joe b
depth tester
- Location
- northfield, nj
Thanks for the great review!!!! This hull still has me curious and would like to try one.
BOB Review
- Thread starter Ross_C
- Start date
How do you think the BOB compared to the Q8? I know you can only really comment on flat water use but it would still be a good comparison. Obviously, the Q8 is almost twice the price but I'm curious to know how the BOB compares to another reputable hull manufacturer like EME.
sjetrider
615 Freeriders are addicted to T1 madness.
- Location
- in the 615 (Nashville)
Great info and pretty much exactly what I expected to hear. Purpose built hull and thats how they have portrayed it for the most part. Prolly a fun second hull for flatwater flipping on a budget.
- Location
- South Florida
I'm not 100 percent sure the bulb on the bottom is the problem. I agree with the handling characteristics you described, but the stunt hull does the same things and it has no bulb. Maybe it is a result of a wide short hull? Both hulls will throw you off unexpectedly at high speeds. Its like they catch an edge on one of the sides and dig in. It doesn't make them unrideable but it will affect your ability to chase boats down. Luckily, with enough motor you don't need boat wakes to have fun. But it still stings a little bit to see a nice boat go by and know that you can't go get it.
Tkmww
Tanner M.
- Location
- Jacksonville, Fl
Nice! Ill be sticking with the SJ since surf is what I like!
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Reminds me of the death wobbles we would get on our 550's. Tearing across the lake at WOT and then the ski would just start leaning over..............and there was rarely a chance to stop it............splat splatter splosh.........
Hmmmmmmmmm 550's has really small hulls compaired to todays ski's............. Wait, FX1's will do this also................. Like stepping on owl chit.................. slip zeeeeeeeeeeeeeee....
Maybe just maybe it is because it is a really short hull.
- Location
- South Florida
Maybe the combination of short and wide.
i have never noticed this on fx-1s. i have never ridden a 550 but i have experienced the tubbie terror:scared:
- Location
- Del Mar, CA
Rode the superjet in the surf today for the first time since putting it up for sale a while back. I've got to say that my ride today further reinforced my thinking up to this point. The SJ is by no means perfect...but I certainly had a fun ride this morning.
With regard to one of the questions above, I can't really make a fair comparison to the EME. The boat I rode was Eric's personal boat and was way too much power than I knew what to do with. And really, what I need a boat to do does not really have much to do with freestyle. The basic aerial tricks are the easiest part of riding well in the surf. Basic roll and flip variations can be done with any boat provided you have the surf. So what I really focused on when riding his boat, and the BOB for the first time was how they turned. For sure any of these small hulls will flip quickly...
And Mcdog...
I don't know that all of the problems arise from the bulb in the front, but it certainly does act like a fin on the front of the boat when it is placed under pressure like when headed down the face of a wave and that will cause the front to be pulled one way or another. The abrupt upswept nose on the stunt may cause the same type of handling characteristics off throttle...as everyone on here knows all standups have some issues with off throttle stability. But again, just my opinion...and I have never ridden one. I think I would like to see a hull with a gentle rocker shaped in to the nose as opposed to an abrupt upswept front.
And as to the question of other aftermarket hulls, I forgot about the carbon hull from Jetmotion in Argentina that I rode last time I was down there. Basically just a copy of an 08 SJ, but it worked well.
With regard to one of the questions above, I can't really make a fair comparison to the EME. The boat I rode was Eric's personal boat and was way too much power than I knew what to do with. And really, what I need a boat to do does not really have much to do with freestyle. The basic aerial tricks are the easiest part of riding well in the surf. Basic roll and flip variations can be done with any boat provided you have the surf. So what I really focused on when riding his boat, and the BOB for the first time was how they turned. For sure any of these small hulls will flip quickly...
And Mcdog...
I don't know that all of the problems arise from the bulb in the front, but it certainly does act like a fin on the front of the boat when it is placed under pressure like when headed down the face of a wave and that will cause the front to be pulled one way or another. The abrupt upswept nose on the stunt may cause the same type of handling characteristics off throttle...as everyone on here knows all standups have some issues with off throttle stability. But again, just my opinion...and I have never ridden one. I think I would like to see a hull with a gentle rocker shaped in to the nose as opposed to an abrupt upswept front.
And as to the question of other aftermarket hulls, I forgot about the carbon hull from Jetmotion in Argentina that I rode last time I was down there. Basically just a copy of an 08 SJ, but it worked well.
- Location
- Del Mar, CA
This past weekend I rode a 550 out at the river also, and rode an FX1 for a little bit on Wednesday. The BOB certainly turned better than that 550...but the stability issues are just different. Mine may be worse because I have weight farther forward, and we will see what happens with the motor back. When you want to turn BOB hard in the surf or on the flat, it does it pretty well. It is the in between stuff carrying some speed where it has problems, or when the front is under lots of pressure like off throttle or headed down the face of a wave, jumping off a section in to the flat, trying to bottom turn, etc...
- Location
- Rincon Beach
and after riding my FX-1 Wed, Ross was happy to get his Bob back
Big Kahuna
Administrator
- Location
- Tuscaloosa, AL
Dont you know Ross started out rocking and FX1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Location
- Cheney lake Kansas
great write up Ross ..
My experience with my stunt hull and the off throttle throw over the bars , as well as the high speed wobble . was that I was running a too aggressive intake grate. I think BK told me to switch it out to a less aggressive grate ... I put in a cheap stock two bar plastic grate, and that really changed the ride no more pitching me over the bars. and I could reach alot higher speeds . Hopefully this will help you a little bit aswell , I realize the hulls are very different and this solution may not work for you , but its a quick and easy to try .
look forward to hearing more updates !
My experience with my stunt hull and the off throttle throw over the bars , as well as the high speed wobble . was that I was running a too aggressive intake grate. I think BK told me to switch it out to a less aggressive grate ... I put in a cheap stock two bar plastic grate, and that really changed the ride no more pitching me over the bars. and I could reach alot higher speeds . Hopefully this will help you a little bit aswell , I realize the hulls are very different and this solution may not work for you , but its a quick and easy to try .
look forward to hearing more updates !
- Location
- Raleigh NC\Lake Jordan
Well its a big differance than a normal shortened sj hull. Yours is probably -3 right? Stunt hull and BOB are I think 10"-12" shorter.
Im going along with mcdog on the short and wide theory
biggrin
KR
www.krlines.com
- Location
- San Diego, California
Mark Gomez
is where the surf is
- Location
- Fullerton, CA
Good stuff, all of Ross's points are totally reasonable and valid from experience. A few friends including myself were around in Oceanside during Ross BOB testing, It is ALOT of fun for a flip boat and I most certainly look forward to some modifications to the hull so it can improve that much more. Bottom line its a challenging (for now) but super fun hull.
I hope the comparison of the BOB hull to the stunt is acceptable in thread but I think it's a similar platform and I want to help anyone who is thinking of buying a BOB hull... I've ridden both the stunt hull and mcdog's BOB hull. They are both super fun hulls but right out of the box, they feel very purpose built ski's. However, after some tweaking they can be very capable of doing the big boy tricks IMO. However, I will say that these kind of hulls require a significant amount of customization to each rider. It's literally a balancing act to get everything you want out of these hulls but IT CAN BE DONE. When I got my stunt hull it was very difficult to ride in even flat water. So far, I've change intake grates, cut the ride plate, changed the turn plate and bars, angled the nozzle, changed the foothold positions, and I'm sure a few other things that I can't think of right now. I've basically got my stunt hull 95% perfect but I'm debating tubbies or a bulb like the BOB hull to get that last little bit so I can have the best of both worlds.
The only thing that I think these hulls won't do is scream across the water like a SJ. I could casually cruise towards where I wanted to go at 20-30mph in a SJ. These hulls won't really do that, they're just too short and they don't track very well... at least in it's current configuration. Think of it like a canoe vs a kayak. The canoe tracks very well and can turn quickly. A kayak will turn even quicker and can track well once accustomed to but if you stop paddling, you're going to spin. With the right modifications, you can make either perform like the other but it takes some trial and error.
The only thing that I think these hulls won't do is scream across the water like a SJ. I could casually cruise towards where I wanted to go at 20-30mph in a SJ. These hulls won't really do that, they're just too short and they don't track very well... at least in it's current configuration. Think of it like a canoe vs a kayak. The canoe tracks very well and can turn quickly. A kayak will turn even quicker and can track well once accustomed to but if you stop paddling, you're going to spin. With the right modifications, you can make either perform like the other but it takes some trial and error.