Jon boat with jet -- sliding in turns

[revo]

Hey folks. I went on a sea trial last night with a G3 1860 CCJ with a Yamaha jet. Nice boat. Not quite the boat the Sea Ark is, but an excellent boat when you factor in price.

One thing -- it really slid in turns. The salesman handled that thing like a pro through all the sliding. I took the helm and shee-whiz...I really had to work to turn it. In time, it'll click I'm sure. But is this normal? 

Is the sliding just the nature of the flat bottom/zero deadrise/jet tunnel/jet outboard combination? The price one pays for a shallow water running boat?

[30-06man]

Normal with flat bottomed boats and jet outboards. I haven't ran many jet outboards but from what I have seen its normal.

[revo]

OK. For a while there I was wondering if I was handling a hovercraft...   

I'm also looking at some hulls that have varying degrees of deadrise -- 3, 6, or 12 degrees -- and no jet tunnel. The G3 has zero and has a jet tunnel.

I'm guessing the zero degree hull is going to slide more than a slight V hull, but what shallow water ability am I giving up by going with a slight V and no tunnel?

My guess is maybe 2-3 inches more water that I'd need in a V vs a flat jet tunnel hull?

Or is it going to slide period with these very slight V hulls?

[GRIMJIM]

It would seem to me the more v you have the less sliding there will be but also the more depth you are going to need. If you are looking at flat bottom boats I think adding more v defeats the purpose. I think it's just a matter of you getting used to it, like the guy that took you out on the test drive.

[30-06man]

Adding weight to the front will help too especially with a V hull. It will always slide and there is nothing much you can do about it. If I was going to get another boat I would look at the Grizzly Boat from Tracker. Most of theirs has the slightest V Hull I can find and it would have less slide with weight up front but you can do the same with your current boat but it will still slide.

[aflineman]

Kind of like kicking the rear tires, out on a corner, on a gravel road. It is normal. Just have to take it easy and get used to it. Getting used to it, can make it harder to operate other boats. Others just don't seem to feel right.

[30-06man]

Slow down to speed up I guess you could say. If you go too fast with it you will spend all of your time correcting yourself. Also I would like to add to what aflineman said, all boats drive diffrent so no boat will feel the same.