Will My Boat Plane With Mirage+?

[Carl C]

22 Classic, 525 EFI, XR/Imco -2" shorty. Prop shaft about 5.5" below bottom. I really want to try a Mirage+ prop to see how it affects top end and overall handling. I'm now running a 30p labbed Bravo 1 which works very well but is it holding my top end down? I run 83 mph any day, 86 best & bumping limiter @ 5,400 rpm.

My concern is that my boat will not plane out with a 3 blade prop. I don't have access to a prop to try for free so it will be costly to try one through BBlades especially if it doesn't work and I don't buy it. What is the consensus here. Will my boat plane out ok? Will I see a significant improvement in top speed? Thanks.

[Pat McPherson]

I ran a mirage plus on both my 24' Pantera and 24' Superboat. The prop shaft was about 5" below the V at the bottom on the Super and about 5.5" below the small pad on the Pantera.

I did lots of testing on my Super boat and ran a BBlades modified/lab'd 28p Bravo 1 and a BBlades lab'd 27p Mirage plus. The boat topped out at 75-76mph with B1 and 77-78mph with M+.

As I've said before, I don't like the handling of our old school type V bottom boats with a Bravo 1 prop unless there are modified for extra bow lift. The Rev 4 is a much better choice but unfortunately they don't make a large enough pitch for big power boats. I'm also not a huge fan of the handling with a stock Mirage plus. I like standard Mirage and Turbo 1 props better. Not sure how high of pitch they make those.

I suggest you have BBlades send you a couple of 3 blade prop options to try; I think like $25 plus shipping per prop.

Another prop I really like is a Hydro P5X, but not going to be as fast as a 3 blade and they're are costly. You won't find a better handling prop in the rough though.

[Carl C]

Thanks Pat. I'm weighing all of the input I get. Most on OSO say it won't plane or will be hard to plane. Right now the boat is dialed in nicely. I'll probably wait until I get a chance to try a 3 blade for free.

[Mr X]

It will plane, and should be a bit faster....but will require a little more steering input. Be careful.

[Carl C]

It will plane, and should be a bit faster....but will require a little more steering input. Be careful.

Hmmm. Thanks Ted. You know I value your opinion. What do you mean by "more steering input?" Will it induce bad handling traits? I don't want to do that. Handling and overall performance is great with the Bravo 1 but I haven't tried anything else.

[Pismo]

I think it will plane. Plenty or power in a fairly light boat, should be ok. MPlus goes to 29" which is about the same as a 30" Bravo so worth a go I feel.

[yeller]

It will plane, and should be a bit faster....but will require a little more steering input. Be careful.

Well there's no one with more experience with Donzi's than Ted. I ran a Tempest Plus, based on his recommendations and liked it more than the M+. With my boat, the M+ was difficult to get on plane. Sometimes it'd take 3 or 4 tries, because it kept blowing out. Now that's my boat. Back when I got my boat the M+ was the prop being recommended (next to a Turbo), so lots of guys used it on their Classics without issue. A 3 blade will make the back end feel looser, but I liked that feel. For me, the boat was easier to handle with a 3 blade. 4 blades just had too much grab and wanted to twist the boat too much.
Now that was all with a stock Bravo. I didn't have a shorty.

I think it will plane. Plenty or power in a fairly light boat, should be ok. MPlus goes to 29" which is about the same as a 30" Bravo so worth a go I feel.

If 29" is the biggest, I'd think that will be the deciding factor for you right there. 29 was the right size for my boat (with the same power as you) and a stock Bravo. Don't you usually need a couple inches more with a shorty? (I realize the innuendo. No need for comments. )

[yeller]

Carl, clear your PM box.

[Carl C]

I think it will plane. Plenty or power in a fairly light boat, should be ok. MPlus goes to 29" which is about the same as a 30" Bravo so worth a go I feel.

Yes, the Bravos are overrated in pitch so a 29 M+ should be about right. I don't want to have to baby it to get on plane unless there will be significant gains in other areas of performance. I sure don't want to go out with a full load and find that I can't even get on plane.

Carl, clear your PM box.

Done.

[Pat McPherson]

I'll probably wait until I get a chance to try a 3 blade for free.

OK Carl, you made me giggle with that... spend nearly $100K on the boat and don't want to spend a few $$ testing props...

From my experience, it is best to test props back to back to back with the same conditions and load to get a good comparison...

My bet is you will go faster with a 3 blade on calm water but will stick with your 4 blade because of handling...

[Carl C]

OK Carl, you made me giggle with that... spend nearly $100K on the boat and don't want to spend a few $$ testing props...

From my experience, it is best to test props back to back to back with the same conditions and load to get a good comparison...

My bet is you will go faster with a 3 blade on calm water but will stick with your 4 blade because of handling...

I'll pay the money but not if everyone says it won't work. I don't have $50+ to throw away. That's why I'm running it by this forum and OSO. Now there is some promise here so I think the next step is to talk to Brett. I am looking for overall performance offshore. The Bravo provides that but am I leaving 5 mph on the table??

[Mr X]

Carl, it will be loser in the back as Yeller said. Your not leaving 5 MPH on the table with the Bravo, maybe 2 to 2.5 MPH
it is a bit ill handling with the Mirage, but not horrible.

[Carl C]

Carl, it will be loser in the back as Yeller said. Your not leaving 5 MPH on the table with the Bravo, maybe 2 to 2.5 MPH
it is a bit ill handling with the Mirage, but not horrible.

OK. Thanks much.

[yeller]

OK Carl, you made me giggle with that... spend nearly $100K on the boat and don't want to spend a few $$ testing props...

I'd want to test one for free too if it's not critical to getting the boat running well. Seems Carl has the boat dialed in pretty good, so why toss money away just out of a curiosity. I'm sure it'll be well over $50/prop once you pay shipping both ways.

[Carl C]

I'd want to test one for free too if it's not critical to getting the boat running well. Seems Carl has the boat dialed in pretty good, so why toss money away just out of a curiosity. I'm sure it'll be well over $50/prop once you pay shipping both ways.

Yes, there will be shipping both ways plus a fee if I don't buy it.