265 handling dialed in

[Lefty]

This is for anyone out there new to the 265 Express like me. Just thought I'd share with you all just another reason why we all love to get out on the water. I just got back from a day running offshore and in the bays near Newport, RI. Conditions ranged from ripples near the marina to a short sharp 2-3 foot chop in the bay, to fairly steep 3-5 foot swells offshore. Blue skies overhead, nice warm breeze, and two ox66 225's making that crazy whine out back. I had been struggling a bit with getting the feel for this hull - trying to get too fancy with the tabs, neglecting to use cargo and passengers to properly balance the boat. Finally just nailed it this week - and I was left extremely impressed with this boat's capability. Got the boat balanced, left the tabs alone, and trimmed the motors to 2 bars running at 3800-4000 rpm. You could just feel it when the boat hit that sweet spot. Running into a head sea in the bay she just cut right through it - 27 knts with no pound, no effort. Slowed down a bit offshore, but again, what a blast. This boat could handle WAY more seas than I will ever go out in. Offshore we encountered head, beam, quartering, and following seas, and the boat displayed very benign handling. No doubt, this is a hull you have to figure out, get the hang of, but when you do, it is awesome. Thanks to all those who have posted regarding the handling characteristics of the 265 - your tips are greatly appreciated.

 

[Lew]

Great going ! I too had a learning curve with my 24 voyager -it took me a few weeks of running under different sea conditions to figure it out. My main problem was fooling around too much with the trim tabs -constantly adjusting them and not paying more attention to motor trim and angle of attach hitting the chop. White Cloud came out with me and suggested that sometime s going faster is smoother-so after my trip to Maine I feel I have much better feel for steering the deep v hulls and I am very impressed with their comfort and sea-worthiness. Lew

 

[jekyl]

Sounds like you've got it Nailed! I'm hoping to get out this weekend.........

 

[Lefty]

Jekyl,

Is yours the blue hull from down under? Beautiful boat. From reading your posts and some others', I adjusted the way I was running the boat to great results. For the last 20 years, I was running a Mako 22 ft CC with a pretty flat modified v hull. Pretty big change going to a deep v hull (our 265 is a 2000) with twin engines. The Mako probably weighs half the 265, no trim tabs, but a nice boat, easy to handle. I'm not accustomed to being able to run hard through heavy chop without backing off - I love it. But the "rock and roll" of the hull had me really spooked. I think my biggest mistake was over using the trim tabs - I did not realize how sensitive the hull was to tab usage. Again, thanks for your posts and others, they made my learning curve much shorter. Hope you had a great weekend on the water - winter down there, isn't it?

 

[jekyl]

G'day Lefty, no the beautiful Blue boat you have seen is Tom's "Gradyfish". She certainly is a looker.

Tom helped me with mine when I got her . He knows them Stem-Stern. There are some real 265 fanatics on here who really appreciate the fishing features and responsive handling of this model. Yours is the same year as mine and they have 22deg deadrise at the transom whereas the 2003 on had 20 deg. Hence ours are a little more sensitive to lateral trim but potentially ride a little better. I came from a 26 deg deadrise Aussie hull which was even more tender so don't really find it a problem. As you have found once you realise how quickly she responds to the tabs and just get those motors trimmed first then it's really quite simple. Happy times.

 

[mronzo]

It's a great boat! I've had my '00 265 since '03 and I think
it's one of, if not the best 26' cabin boats out there!
As I've said here before it's a Captains boat!
It takes practice in different conditions to get it down.
When you "dial in" the 265 it hauls ass!

 

[Enough Already]

Great feedback and you are spot on. I have a 2001 265 w/twin 225 OX66 motors. Purchased used with 90 hours in 2003. Took me several years (not that hard, just too limited boat time) to figure out most of the handling characteristics of this boat. Trim tabs - very limited use needed, slow speed wandering - wide/flat beam, careful with slow speed and following seas, etc. My biggest and best surprise was trimming up the motors to find the best running profile and optimum fuel conservation. Once you have it all "dialed in", this boat is an incredible ride. This forum is a great shortcut to the learning process.