TOPIC: I Have a Question About Transom Angles?

A freind of mine has a 1959 20 foot Skagit Espress cruiser that was originally an I/O, but has been converted to an outboard by cutting out a portion of the existing transom, reinforcing it and adding a splashwell. He did a beautiful job, but there may be a problem.

When he took it out for his first seatrial the bow pointed toward the sky and wouldn't come down until two of his crew members climbed up on the bow and sat there. He's thinking he need to put ballast in the bow, but I'm thinking he has a trim problem.

So I asked him "With the motor trimmed all the way in what is the angle of the motor relative to the keel?" He said "it's perpendicular" (flat up against the transom). I then asked him if he was aware that outboard motor boats have angled transoms? He said he never noticed that before. Oooops!

With this in mind what should the angle of the new transom be relative to the keel. It is currently perpendicular (90 degrees) to the keel. I am guessing it should be 100-110 degrees, which woulf then allow the motor to be trimmed up until optimum trim was discovered, but that is only a guess.

What do the experts say?

Beachboy

I'm no expert, but it sounds like a trim problem to me too. I've had a few boats with a straight angle transom so I don't think the transom will be an issue. However, they do make aluminum "wedges" that fit between the transom and motor to give you that little extra "tilt" for trim purposes. They are available for the specific brand/model outboard you have. Not sure where to check for them on the internet, but I've seen them at my local marine dealers.

google t&h transom wedges, cheap quick fix to add more trim angle

Beach
I can't point you to a diagram or link but a standard transom angle is approximately 100 to 102 deg's or 10-12 deg's from perpendicular.

lar