I posted this in the No Wake Zone, but I can see now that was a mistake. This is a better forum for my question.

So here's a question I have: Why do some jet boat hulls use what appear (to me) to be cavitation plates? The Southwind tunnel dragster hulls come to mind immediately. Does it have to do with the shape of the hull on that model? Is it a drag race or circle track thing?

A guy down the street from my folks' house in Vegas has a bare hull in his yard, and it has plates like that, but it doesn't have the extended section off the back of the transom for the jet like the Southwinds do, so I'm pretty sure that it isn't a Southwind. What are some other brands besides Southwind have used that setup?

Just trying to learn some stuff.

Thanks

Hi, all:

I'm new to the forum, but I grew up with a boat in the family (a big, fat Glasspar tri-hull) and have been a long-time hot rodder and fan of hot rod boats. At 43, I'm seriously thinking about picking up my first jet boat for water skiing on the river and a couple local lakes, so I'm interested in hearing any and all opinions on various makes and models of boats out there. A buddy of mine had a Kona Makai for a lot of years, and he loved it. I've also heard good things about Coles and Sangers, but I honestly don't know which brands/models are worth considering over others. That said, I'll just throw out some dumb questions and hope that I get a few responses:

1) Are there any brands/hulls or hull types that I should AVOID? Are there certain ones that are widely regarded among the community as poorly constructed and thus not worth dumping money on? I've heard mention that a "full stringer" boat is better, and while I know what a stringer is, I don't know why a full stringer bottom would or wouldn't be better other than stiffness, durability?

2) Are there any jet pumps out there that I should avoid, due to reliability, lack of parts or other issues?

3) Ditto for motors? I see a lot of boats with 460 Ford and 455 Olds power as well as BB Chevy power, but not a lot of Mopar-powered boats.

4) Is there anything that I should really pay attention to that I'm not mentioning here?

I appreciate any opinions that anyone would care to offer. Like I said, I'm just trying to get a quick education here before I actually start going to look at some of the boats I've been spotting on craigslist and elsewhere. I guess I'm looking for a guru!

Cheers,

SR