WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

2750 NuEra MCOB w/ Merc 565

ToMorrow44

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Update on the water testing. I just got back to the shop from the lake. I’m very happy to report that today the boat ran 85 MPH! In our opinion it is a very respectable number for an open bow and fully loaded with options and big stereo, it’s not a super light boat by any means. For the numbers people here are the current engine/RPM/speed stats: Mercury 565, ITS with standard bravo 1 (not sport master), stock 28 pitch Bravo1 propeller, 5263 RPM, 85 MPH.

I also did not hold it wide open for very long for 2 reasons; 1 I ran out of safe space, 2 it’s the second water test and I’d rather do that with the customer present giving me the ok to squeeze every last MPH out of it. With more prop testing and more water space I think it’ll run over 85 MPH.

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That’s an awesome number Chris! Just curious where you guys have the propshaft height set at? Boat looks perfect on the water.
 

lavey jr

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That’s an awesome number Chris! Just curious where you guys have the propshaft height set at? Boat looks perfect on the water.

Thanks Tom!
I don’t remember the exact dimension but eyeballing it, the prop shaft is about 3” bellow.
 

ToMorrow44

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Thanks Tom!
I don’t remember the exact dimension but eyeballing it, the prop shaft is about 3” bellow.
Nice. I’m sure with the ITS it pops right up on plane. Tow a tube at 15mph or make an 85mph blast 👍🏻 Super cool.
 

DarkHorseRacing

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New 2750 NuEra build is underway. This boat will be a mid cabin open bow powered by a Mercury Racing 565 and ITS.
It is the customers second Lavey. They owned the latest 24 NuEra open bow we built and decided to upgrade to a bigger boat with more power!

Hand drawing render provided by customer

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I have a couple questions for you guys:

1. I notice your hull has no pad, it's all V. Does that make a difference in the ride? Does the hull have a tendency to not ride flat when there is no pad (ie the hull requires trim tabs)?

2. Do you guys build any boats using composites such as Coosa instead of balsa? Or does that mess with your vacuum bag process?
 

lavey jr

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I have a couple questions for you guys:

1. I notice your hull has no pad, it's all V. Does that make a difference in the ride? Does the hull have a tendency to not ride flat when there is no pad (ie the hull requires trim tabs)?

2. Do you guys build any boats using composites such as Coosa instead of balsa? Or does that mess with your vacuum bag process?

1. You are correct. None of our boats have pads and they never will have pads. There’s many opinions and theories as to what the benefits of a pad is over a non pad boat. All of our boats ride very flat and best top speed is achieved with drive and tabs at the neutral position level with the bottom, which is in fact the most efficient position. The only times it will really require negative (down) tab input is in cruising speed the boat will lean slightly to the left due to the engine/prop torque but at higher speeds the bottom does its job and levels out, very rough and choppy water, and water sports pulling that need slow plane speeds. Arguably the biggest difference and benefit in a NON pad bottom like ours is the rough water ride. Our 2750 is a 24 degree bottom deadrise at the transom which progressively gets steeper at the bow to cut through the big water. Pad bottoms are generally in the 20-22 degree deadrise at the transom for a V bottom. With the full 24 degree bottom you will have a much smoother ride in the rough water because the steeper degree V the better it cuts through the rough, but you also don’t want to go too steep of degree.

2.Yes we actually use coosa in many of our boats. Coosa is really only best used for bulkheads and the transom, if both are done correctly. To best use them as bulkheads you actually have to put a full layer of fiberglass on both sides essentially like a sandwich in order to make it fully structured, not all manufacturers actually do that. To use it as transom material you have to have a way to fully draw the resin through the coosa. Either by having hundreds of holes in it for the resin to pass through or to have a strong vacuum like our vacuum bag machine. Only benefits to using it in the transom is a little lighter than wood and also you won’t ever have the chance of wood rot. But if you don’t have the resin fully pull through and saturate the coosa then you’ll just have a foam sponge instead of wood rot so basically the same situation. Wood transoms are actually stronger than a coosa transoms but each have trade offs but if done correctly the whole wood rot question does not apply, again if done right. Next thing on the topic is options. A lot of customers don’t want to pay the extra money for the coosa especially when we have no issues when using wood and balsa. Some people do and some people want the lighter weight. We will do anything a customer wants if it is within reason, quality products, safety, and strength. Also, the whole term of “composites” is throw around pretty loosely. By definition, all it means is, “made up of various parts or elements“ nowhere does it say wood cannot be used in that process. Technically basic super cheap plywood is a composite because it’s various elements to make the full sheet ie wood and glue/bonding agent. In the end, coosa is not the material that should replace balsa in the build process on the core material like deck, side, bottom. There’s different foam products for that.

I hope I’ve been detailed enough and answered all your questions! Thank you for the good questions!
 
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lavey jr

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Nice. I’m sure with the ITS it pops right up on plane. Tow a tube at 15mph or make an 85mph blast 👍🏻 Super cool.

I’d be interested to see what the top number on that boat would be in cold weather and a bigger/better prop!
 

DarkHorseRacing

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1. You are correct. None of our boats have pads and they never will have pads. There’s many opinions and theories as to what the benefits of a pad is over a non pad boat. All of our boats ride very flat and best top speed is achieved with drive and tabs at the neutral position level with the bottom, which is in fact the most efficient position. The only times it will really require negative (down) tab input is in cruising speed the boat will lean slightly to the left due to the engine/prop torque but at higher speeds the bottom does its job and levels out, very rough and choppy water, and water sports pulling that need slow plane speeds. Arguably the biggest difference and benefit in a NON pad bottom like ours is the rough water ride. Our 2750 is a 24 degree bottom deadrise at the transom which progressively gets steeper at the bow to cut through the big water. Pad bottoms are generally in the 20-22 degree deadrise at the transom for a V bottom. With the full 24 degree bottom you will have a much smoother ride in the rough water because the steeper degree V the better it cuts through the rough, but you also don’t want to go too steep of degree.

2.Yes we actually use coosa in many of our boats. Coosa is really only best used for bulkheads and the transom, if both are done correctly. To best use them as bulkheads you actually have to put a full layer of fiberglass on both sides essentially like a sandwich in order to make it fully structured, not all manufacturers actually do that. To use it as transom material you have to have a way to fully draw the resin through the coosa. Either by having hundreds of holes in it for the resin to pass through or to have a strong vacuum like our vacuum bag machine. Only benefits to using it in the transom is a little lighter than wood and also you won’t ever have the chance of wood rot. But if you don’t have the resin fully pull through and saturate the coosa then you’ll just have a foam sponge instead of wood rot so basically the same situation. Wood transoms are actually stronger than a coosa transoms but each have trade offs but if done correctly the whole wood rot question does not apply, again if done right. Next thing on the topic is options. A lot of customers don’t want to pay the extra money for the coosa especially when we have no issues when using wood and balsa. Some people do and some people want the lighter weight. We will do anything a customer wants if it is within reason, quality products, safety, and strength. Also, the whole term of “composites” is throw around pretty loosely. By definition, all it means is, “made up of various parts or elements“ nowhere does it say wood cannot be used in that process. Technically basic super cheap plywood is a composite because it’s various elements to make the full sheet ie wood and glue/bonding agent. In the end, coosa is not the material that should replace balsa in the build process on the core material like deck, side, bottom. There’s different foam products for that.

I hope I’ve been detailed enough and answered all your questions! Thank you for the good questions!

Thanks for your thorough and detailed response! I appreciate the information on the V-bottom theory. It sounds like you guys really focus on rough water performance, which is never a bad thing! Hell, at some lakes, it's the only thing! It's also good to get all opinions on going wood free in boats. Some manufacturer's tout it as an advantage while others keep on using it. It seems to your point, wood can be ok as long as its done right, as using a non-wood product and not doing that right can result in a similar condition down the road.
 

Lavey 29

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1. You are correct. None of our boats have pads and they never will have pads. There’s many opinions and theories as to what the benefits of a pad is over a non pad boat. All of our boats ride very flat and best top speed is achieved with drive and tabs at the neutral position level with the bottom, which is in fact the most efficient position. The only times it will really require negative (down) tab input is in cruising speed the boat will lean slightly to the left due to the engine/prop torque but at higher speeds the bottom does its job and levels out, very rough and choppy water, and water sports pulling that need slow plane speeds. Arguably the biggest difference and benefit in a NON pad bottom like ours is the rough water ride. Our 2750 is a 24 degree bottom deadrise at the transom which progressively gets steeper at the bow to cut through the big water. Pad bottoms are generally in the 20-22 degree deadrise at the transom for a V bottom. With the full 24 degree bottom you will have a much smoother ride in the rough water because the steeper degree V the better it cuts through the rough, but you also don’t want to go too steep of degree.

2.Yes we actually use coosa in many of our boats. Coosa is really only best used for bulkheads and the transom, if both are done correctly. To best use them as bulkheads you actually have to put a full layer of fiberglass on both sides essentially like a sandwich in order to make it fully structured, not all manufacturers actually do that. To use it as transom material you have to have a way to fully draw the resin through the coosa. Either by having hundreds of holes in it for the resin to pass through or to have a strong vacuum like our vacuum bag machine. Only benefits to using it in the transom is a little lighter than wood and also you won’t ever have the chance of wood rot. But if you don’t have the resin fully pull through and saturate the coosa then you’ll just have a foam sponge instead of wood rot so basically the same situation. Wood transoms are actually stronger than a coosa transoms but each have trade offs but if done correctly the whole wood rot question does not apply, again if done right. Next thing on the topic is options. A lot of customers don’t want to pay the extra money for the coosa especially when we have no issues when using wood and balsa. Some people do and some people want the lighter weight. We will do anything a customer wants if it is within reason, quality products, safety, and strength. Also, the whole term of “composites” is throw around pretty loosely. By definition, all it means is, “made up of various parts or elements“ nowhere does it say wood cannot be used in that process. Technically basic super cheap plywood is a composite because it’s various elements to make the full sheet ie wood and glue/bonding agent. In the end, coosa is not the material that should replace balsa in the build process on the core material like deck, side, bottom. There’s different foam products for that.

I hope I’ve been detailed enough and answered all your questions! Thank you for the good questions!

That is extremely nice of you to come back up and write a long detailed reply for the person asking along for all others to read. Also to take the time to do all that. Good job as well.
 

Gelcoater

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But if you don’t have the resin fully pull through and saturate the coosa then you’ll just have a foam sponge instead of wood rot so basically the same situation.
Good write up but this part isn’t correct.
It doesn’t seem to absorb water at all.

My own very unscientific experiment was taking a piece of raw Coosa and dropping it in a number 10 can of water.
It weighed .40lbs before the water bath.
At the one hour mark it weighed?
.40lbs
At the 3 hour mark it weighed?
.40lbs
At 5 hours it weighed?
.40lbs.
I’m not sure how long it would need to soak to actually absorb?

Try it for yourself.
 

lavey jr

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Good write up but this part isn’t correct.
It doesn’t seem to absorb water at all.

My own very unscientific experiment was taking a piece of raw Coosa and dropping it in a number 10 can of water.
It weighed .40lbs before the water bath.
At the one hour mark it weighed?
.40lbs
At the 3 hour mark it weighed?
.40lbs
At 5 hours it weighed?
.40lbs.
I’m not sure how long it would need to soak to actually absorb?

Try it for yourself.

Seems scientific enough to me. I could test it with some of the scraps but i don’t have a scale that goes that low haha and I doubt I’ll be allowed to use a big piece of it for the test haha I’ll take your word for it and correct my thoughts on that. I'll replace it with the structure standpoint, if you don’t pull the resin through the coosa it will not be near as strong and it will absolutely crush/dent when you tighten your through bolt hardware.
For conversational purposes let’s say you have a piece of coosa with fiberglass on both sides and water does happen to get into it, how will it get out? I don’t think it will and you’ll have a pocket of water stuck inside the coosa. Not sure, just a thought I had right now.
 

DarkHorseRacing

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Seems scientific enough to me. I could test it with some of the scraps but i don’t have a scale that goes that low haha and I doubt I’ll be allowed to use a big piece of it for the test haha I’ll take your word for it and correct my thoughts on that. I'll replace it with the structure standpoint, if you don’t pull the resin through the coosa it will not be near as strong and it will absolutely crush/dent when you tighten your through bolt hardware.
For conversational purposes let’s say you have a piece of coosa with fiberglass on both sides and water does happen to get into it, how will it get out? I don’t think it will and you’ll have a pocket of water stuck inside the coosa. Not sure, just a thought I had right now.

I'm not sure from a structural standpoint that Coosa is a foam sponge:


They say the foam is also incorporated with roven woving and fiberglass and their Bluewater 26 panels are for structural loads.
 

ToMorrow44

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Seems scientific enough to me. I could test it with some of the scraps but i don’t have a scale that goes that low haha and I doubt I’ll be allowed to use a big piece of it for the test haha I’ll take your word for it and correct my thoughts on that. I'll replace it with the structure standpoint, if you don’t pull the resin through the coosa it will not be near as strong and it will absolutely crush/dent when you tighten your through bolt hardware.
For conversational purposes let’s say you have a piece of coosa with fiberglass on both sides and water does happen to get into it, how will it get out? I don’t think it will and you’ll have a pocket of water stuck inside the coosa. Not sure, just a thought I had right now.
Is coosa what was used in the all carbon blue/black RPM? I remember your dad showing me how It dents around the thru hull hardware.
 

Lavey 29

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some of the bass boats use it for their transom and builds ( coosa board ) . I thought Penske Board was very popular for builds the past 5 years ?
 

lavey jr

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DarkHorseRacing

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That's a real nice setup there.

I have a couple other dumb questions for you.

Do any of your models support having the helm on the port side? I really prefer the helm on the port side if there's a possibility of getting it.

Can you do this 2750 in a walkthrough bowrider? Never a fan of the MCOB if it was my boat.
 
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BUSTI

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Amazing boat! Great job. I am sure this thing is a beast in rough water.
 

lavey jr

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That's a real nice setup there.

I have a couple other dumb questions for you.

Do any of your models support having the helm on the port side? I really prefer the helm on the port side if there's a possibility of getting it.

Can you do this 2750 in a walkthrough bowrider? Never a fan of the MCOB if it was my boat.

Our 21, 24, and 26, 28 Evo would be the easiest to make a port side helm with minimal modifications needed.

The 2750, 29, 32, 39 Evo would all be possible to have port side helm but would all require quite a bit of modification. These models starboard driver dash is not part of the deck mold and has their own separate mold. The 39 Evo would be the easiest to do out of these models. The 32 would require the most modification because on this model, the port and starboard are both separate molds so would require 2 entire new dashes to be made.

Can it be done? Of course. We can do just about anything the customer wants and needs.

Yes the 2750 can be a walkthrough open bow. If you check out the build thread on the white/blue 26 walkthrough we're making, the 2750 would receive the same treatment.
 

DarkHorseRacing

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Our 21, 24, and 26, 28 Evo would be the easiest to make a port side helm with minimal modifications needed.

The 2750, 29, 32, 39 Evo would all be possible to have port side helm but would all require quite a bit of modification. These models starboard driver dash is not part of the deck mold and has their own separate mold. The 39 Evo would be the easiest to do out of these models. The 32 would require the most modification because on this model, the port and starboard are both separate molds so would require 2 entire new dashes to be made.

Can it be done? Of course. We can do just about anything the customer wants and needs.

Yes the 2750 can be a walkthrough open bow. If you check out the build thread on the white/blue 26 walkthrough we're making, the 2750 would receive the same treatment.

Thanks for the info!
 

DarkHorseRacing

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Our 21, 24, and 26, 28 Evo would be the easiest to make a port side helm with minimal modifications needed.

The 2750, 29, 32, 39 Evo would all be possible to have port side helm but would all require quite a bit of modification. These models starboard driver dash is not part of the deck mold and has their own separate mold. The 39 Evo would be the easiest to do out of these models. The 32 would require the most modification because on this model, the port and starboard are both separate molds so would require 2 entire new dashes to be made.

Can it be done? Of course. We can do just about anything the customer wants and needs.

Yes the 2750 can be a walkthrough open bow. If you check out the build thread on the white/blue 26 walkthrough we're making, the 2750 would receive the same treatment.

Do you guys do full or 3/4 caps? You have a shoebox fit between the top and hull? I've seen you put the top on the hull in the mold so not sure.
 

DrunkenSailor

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Came out amazing. Lavey is at the top of their game for sure. Do you have a pic with the door closed? I went back through and didn't see one but might have missed it. Can you stand at the helm? it looks like with the shape of the dash it might be a one knee proposition.
 

Uncle Dave

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Came out amazing. Lavey is at the top of their game for sure. Do you have a pic with the door closed? I went back through and didn't see one but might have missed it. Can you stand at the helm? it looks like with the shape of the dash it might be a one knee proposition.

Pretty sure those are drop down bolsters.
 

lavey jr

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Do you guys do full or 3/4 caps? You have a shoebox fit between the top and hull? I've seen you put the top on the hull in the mold so not sure.

Yes we do 3/4 front/back caps on many boats. We have not had someone want a full cap yet but we can absolutely do that. This boat is not a shoebox fit. The only boats we make that are a shoebox is the 29 NuEra and the 26 RPM.
 

lavey jr

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Came out amazing. Lavey is at the top of their game for sure. Do you have a pic with the door closed? I went back through and didn't see one but might have missed it. Can you stand at the helm? it looks like with the shape of the dash it might be a one knee proposition.

The customer did not want doors for the mid cabin. Seat bases are manual drop out so standing is easily done and the tilt steering column helps as well.
 

hallett21

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Could a 5’9” 175lb adult sleep across the mid cabin if there was a center section? Love the boat!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

HubbaHubbaLife

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Came out sweet.... kudos to graphics and interior patterns. Not too busy, more of a timeless look & texture that will age well. Keeping the hatch pad flat is always well utilized by the butt up bitchez which we adore. Mine has stupid raised design thingies which look cool but keeps the bitchez from laying across them... mostly. And that larger cuddy opening is key for us supersized folks.

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See... the bitchez gotta squeeze down in there on less than comfy seating... but they adapt... right fellas.

1599090707642.png
 

lavey jr

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Could a 5’9” 175lb adult sleep across the mid cabin if there was a center section? Love the boat!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Customer picked up the boat today but it will be returning to the shop after their trip. I’ll measure it for you when it comes back.
 

Cole Trickle

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Boat turned out great! Really like the new cut out for the cuddy.

If it had a front sliding door to stop the wind it would be perfecto.
 

Lavey 29

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All of it very nicely done. Very clean sharp look. I can attest that Lavey Craft builds a very well constructed boat hands down.
 

lavey jr

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Could a 5’9” 175lb adult sleep across the mid cabin if there was a center section? Love the boat!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

As the boat sits it would not work.
Widest point straight across is 4'9" to the bottom of the backrest cushion and widest point at an angle is 5'9"

We could make it work but would have to eliminate most of the back rest part of the seating. Which in turn you will also be losing pretty much all of the storage behind those seats.
 

AZLineman

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After seeing this I want to take my 29 and open up the access door area and open bow it
 

Jay Dub

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great looking boat. Thank you for sharing. The interior is classy and timeless.
 
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