Howard 288 Build

[85RiverRAT]

I think I saw this boat on Instagram. Laschoolpolice, delivering presents, and then reposted by Howard Boats. What a cool event. The boat looked great!

 

[blownbullet]

 

[blownbullet]

Shake down run today, back to Howard Custom Boats for a final look over and detail I will see you guys on Lake Havasu soon!!

 

[HNL2LHC]

Incredible!!! Look forward to seeing it on the water.

 

[poncho]

Ultimate family boat.

 

[FROGMAN524]

Beautiful 288. Congrats OP.

 

[the510]

Heck yea! Merry Christmas.

 

[HNL2LHC]

Looks great in the water!!!

 

[blownbullet]

Right on thanks for posting. Got to get some seat time yesterday!

 

[CoolCruzin]

Cool looking boat !

 

[FROGMAN524]

Right on thanks for posting. Got to get some seat time yesterday!

What were your impressions? And what was your last boat? And how do they compare?

 

[blownbullet]

This is the first cat that I’ve owned. The last boat was Howard 25 bullet also had a 600 SCI motor in it. The 25 was a great boat fun to drive turned on a dime like to be above 50 in the semi rough water. I had a stage three Whipple on it as well. The acceleration was awesome. This boat floats over the water hard to compare at this point because the two times I’ve had it out. The water has been glassy. I did try to cut behind a couple of boats yesterday to see how it went over the wakes, and it was like they weren’t even there so I’m interested to see how it works when there’s a lot of boats on the lake. Weird is that RPM seems high for how fast you’re going when we were at Castaic lake 3 people in the boat 30 gallons of gas ran 86 miles an hour popping off the rev limiter at 5350 RPMs with a lab 30 on it . I didn’t think The stock 600 would turn that prop all the way to the red limiter. Yesterday ran 82 on the rev limiter 4 people and about 70 gallons of gas on board prop slip is over 20% so I don’t know if that’s normal. Guess I’ll have to try a different prop.

 

[blownbullet]

 

[HNL2LHC]

This is the first cat that I’ve owned. The last boat was Howard 25 bullet also had a 600 SCI motor in it. The 25 was a great boat fun to drive turned on a dime like to be above 50 in the semi rough water. I had a stage three Whipple on it as well. The acceleration was awesome. This boat floats over the water hard to compare at this point because the two times I’ve had it out. The water has been glassy. I did try to cut behind a couple of boats yesterday to see how it went over the wakes, and it was like they weren’t even there so I’m interested to see how it works when there’s a lot of boats on the lake. Weird is that RPM seems high for how fast you’re going when we were at Castaic lake 3 people in the boat 30 gallons of gas ran 86 miles an hour popping off the rev limiter at 5350 RPMs with a lab 30 on it . I didn’t think The stock 600 would turn that prop all the way to the red limiter. Yesterday ran 82 on the rev limiter 4 people and about 70 gallons of gas on board prop slip is over 20% so I don’t know if that’s normal. Guess I’ll have to try a different prop.

I had hoped that you’d stop I. The channel but no luck. I’d really like to connect and talk to you about it. I sent you a PM.

 

[RiverDave]

Boat turned out beautiful!

 

[JFMFG]

It looks damn good in the water.

 

[relaxalot]

I noticed the addition of the trim tabs. Wondering how much improvement you get with them? Anyone have them?

 

[Lavey 29]

Nice build and colors. Wanted to bring up as it appears the lake water temp your boating in is 59.4 degrees so possible is causing the engine coolant temps to be low at 149 degrees. The 600 sci uses a 160 degree T stat. Notice that the engine coolant temp has not moved off 149 degrees. That is a slight cold running. Im sure the 59 degree lake temps is causing that. Anyways working on boats thats what I notice first. Just saying. Enjoy your new boat , it is very nice.

 

[DILLIGAF]

Awesome build and the highest quality. Congrats!

 

[12vMan]

She's a beauty! Congrats on the build completion. I bet you can't wait for some warm spring days.

 

[Mikemo_SDS]

This is the first cat that I’ve owned. The last boat was Howard 25 bullet also had a 600 SCI motor in it. The 25 was a great boat fun to drive turned on a dime like to be above 50 in the semi rough water. I had a stage three Whipple on it as well. The acceleration was awesome. This boat floats over the water hard to compare at this point because the two times I’ve had it out. The water has been glassy. I did try to cut behind a couple of boats yesterday to see how it went over the wakes, and it was like they weren’t even there so I’m interested to see how it works when there’s a lot of boats on the lake. Weird is that RPM seems high for how fast you’re going when we were at Castaic lake 3 people in the boat 30 gallons of gas ran 86 miles an hour popping off the rev limiter at 5350 RPMs with a lab 30 on it . I didn’t think The stock 600 would turn that prop all the way to the red limiter. Yesterday ran 82 on the rev limiter 4 people and about 70 gallons of gas on board prop slip is over 20% so I don’t know if that’s normal. Guess I’ll have to try a different prop.

The best prop for your boat is a Max 5 ST 28” 15 1/4” dia. I have tried a lot of different props and helped friends with your same package.

 

[blownbullet]

Thanks for the replies, I will look into that Max 5 ST prop, appreciate the info Mikemo_SDS!