I put together a .21 Seaducer SD3 this summer but I'm have a big problem getting it un-stuck from the water. I know the built in hook in the bottom is designed to keep the hull in the water but what I have is way too far stuck. The hull contacts the water hard from about 4 inches back from the nose. I've put a 3 to 4 degrees of up angle on the strut to try to lift the nose but it does not totally fix the problem. The nose is so stuck that the back end wants to fish tail badly when the boat slows in the corners. It will hook very quickly if I hold the rudder steady in the corners. I have to pulse the rudder to keep the boat from hooking.
I did a temporary test on shifting the CG by strapping a 6 oz fuel tank to the top of the radio box. This moved the CG quite a bit and the nose came up to where I think it should be. However, the sloshing fuel was so high on the forward-aft CG that the boat got very unstable rocking back and forth and wouldn't stop till it rolled over.
I've seen the SD3's run well but only at near sea level. I'm working at 3700 ft here so we don't get the aerodyamic lift in hulls as at sealevel. I ran into a fellow at the Colorado Nats and he said he had the same problem with the hull, it was too stuck at their 5000 ft altitude.
I've built the boat according to plans but no CG is supplied. To move the CG back, I can build a custom tank and mount it under a revised radio box. I don't want to spend a lot of time doing that if that puts the CG back too far. I suppose I could correct a nose high attitude with ride plates but that would be departing quite a bit from the original design.
I shortened the rudder about 1/4 inch from the plans to allow the nose to ride up. It still had plenty of turn capablity still but I don't want to get too carried away as I think the boat is more sensitive to CG than the rudder length.
Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.
I did a temporary test on shifting the CG by strapping a 6 oz fuel tank to the top of the radio box. This moved the CG quite a bit and the nose came up to where I think it should be. However, the sloshing fuel was so high on the forward-aft CG that the boat got very unstable rocking back and forth and wouldn't stop till it rolled over.
I've seen the SD3's run well but only at near sea level. I'm working at 3700 ft here so we don't get the aerodyamic lift in hulls as at sealevel. I ran into a fellow at the Colorado Nats and he said he had the same problem with the hull, it was too stuck at their 5000 ft altitude.
I've built the boat according to plans but no CG is supplied. To move the CG back, I can build a custom tank and mount it under a revised radio box. I don't want to spend a lot of time doing that if that puts the CG back too far. I suppose I could correct a nose high attitude with ride plates but that would be departing quite a bit from the original design.
I shortened the rudder about 1/4 inch from the plans to allow the nose to ride up. It still had plenty of turn capablity still but I don't want to get too carried away as I think the boat is more sensitive to CG than the rudder length.
Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.