Fixing the BJ26 Handling Issues

[PropNutt43]

The main purpose of this thread is to help owners of the BJ26 deal with the poor handling the boat has out of the box and to provide a thread where everyone can post what mods they have done to improve their boats handling. I will now list and discuss what I have learned here on the forums and done to make my boat handle much better.

First, the problems with the stock setup:

The turn fins are set up like on a mono hull and cause the boat to list or roll over when turning.

The batteries and brushless esc are too high off the bottom of the hull which adds to the listing by making the boat too top heavy.

The steerable drive system actually accentuates the listing by pushing the boat over on it's side when attempting to turn sharply resulting in flipping the boat over.


Fixing the stock setup:

The turn fins:

I have tried the BJ26 both with the fins on in the stock position and with the fins off the boat. With them off, the boat turned better but felt too loose on the water and it still flipped over when making high speed turns and very low speed turns. The following mod has made the most positive affect on the handling of my boat out of all the mods I’ve made.

BJ angled turn fin 01.jpg BJ angled turn fin 02.jpg BJ angled turn fin 03.jpg BJ angled turn fins 04.jpg

The turn fins on outboard tunnel hulls, hydros and riggers are all angled to help suck down the inside sponson to keep the boat planted in the turns. The BJ26 turn fins need to be angled inward at the bottom to keep the boat from listing and keep it planted. As you can see in the pictures I have angled the fins to match the lower part of the outside of the hull. I have also raised the fins using the upper mounting hole for the lower mounting point and then leaning the fin over to get the right angle. This leaves about ¾ to 1 inch of the fin below the bottom of the hull. This has worked great on my boat but you may need more angle depending on your setup especially if you are using the stock drive. Note it is important to shorten the amount of fin that’s in the water or the boat will shimmy in the turns on it's fins. Also you will need to move the center of gravity about 1 inch further back in the boat to get the full benefits of this mod.