Pantera 24

[mphatc]

Friends!

I had the opportunity to drive an older SBC / Alpha Pantera 24 yesterday . . . totally stock boat . . . 21P Mirage

All this thing would do was 46 MPH . . . but my questions are more about hull performance . . . at low speed this hull when turning would roll over. like a sailboat heels . . . nothing I've ever experienced in my Magnum 27, Donzi 18 or 40 years of boating . .

Steering ratio on this boat was really slow 5+ turns lock to lock . . and I can't forget to mention that the complete skeg was broken off the bottom of the drive, unknown to me till we hauled the boat for the end of the season . .

Is this normal handling for this hull? Does it need tabs all the time, or was this all the fault of the broken skeg?

The boat has Bennett tabs that don't work right now.

I do have to add, Winni was nasty yesterday afternoon, the Wolfeboro to Alton end of the lake was big rollers and very windy, running straight into the waves this hull was better than any other 24 foot boat I've run. But across the waves the previous performance was un-comforting.

Mario L.

[joseph m. hahnl]

When you say low speed roll, How slow were you going? if you were at the transition of almost planed out but not quite there. It may have been tripping of plane. What RPM was it running at 46MPH? I have never driven a boat with the skeg missing:boggled:,but I do see how that could be a definite factor:yes:

[Conquistador_del_mar]

The skegs make a huge difference. I ran an Excalibur once without the skeg - it was scary! Bill

[olredalert]

-----Mario,,,I cant remember ,,,did you ride in the El Pescador??? If you did, you road in a better riding boat then than that Pantera. Just ask your wife and daughter. I still maintain that the 24 DONZI line was and is the best riding 24 hull on earth. Course Im biased!!!........Bill S

[mattyboy]

Mario,

when I test drove the new sutphen 21 there was a 24 pantera that came along for the ride one of Morgan's friends. boat has big power and seem to ride very well and fast. I know my lake washtub does not compare to winnie when it kicks up, but i would bet that setup with the busted skeg and the small block might have the balance of the boat off. with a small block in a boat that size I would tend to think it would bow steer a bit.

but then again this pic was on there website ;)
http://www.panteraboats.com/pantera_boats_historypg2_9.html?photoID=25&page=1

[mphatc]

Bill,
I did not, instead I chose to play submarine with CDMA . . . amazing how dry we stayed and the Corsican windshield didn't fold in on us.
So no, I've never been in an El Pescador or the other 24' Donzi that you have, but did once ride in a Doral, irc that's the same hull? . . and it did not act like this!

We could only get this to 4600 rpm, as I stated it's a tired engine . . the roll would happen just as one was coming off plane and turning, as I do entering my small cove towards the dock, done this for years in many a boat.

This past summer I had a 24p x 15 1/2" Hydromotive QIV on the Corsican, and even with that the boat would roll much easier than with any other prop. Hydromotive cut this prop back to a 23 and reduced the OD and this roll went away. The Pantera prop is a tired old 3 blade . .

Mario

[BUIZILLA]

it's a 24x7 hull with a sharp V, falling off to one side wasn't unusual without tabs with a narrow 7' beam, especially if you were by yourself with a side helm... the boat shown in Marshall's pic is a good example, BTW, I know Marshall....

[smidgen too]

When I had my 24' Cheetah I converted it from a jet to a Stearn Power drive. If you did not trim the drive out it would roll on to it's starboard side.:boggled: On my first test ride it scared the heck out of me. On the next test I put on the third pin and all was good, the prop torque was gone. :eek:

[Ghost]

Piling on to Jim's point, 7' beam and 24' long is a skinny boat. Somewhere (I searched and didn't find yet, but maybe Conquistador's thread?) around here we have the original ads for the Martini/Corsa 26. The boat is in a turn in one pic, and is heeled WAY over. Like, bikini-model-spilling-out-of-her-top over. I'm thinking that maybe what was experienced here was PERHAPS pretty normal for hull geometry like this.

That said, I have no experience running without a skeg. And as much as I've been in boats that heeled over in turns, it never felt uncomfortable. Which makes me wonder if what was experienced here takes it up a level or two.

Last of all, I'd think that prop torque would make this feel far sketchier leaning left than right. Curious if you noticed any difference there, and apologies in advance if I missed it in the thread.

Mike

[smidgen too]

The only way to stop the torque problem in a 7' beam hull, twin engines & counter rotating props. :eek!: My 1975 24' Cobra [same hull as a Pantera, Cheetah, ect] has just that. But when it comes time for any engine work, it's no fun. :nilly:

[Greg Guimond]

Pantera's are not known to have any strange tendencies. I would say that having no skeg left is about 80% of your problem, especially at slower speed. One of my boats is a 6'6" beam 24 degree. You can touch the surface with the rail on it at 20mph with no problem and you have to tap the tabs frequently.