Boat prop question 2003 Captiva 212 5.0

[Dirt Racer]

Thanks in advance, new to forum and Rinker boats. I have a 2003 Rinker Captiva 212 with a 5.0L and 1.62 outboard gears. We mostly pull tubes and small water skiiers (no one over 185 #) and seldom have more than four in the boat. I am not looking to try and go super fast, most interested in good holeshot and acceleration,with good lift..  something super smooth in a stainless steel. I called Rinker and Randy Rinker said a 14 1/14 21 pitch is recommended, or perhaps a 14 1/2 19 pitch.. I think a 19 pitch revolution 4 (unsure of what dia.) or a mirage plus would be a good chioce? I would love some advice here, these suckers are costly and I have no way to try a few and pick the favorite. I'm just doubtful a 21 pitch is going to pull skiers and tubes very well. I presently have a 17 pitch 15" dia. black max and it will do 42mph but runs the snot out of it, nearly 5k.. It does jump out of the hole but I need something to cruise easily and still have good holeshot and top end without maxing RPM.. In other words I want my cake and eat it too..

[nhsd]

I bought a 2002 212 Captiva with the carbed 5.0 engine this spring. It came with a 14.25 x 21 pitch stainless 3 blade (seems to be a Precision Propeller Turbo) and a 13.75 x 21 pitch stainless 3 blade (seems to be a Mercury Vengence) both in good shape, but older versions of the named props. I also have a 14 x 20 pitch Mercury Alpha 4 (4 blade) aluminum and a 14.5 by 18 pitch 4 blade Michigan aluminum prop.

I think that the 14.25 x 21 prop seems just a little too big for even lighter loads. The 13.75 x 21 and the 14 x 20 both work quite well for 1 to 3 people and will certainly pull a tube if needed. Either of these are good as my daily use prop (I am using the Alpha 4 as it has a replaceable hub and is aluminum and that makes me feel better than a stainless prop with a permanent hub). However, when I had several people in the boat and was pulling a tube, I was better off with the 14.5 x 18 4 blade prop.

Hope this helps more than confuses 

Dave Hall

[Dirt Racer]

Dave, Thanks for the reply. Can you share some speed information? such as: top end speed and what RPM a 21 pitch would run.

Thanks so much appreciate the help

Clint

[nhsd]

Dave, Thanks for the reply. Can you share some speed information? such as: top end speed and what RPM a 21 pitch would run.

Thanks so much appreciate the help

Clint

Well, as to top end speed, I guess that would depend on whether you believe what a boat speedometer or tachometer says  I do not have a GPS and have never tried to borrow one for this boat. The speedo says that at WOT with just me and my brother on the boat the 13.75 x 21 stainless was doing about 46 mph and about 4600 RPM and the 14 x 20 4 blade aluminum was doing about 48 mph and about 4700 RPM. The seat-o-meter would say that they were both in the low 50's for mph and I just have to accept what the tach says even though I know that they are unreliable. I really don't try to boat at WOT though so that is unimportant to me. Of more importance to me is the comfortable cruise speed and the effort to plane. I really do not see any difference in those between the 21 pitch stainless and the 20 pitch 4 blade. They both do a good job with lower load weights (up to maybe 4 people). However, they both struggle a bit when the weight gets high and with a lot of water sports. The 4 blade 20 pitch aluminum definitely outperform the 21 pitch stainless in those situations. However, If I know I am going to be doing a lot of boating with a bunch of people or a lot of tubing I will put on the 18 pitch blade. The 18 will go past 5000 RPM with just a couple of people on board and I have never tried to check WOT speed with it. I would like to try a 19 or 21 pitch High 5 some day, but the cost for these new is just too much for me. I will be using the 14 x 20 4 blade for everyday use at this point.

[Dirt Racer]

Dave, I appreciate your time to reply. I found my speedometer to be 3 to 4 mph higher than GPS and my tach is fairly unreliable as well... I just want to have great holeshot and not run a gazillion RPM when I cruise 30 to 35 Mph. I rarely run wide open but I think 48-50mph should be do-able in this boat and still have good acceleration. I guess I will just have to spend the money and try a 19 pitch revolution four or a mirage plus and then hope i didn't flush 600$ down the lake.. Thanks again

Clint

P.S. If anybody has traded a boat like this (up-sized or something) and happens to have one please let me know  (as long as it was used lovingly) Thanks