R23 in chop and swell

[cwalden]

Has anyone found the sweet spot between engine tilt, trim tabs and speed to smooth out 3-5 or 4-6 foot swell with chop. Pretty rough ride at 8.5 knots on our R23. One observation. With hard chime, boat is very stable in beam seas. We are in ocean just off Newport RI and Sakonnet, RI in our R-23, Toot Suite. Thanks.


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[BB marine]

I grew up boating in those waters. The R23 is a good boat but there are days in the water you are cruising in that there isn't a sweet spot. I envy you ! That is beautiful cruising water. I spent many ocean rough days in my dads boat anchored in Potters Cove waiting to go to Block island and Tiverton Cove waiting to go to the Cape. My dad kept his boat at the Taunton Yacht club. I'm talking 50 years ago!!

 

[Familyguy]

Generally, Engine and trim tabs all down unless you are in a flowing sea.

 

[Remedy2]

Has anyone found the sweet spot between engine tilt, trim tabs and speed to smooth out 3-5 or 4-6 foot swell with chop. Pretty rough ride at 8.5 knots on our R23. One observation. With hard chime, boat is very stable in beam seas. We are in ocean just off Newport RI and Sakonnet, RI in our R-23, Toot Suite. Thanks.


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I have a C24- very similar to your boat. As someone said, engine and tabs all the way down. But 4-6 ft the only sweet spot is at the dock LOL.

 

[Brian98133]

Agreed... engine trimmed all the way down. But can you clarify the trim tabs? All the way 'down' to me means the tabs are pushed down into the water, in turn pushing the bow down.

I normally keep my tabs flat/neutral (or as I would call "up") until I need them, such as leveling and/or to minimize porpoising for comfort. Other than that, they seem to lessen the economy of the hull by creating more drag.

Maybe I've been calling them wrong all these years :mrgreen:

 

[Salish Seaker]

Perfectly timed post. We just finished an 88.8 mile trip from LaConner to Tacoma yesterday. The conditions were far from ideal, I would describe as pretty lumpy. Wind was probably 10-15 knots in strong currents causing considerable chop, mostly 2-3 footers. Our most consistent speed was about 20-22 mph @ 4300-4400 rpm. The R-23 handled it well. In the rougher areas with 3+ footers wind against current, we did take water over the bow several times but the boat kept moving along with very minimal pounding and mostly soft landings. We were able to stay on plane the whole time, the slowest around 17mph. This was our lumpiest water conditions in 2+ seasons on Island Time and we had 100% confidence in how she handled the conditions. If we were boating in the same conditions in our beloved 22' C-Dory, our speed would have dropped down to probably 10-12 knots and the trip would have taken at least an hour longer with considerable pounding.

Conclusion: we are very happy with how the boat handles in choppy, windy conditions. And yes, trim tabs almost all the way down and engine trim down but not fully down. Sounds like our conditions were not nearly as bad as you just experienced. Lumpy but not scary.

 

[nboyer]

What you want is to ride into the on-coming wave, not over it. This is why a semi-displacement or full displacement hull is smoother in rougher waters. If the wave is large enough, you will have to deploy the motor trim in the fully down position (actually I do this regardless of the wave height), as well as, deploy the trim tabs down to varying degrees and even perhaps fully down. You do lose efficiency, but you'll have to choose if you want a more comfortable ride or better fuel efficiency. You have to get a feel for the situation on your boat and go from there. We usually put our overnight luggages and other extended stay items in the v-berth area to help balance out the weight a little. Too much stuff in the lazarettes and cave can cause a weight imbalance, at least on our R-23. The imbalance will make it harder to trim the bow down. Cheers! -Norm

 

[skiphoyt]

Agreed... engine trimmed all the way down. But can you clarify the trim tabs? All the way 'down' to me means the tabs are pushed down into the water, in turn pushing the bow down.

I normally keep my tabs flat/neutral (or as I would call "up") until I need them, such as leveling and/or to minimize porpoising for comfort. Other than that, they seem to lessen the economy of the hull by creating more drag.

Maybe I've been calling them wrong all these years :mrgreen:

I agree on confused with up or down in the comments. Down to me means ‘extended’. Is this what I should try in rough conditions? Thx

 

[cwalden]

Thank you ALL for your extremely helpful comments and advice. I will experiment and report back on my observations. I obviously have not quite found the best settings, yet. Have a good day and safe, safe boating. One safe for COVID and one safe for passages.


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[Familyguy]

Sorry for the late reply. Yes ‘Down’ means extended. You are trying to force the bow into the water, thus plowing through the water which tends to smooth out the ride. Yes not as efficient and you will go through more fuel but you will save on dentistry by not knocking your filling out 😀