I have said for years that my 2002 Fiesta Vee with the Merc 5.0 MPI was severely underpowered. It's been that way from day one and in spite of 3 different props, and experimenting with rebuilds of props with tweaks both in shape, size and pitch, it's always been a dissapointing boat with regard to the hole shot. It seems I could either opt for the good hole shot and overbearing rpm cruise, or reasonable rpm's and a struggle with the shot.
Don't get me wrong, buying the rinker was the best boat purchase I could have made, and have been thrilled with it and with rinker... but dang, why did I end up with the power configuration I had. It's been a sore point now for 8 years.
Today I just received my 4 blade prop back from the rebuild shop and something just wasn't right this time. How about I couldn't get on plane no matter how hard I tried and how much weight I put in the cabin. I went back to my prop shop and told them I had "had it" with props and fighting this Rinker and it's power. It was probably the only time a complaint got me somewhere... I told the shop owner I'd go for just about anything now that would fix my power problems. Least I expect it, he handed me a $490.00 stainless Steel ThunderBolt 3 blade prop from Mercury Marine. I've never bought a $500.00 prop before and this wasn't to be my first time either, but he gave it to me and said to "demo" it and bring back the prop or the money, whichever I decide.
I installed this prop. It was a 15.8 diameter prop with a 15 pitch. I'll get the model number for any that ask, but it is a huge prop. The Zinc plate had to come off to fit it (Ill deal with how to get around this later). Why...??? Because frankly I have to keep this prop. It's a bondafide miracle prop for this boat. How about the same boat that would struggle with a full tank of gas, or coudn't come up on plane with a passenger in the back, or the boat that needed full tilt and full trim and full power and a bit of luck to get on plane after straining at that balancing point where the boat drops down on top of the water... Yep.. thats normal but no more. This visually huge prop that barely fits on the Alpha Drive took me out of the water and put me on top in a few seconds.. maybe 6 or 7 and it didn't bog down trying. I was excited beyond my imagination with this! I tried it again and asked my passengers to sit at the transom.. a feat never before accomplished with a full tank of gas. Trimmed it out, gave it gas and was again on top of the water in maybe a second or two longer. I tried it again and again .. over and over.. Every time, perfect hole shot and perfect plane RPM's... cruising comfortably at about 3700 rpms.
I took the test a step further. I reconnected my GPS/Fuel navigation and consumption components and checked for economy. I gained a 20% fuel mileage boost with a good bit of tinkering with my tilt/trim to find the sweet spot. Right at 2.55 Miles per gallon of gas and that's excellent.. the best I've ever had on plane.
I realized this prop was a "dream come true" for my Rinker and was already thrilled beyond the point of pure satisfaction, so I did one more test. I tried a hole shot, full tank, 270lbs of passenger on the transom seat, and zero help in tilt or trim tabs for lift. There's no way this boat would plane I assumed. Well, 7 or 8 seconds later I was full up on top and never even sensed that straining point that is a make/break point on the hole shot to the top. THis boat came up on the water and with reserve to handle more.
I wanted to share this with you folks because the hole shot has been a boating problem for me with really every boat I've ever owned except for one. The economy of the basic drive package with the basic model has always been my price point and it usually leaves something to be desired in hole shot performance with heavy boats. But my Rinker comes out of the hole now as good as any boat out there, and even better than most.
I have tried just about every prop there was recommended for this boat and this 15.8 x 15Pitch Thunderbolt stainless prop wasn't even on the radar for suggested props, but it did my boat justice, even better than what I think the good folks at Rinker might have imagined for this power/boat combo. I need to get the exact model number of this prop for anyone that now wants to check it out because I did try a large prop before and the boat would bog down a good shot before breaking to topside with a large blade prop, so I had no expectation from the demo that this prop would work, but it does... and if you are having any kind of hole shot or uneasy readings on your RPM's at cruise, you need to "demo" this prop because it defies all the recommendations for this boat/engine/drive combination.
If you should need this info before I get back here with the model number, find me at the formmail at my workplace
www.streetglo.net and use Attn: Bill in the subject and I'll get it. I show the prop data at R15.8x15P but this doesn't look up in an internet search. By the weekend I'll go pay for this prop and will get the actual manufacturer product code off the box. You should buy this prop by that number, not just matching the 15.8x15 specs because there is something about this prop that is more to it than just size/pitch.
Hope I have helped someone.
A newly excited Fiesta Vee boater!
Bill
