Strut depth vs. Shaft Angle

[tharmer]

Let's say you you have a hydro with a strut depth of 1" and a fixed shaft with an angle of 9 degrees.

You lower the strut to 1 1/8" and move the motor far enough forward to keep the shaft angle at 9 degrees.

Does the boat behavior change? How?

-terry

[icelert]

On a scale hydro it will always want to run with the floor of the hull parallel to the water. You adjust strut depth to make it do just that.
If the strut is too deep, then the transom will raise up and the sponsons will be "wet" or in full contact with the water. The nose will be pointed down and the boat will be noticebly slower. As little as a 1/16th of an inch in strut depth can make a big difference in performance.
If the strut is too shallow the boat will look like it's running uphill with the nose up and the transom buried in the water. The roostertail will be very small because the surface riding prop is almost completely submerged.
On my boats I don't worry to much about where the motor ends up as much as I do about getting the strut depth to its proper heighth and around a 6 degree driveshaft angle. As long as you have room to shift your batteries around, the engine placement combined with the batteries will determine your center of gravity which on a scale hydro is around an inch behind the transom. Hope this helps.

[tharmer]

It does. Thanks.
-t