Belly pans for sport hydro's ?

[riggerman]

Hi all over the years i have noticed some sport hydro's have belly pans while others do not. What is the purpose of a belly pan ? What is the determing factor for a sport hydro to have or not have a belly pan ? What are the pro's and con's of belly pans? Regards Andris Golts.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Belly pans are normally used to lower an engine so a cowl will fit over the top. Of course, per the rulebook, there are size and depth limitations that must be followed to prevent a pan from giving a boat a performance advantage. As far as pros and cons, it's more for minimizing the amount of cutting needed to a cowl than anything else

 

[Mark Stein]

It does allow for less shaft bend, marginally lower center of gravity. adds to the amount of air pack under the hull since its lower than the traps

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

My Sport 40 doesn't have a tunnel. Today's speeds there's really no reason to have them. A lot of guys eliminate the tunnel in the PT hulls to keep them more planted down.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

Samuel, how can a sport hydro not have a tunnel? The tunnel is the area between the sponsons/airtraps, hull bottom and the water

 

[Samuel Hagan JR]

Sorry I mean air traps. Mine doesnt have a belly pan. The bottom of mine is completely flat.

 

[Hydro Junkie]

It's okay, just wanted a clarification as to what you were talking about

 

[FloridaScaleBoater]

My Sport 40 doesn't have a tunnel. Today's speeds there's really no reason to have them. A lot of guys eliminate the tunnel in the PT hulls to keep them more planted down.

Actually the bottom mod done to the PT hulls eliminates the amount of nose rise in the center section, which in turn eliminates the amount of air "packed" under the hull.

This "Mod" came about originally to meet the NAMBA belly pan rules that have since been eliminated from the verbage of the rules.

The "mod" actually helped in the attitude of the hulls, and Phil has since changed his bottom mold to incorporate this change from the "factory"

 

[P THOMAS]

I did change the bottom to meet the rule. This took away some of the lift and we just ran the strut flatter and a bit deeper so the hull wasnt fighting a blow off condition. Made the boat better then they did away with the rule. My boat kind of has a belly pan, but I think it is a flat bottom boat with tunnels, cause the center section goes from nose to tail pretty much flat.

I agree belly pans are a fix for motor clearance problems or just to make the motor sit lower.

 

[Eric Bourlet]

Mutt 2 has it to get the motor lower and shallower shaft angle.