Topic: 1998 jaguar

Participant

I have a 2001 Jaguar, Merc 250XB, 26 Trophy 4 Blade, and hydarulic jackplate on it so our boats are likely very similar. I will assume the 250 offshore provides at or near the performance of my XB so things make sense (BCB stop me here if this is an incorrect assumption). Like you I had serious concerns when I first got it and was learning how to drive. I had previously owned a Pantera II with a 200 Mariner Mag which ran pretty well, but nothing like the Jag/250XB. I now consider my old Pantera II / 200 setup as a cream puff – smooth & easy to drive. You could eat a sandwich while driving the boat at 65-68mph with your knees holding the wheel steady with no big concerns (not that I am recommending that 🙂 Fast forward to the first trip out in the Jag. I thought, I can drive this thing no problem – only 50 more horsepower right?…………Wrong. That thing scared the crap out of me the first time I opened it up. I admit I had never drove a truly fast boat (fast = breaking 80mph and driving through lots of torque to get there) but I had no idea what I was in for. I had drove many boats at 68~73mph comfortably, but this was a different story. Just like you, my confusion was compounded by the hydrauulic jackplate because I didnt trust that it was setup right in the first place. With that hyd plate you dont get that “basline” setup that you normally get with a well setup boat and a manual plate. You have to learn how to set it up and get her up to speed. My first few trips out sound similar to yours – the Jag had a pretty wild kick (would kick hard right at the transom) at about the mid to upper 60s that was hard for me to mentally get past. I had no idea what was wrong – felt like something was bad loose to me. I checked that every bolt on the plate & motor was tight and they were. I could barely get past the 5000 rpm mark and things got hairy. Looking back I hardly remember it, but at the time I thought to myself “this aint my cup of tea, somethings gotta be wrong”. Just like you I questioned every bit of the setup. Now that the boat and I have learned to get along its all good as it now frequently clicks past 80mph with no trouble. I can drive it almost as easily as I used to drive the old PII, although Id never try that knee-driving, sandwich eating trick with this one! Here is a snapshot of how I get to speed, maybe it will give you some ideas. Step 1 – forget you even have a hydralulic jackplate at this point, you arent ready to fool with it yet. I set the hydraulic jackplate to a level that I thought was near the correct setup that would provide good water pressure (BCB suggested the starting point as far as distance from propshaft to pad – mines around 3.75″ below) and left it alone. You can mess with it later to tweak in the final few mphs out of your rig. In my opinion its biggest benefit is allowing you to get back in skinny water easily and then return to your normal running setup when back out in the main lake. A hydraulic jackplate is not the “secret to success” to gaining speed on this rig and I think BCB will agree with me on that one. Step 2, getting up to speed. As for trim / throttle I keep it trimmed down nearly all the way (bump just a little as you go to free up the hull) as it nears 60mph. Since that motor will get you to 60 so quick it is irrelevant anyway. One of my biggest problems at first was wanting to trim it too much too quickly – you dont have too. Heck, that boat / motor will probably run nearly 68mph with it trimmed all the way down and be pretty darn stable. As you approach the spot where it wants to wiggle keep it trimmed down and feed the throttle until you pass that spot while applying steady pressure to the wheel against the steering torque. Start feeding trim slowly at the same time you feed in throttle until you clear about 5200rpms – you should be around 70 now. Things happen pretty quick from here so be ready. Continue to feed it throttle and trim it all the way up – you will get some serious bow lift at this point with a stout motor (assuming similar to my XB). Once here, bump the trim down two clicks (about a second or two each) and hold it to the floor -you should now be around the 6000~6100 rpm mark (mine tops out at about 6100) and hovering around the 80~82mph mark depending on how your loaded and propped. Make sure you are holding good water pressure at speed and be safe. Things will get much easier with practice, alot is just having confidence in the setup you are starting with. I would best describe the Jag / 250 XB combo as “rowdy” – the boat isnt just a 70mph boat with a little more on top. You dont tweak it from 70 to 80mph – that boat / motor wants to go 80mph and it wants to get there quick. As I said, with the strength and torque of that motor the midrange screams by and you better be on your game to handle it. It will become second nature soon enough though, just be safe learning. Once up to speed and running the boat really doesnt require too much steering input to hold it there. It will drive fairly calmly – you wont be cadillacin, but it will feel comfortable. Be aware though, at those speeds things happen very quickly. I honestly dont recommend maxing it out too much unless you just want to distance yourself from the pack at blastoff then back off to run in the mid 70s and hold your distance from everyone until you get to your spot. I will admit, that although not necessary from a fishing perspective, it is sometimes cool to be able to run with the ever present “my boats faster than your boat” guy that never fails to show up at every local tournament. Remember, BCBs are total performance bass boats not just born and bred “go fast boats” with a trolling motor on them. I love mine and will have a hard time parting with it. Sorry so long, maybe something in this rambling will help……Last edited by basscat brett on March 9th, 2009, 3:14 am, edited 1 time in total.