be an idiot....but this sounds like a whole bunch of Trouble. If ya don't flip and eject one of your passengers.....you have to be putting undue stress on the drive and components...course I am only guessing here.

To me this would be somewhere in the "What Can I Break Today Category...including my Arms and Legs?"

I am sure it is fun to do with a ski boat, or even a Jet Ski...I watch people doing the Jet Ski Slides all of the time....but if the Boat Hooks.....your passengers become Sail Kites.

Just this weekend up in the 1000 Isles....a small boat with an outboard pulled up to the Docks at the Edgewood....I am reasonably sure the guy musta been some version of a moron...cuz he proceeded to drive the boat into the dock...slamming his wife or girlfriend to the floor of the boat(there were 2 kids in the boat as well)....she was down there for at least 10 minutes before we saw her get up and promptly leave the Idiot she was with!

We watched in disbelief as this happened right in front of alot of us....the reason I even mention this is because this boat was going slow and hit the dock...imagine going at speed and coming to an abrupt stop?

Don't misunderstand me...I am not trying to rain on your fun...just hate to see anyone get hurt here....we have had a reasonbly good track record....and I'd like everyone to be safe while boating and have a good time....I do know both Frank C. and Bryan Tuvell have experience with boats sliding and breaking loose....not sure if they were actually trying to experience that....but they can speak to what its like!

Good Luck..have Fun & Be Safe.

Doc :smash:

[txtaz]

I agree with Doc,
I don't think a V hull will spin very easily. You would have to be at high speed and a hard turn. But as Doc said, not a smart move. High speed manuvers are fun but you need practice to do them. Also, warn your passengers before doing them. Going from 60 to 0 in a hard turn can send people out of the boat. Use your tether if you plan on trying anything.
Wes

[mattyboy]

I came extremely close to spining out my 16 at 50 mph, had way to much stern lift, an 18 or a 16 ain't gonna spin out pretty . I'd safe that for the jet boats or the ski boats



Matty

[Morgan's Cloud]

Many years ago I was riding in a cathedral hull outboard being piloted by a then race driver. First he got it chinewalking then it spun out. I almost needed a change of undies. I expressed my surprise at such a reaction and he said that even cathedral hulls could spin out but not as often as the average deep V. Some years later I was piloting Pop's old 24 Deep V with twin Volvos and foolishly chopped the throttles in a tight turn. It shocked me by doing a rather nasty but abrupt spin out.
In response to the original question, I''d be surprised, with the completely out of whack trim settings you were running with, if it did'nt spin out !

Am in complete agreement with the others who admit that it is'nt a condition that you want to deliberately induce .

S

[MOP]

Years back I had a 17 Formula and did a lot of skiing, I was pulling a bud slalom he jumped a wake in a high speed turn when landed he pulled the back end loose. When it caught it damn near rolled scared the B Jesus out of us and dumped the spotter on the floor.

Phil

[N2DEEP]

Many years ago I was riding in a cathedral hull outboard being piloted by a then race driver. First he got it chinewalking then it spun out. I almost needed a change of undies. I expressed my surprise at such a reaction and he said that even cathedral hulls could spin out but not as often as the average deep V. Some years later I was piloting Pop's old 24 Deep V with twin Volvos and foolishly chopped the throttles in a tight turn. It shocked me by doing a rather nasty but abrupt spin out.
In response to the original question, I''d be surprised, with the completely out of whack trim settings you were running with, if it did'nt spin out !

Am in complete agreement with the others who admit that it is'nt a condition that you want to deliberately induce .

S

Thats what I wanted to know. I thought the down tabs were affecting the handling. .....interesting stories, any more on this subject???

[boldts]

Greg, you had 2 things working together in your story to induce a spin. First you had the tabs down which is lifting the transom and driving the bow down. Second, your running a cleaver prop. Cleavers are props made to get the transom up. On a heavy transom boat like you have. (big block and TRS drive), probably one of the best props for the application. Like said before, I too am real surprised that you didn't spin your 18 out.

Like Phil, I've pulled slalom skiers behind a 18 Classic. You could really feel the transom lift when that skier hit the turn and at times it felt like the skier was pulling the boat around. You have a lot more weight in the back of yours, so as long as your not using the tabs down, I would think you actually have a more stable boat for a slalom skier to pull against.

Another incident happened to me at Lake Cumberland this year. Not paying attention or holding on, the driver of the boat I was riding in had to make an abrupt, quick turn to avoid another boat. It threw me across the boat and into the drivers shoulder. I was lucky. My jaw was still in one piece and I was still in the boat. Kind of hard to talk or eat for a few hours afterward though.

I believe Frank Civitano spun his 22ZX out in an effort to learn what the boat could handle. He had removed all loose items from the boat and of course had no one riding with him. Bryan Tuvelle on the other hand spun his boat by accident. He and Frank had a nice long talk afterwards on how to avoid a spinout. I do not recommend that you or anyone else purposely try to spin a deep v boat. It's not only dangerous, but the inertia of the sudden change in direction or stop can and will rip the drive right off the transom. Ask an offshore boat racer about it sometime. They'll tell you what can happen. An inboard as fins in the center of the bottom and is a flat bottom boat anyways. It is rotating on those fins. The rudder is turned in the direction of the spin and the prop is also turning although that strut must take some abuse there albeit minimal compared to a big TRS drive.

Take care all! Be safe and enjoy your boats!

[FlatRacer, aka BarrelBack]

In comparison to my Super Stock Bezer raceboat, the 18' 2+3 in a high speed turn is downright scary. Granted, I may have been spoiled by the handling and stability of the raceboat in calm waters, but when I take the Donzi into turns too sharp and/or too fast, I feel as if it's gonna catch on the keel and high side me right out of it! As a result, I tend to drive it conservatively. I am however, thinking of installing a kill switch just in case.

FR

[DonziMon]

When I was out on the test run with the 22 Classic I bought the owner performed a beautifully executed tailslide. It was just so smooth and deliberate that I wouldn't call it a spin out. We were probably doing under 40 at initial turn-in and it wasn't abrupt or unnerving at all. Me and my lady friend (her in the back) both looked at each other and then at him yelling "Damn!" and "That was so cool!" I asked him a few months later how did he do it and he wisefully replied "You'll figure it out". I'm still pretty much a Newbie when it comes to power boats so I haven't tried it yet. I'm guessing that he trimmed the drive up just before the turn...

[vanstee]

I put a "Dolfin" on the outdrive of my Ragazza and can spin it at relatively low speeds (under 20). Wife won't let me with her in the boat. Had a friend with me and spun it, next thing i knew he was sitting on the floor laughing his ass off and asking to do it again.

[Lenny]

Scott B... that wouldn't have been TWO Criterions side by side with a GT21 in the middle would it? :D:

I think I cleaned my shorts with Buzillas' shirt after he had cleaned his with my hat... :eek: Them we threw both of the "towels" to Poodle to clean yours and his... :D

Then we had lunch...

By the way Poodle, the bottom of your boat looks WAAAAY bigger when it is about 20' away from a spectator and you're going 40 in a turn...

[boldts]

:D What GT-21. I must of blacked out for a sec. Don't remember seeing anything but the bottom of a Crit very close.:)

[Speed-Racer]

How could I forget that one Poodle...

[picklefish]

I've spun out in both a 3-point hydro and a needle nose racer. The hydro had a fifty hp merc which got ripped completely from the transom by the forces on the lower unit. After pulling it back on board by the steering cables and rebuilding it, I learned the value of bolting the motor to the transom. Then I replaced it with a hundred hp so I could get all the excitment I needed without doing anything stupid. Besides the fact that you could break your outdrive (jets don't have any parts protruding down into the water) you could kill yourself or your passengers. When I spun my needle nose (steering failure) I had to dive to the floor and hold on to the framing for dear life to keep from being thrown until I could shut the thing off (1960s pre kill switch days). Sounds to me like you need more horsepower to keep yourself amused.

[N2DEEP]

Yeah, horsepower is a "good". :angryfire So is experience. I still dont have the proper horsepower/experience ratio yet, but I am working on it and I don't plan on lowering the HP!!.. thanks to all for sharing these stories... and the stories in other threads, they really do help with ones "boating education". :boat: When you are out on the water you just may be confronted with a situation similiar to what you have read about on the board and that may be just enough to save your ---. :umbrella: N2