Laid Back Boaters

As I can see this will probably be an interesting discussion I thought I would start a new thread.

Let me see if I understand the theory behind a droop exit housing. I get how the housing being a little longer gives the pump more leverage. But with it dropping down a couple inches first, then extends straight back, wouldnt that cause extra drag being below the hull? I mean it seems like the housing would be touching the water instead of just hanging off the back.

Not at all if you ever go to back of your boat and look at your pump your jet drive isnt even in the water in most cases. when the water comes out its obove the water line and the droop will lower your water line closer to the lake water and on your take off your stream will be lower in the water on take off till you get planed off.Then it should be just a little higher the the lake water ,if you see what im taking about and with that being said it will lift your boat higher off the water like the pic. you see of cas boat more speed

Yes but that is one of the things the ride plate will somewhat eliminate. With adding the droop, you can then add a longer ride plate which will also help lift the boat some. The droop itself lowers the thrust line which also helps lift the transom. COombining the 2 will give the boat a whole different feel along with cutting down the wetted surface meaning less friction which in turn should give a bit more speed.

much better said thanks cas

OK, I see, I see what you mean, by being a little deeper initially, and longer (better leverage) it would help the nose push straight to plane instead of, the bow rise, then plane most boats do. Now the native or actual angle of the droop in relation to the transom seems like it would be very important as well. Here again I can see the ride plate able to make up a little. It sounds like the adjustable trim nozzle would be a must. I wonder if it would make the boat twitchier?

Twitchier? what the hell is that?
The idea is to set the nozzle angle to get the straightest flow of water through the pump and out. The way you do that is to use the diverter to to get about a 1' rooster or so. Once you find that position with the handle, don't move it until the boat is out of the water and you're able to measure it in relation to the bottom of the boat. That's the angle you will want the nozzle, measured at the top and bottom pins, to be at.
With the Berk style pumps it's easy to change that angle with the use of wedges. With the Panther, the nozzle will need to be cut off and and rewelded to the proper angle. With this droop, the same thing will need to be done at least with the cutting off and welding part. I really think the nozzle angle on it right now is too high and will need to be lower by a couple of degrees or so.
As far as the twitchier part, it may be a little more sensitive with the steering but usually at top speed. With the weight of the 21' Tahiti's, I really don't think it will be much of an issue.

OK, now you have me curious! I'll spend some time with my panthervator, so I can get a feel for it. Then at one of these LBBA get togethers. Bring that droop along. It would be interesting to see how it acts without and with a diverter mod to it. Did you ever run it on your old 21 footer? sounds like it is angled up to high at present, is that what you found? did it make any other improvements on your boat? the cutting and welding part is no problem. It would be kool to find another diverter exit housing, so I could just whack it off, mod it, then weld it to the droop!

Im going today to my buddys shop Morgan to help him setting up his new shop. I will see if he has another panther nozle so you can play around with it

You know I still have the droop if your ever down this way you can pick it up. Like Cas might have mentioned before it might need to be re-degreed at the nozzle just let me know it's in my storage unit since I can't really do any work on the boat with a bad leg yet.

OK, Scott. Kool finding another Panther modified exit might be a needle in a haystack though.


OK, thanks Kris. we'll see what happens here in the near future. I think it would be interesting to see the effect the droop has on a 21' boat, but I think it would be very interesting to see what effect and adjustable droop would have on a 21' boat.

I never tried it on my own 21 but did try it on someone else's. There wasn't much difference on that boat as far as speed goes cuz it only tached out at about 4400 rpms. I don't think it had enough oomph and gitty up to do much of anything. The owner did say that he felt a difference in the way the boat handled, it felt like it loosened up.
I think because of the angle of the nozzle, it's forcing the transom down more than it should so there wasn't any change in speed. On a 19 it was tried on, the boat gained a couple of mph's but again, I think the angle on the nozzle is just too far up to see any real gains.

So, for clarification, the fixed angle of the rear most point of the exit housing in relation to the bottom of the boat (on plane) is generally the best starting point. right? with that said, a diverter nozzle just gives you further tuneability of wetted area, bow-up, bow-down, & rooster correct? with the droop the added leverage (from length) and slightly lower exit point (relative to the transom) is kind of like pushing a heavy dresser across the carpet from the bottom versus the middle, so it would naturaly want to climb out of the water instead of just push through the water. Sorry if I seem to be over analyzing its function I'm just making sure I understand the design of the unit.

looks like you're thinking along the right lines!