Stessl Mako "flop over"

[mrswoody]

???Hello,
We recently purchased a stessl mako 5.2 cuddy and are experiencing a frightening 'flopping over' effect with the boat. We first noticed it when the boat is put under power and it leans severely to the right hand side to the degree that water will almost enter the boat. The only way to stop the 'flop over' is to back off the power. We were told we had to adjust the trim to at least half before putting the boat under power. We have a 90 mercury on the back of it. We then operated the boat at half trim, however, still have a problem under way when even our 5 yo (at about 30 kilos) moves around the boat and again we have this 'flop over' effect to the degree again where water is almost entering the side of the boat and we are forced to power off. We have had the boat in some pretty rough seas in Streaky Bay and although she does perform well, we still both feel unsafe with this unexpected 'flop over'. The boat is only 18 months old and would be interested to hear if anyone else has a similar boat with the same type of problem or any ideas as to fix the problem. We have had the motor alignment checked and dropped. We have added weight to the underfloor area, but none of these things make a difference. Please help!

[Brissyguy]

Hi Mrs Woody.

Friend had an old Nova 17' 1/2 cabin that used to do the same thing.
Unfortunately adjusting the motor, fitting an underfloor fuel tank and ice box had no effect.
We learnt to put up with it until the Boss came out with us oneday.
The boat was sold soon after and the new owner made aware of the inherant problem.
This is the first I have heard of the Stessl doing it as well.
Suggest you contact the manufacturers and make them aware with a view to getting them to take action.
Sounds like a design floor to me.

Good luck,
Rich.

[JB]

yeah, bugger that call stessel and have a ride in another boat of the same model to compare the difference. I wouldnt be tollerating that. Boats are too expensive to put up with a lemon.

JB

[MICHAELG]

mrswoody

it may sound stupid but is the motor actually sitting straight/right on the transom, if its at angle or loose may be the problem

my thounghts, dont know if it will help, best of luck

Michael

[aido]

michaels idea sounds good,
a loss of symmetry somewhere could be the problem.
also have a look underneath and put a long straight edge
length ways from the transom to check for any 'hook'.
if the hull bottom is a bit concave on one side, then i can
imagine the effect will be that side pulling into the water
more the faster you go.
i guess as she's pulling in to the right, your steering more
to the left to correct it? sounds pretty scary to me.

aido.

[NQCairns]

Hi, I just had a look at boatpoint there is one standard hull pic on a trailer that really shows how this hull could easily do what you are saying. here is another pic that says a thousand words, you could consider doing something like this?

[SeaHunt]

Does it have one of those Hydrofoil attachments above the prop, if so take it off and see how it goes. The only time I have experienced something like you described was with one of those, if you trimmed the motor up a little, one wing would flex and dig in and nearly flip the boat up on its side.

[Sportfish_5]

Do you have trim tabs or were they telling you to trim the engine ?? Take it back to the dealer who sold the boat and installed the outboard. Something is not right ! If they dont want to know go direct to Stessel

[mrswoody]

Thanks to you all for your responses. To address all at once, we have moved the motor up and down, we have added weight and removed it, we have added a hydrofoil and then removed it, we have had an engineer check the hull area. On the weekend we had a boat builder look at it and after taking it for a test he basically couldn't wait to get out of the boat saying that it was too dangerous for him. He suggested that the chines be removed (similar to the photo above). We have spoken to stessl who have advised that it is a weight problem or that it is not set up properly, but offered not other assistance. The dealer is basically saying that we don't know how to handle the boat. We spoke to another dealer of Stessl who did confirm that they had had trouble in the past with the mako flopping over and again said it needs to be set up. The problem remains that when you spend this amount of money on a boat, you shouldn't have to spend extra time and money to "set it up" so that it is safe and works well or cut off parts to make it stable. Trying to get someone to assist us is our biggest problem. Again thanks for your help. If you know of anyone who has a make 5.2 cuddy, we would be very interested to speak to them and try out their boat compared to ours. At the end of the day, we just want to go fishing in a safey and stable boat. Have a good one!

[dnej]

Setting up is important , but not to that degree.Did you speak to Alf himself?
David

[mrswoody]

Hi David,
All our dealings have been with Dean. However, we get the feeling that the dealer where we bought the boat and Alf are good mates and that they seem to keep their story straight and along the lines that we don't know how to handle the boat and that there is nothing wrong with the boat and it is all our imagination. I last spoke to Dean last week and again he wasn't of very much help to us. He suggested that moving the batteries an inch either way would make a considerable amount of difference and that we needed to weight the boat down. I told him we have put approximately 200 kilos of sandbags in the rear of the boat and it still flopped. Again he found this hard to believe that adding weight wouldn't improve the situation, however, he still did not give us an alternative. Even when we have the boat loaded with all the gear including a large esky for a days fishing, 2 adults and 2 children, we still have the unstable feeling, so adding of weight doesn't seem to be the answer. Unfortunately, it appears that the answer may mean legal proceedings, although it is not our recommended option. We would much prefer to be able to resolve this problem amicably and by someone who knows what they are doing. But if Stessl and the dealer don't believe it is their problem, where do you go? Cheers
Jenny

[basserman]

i would say that if it was brought NEW then the dealer has some responablity to make sure the boat was set up right and to show YOU how to set it up in the future (all the boats i have brought have has had this done new and second hand)
but if your really getting no where with them then it is amazsing what the dept of fair tradeing can do ;)
it really does sound like you have been sold a lemon and it sure is sad :'(
maybe if the dealer took it for a spin he would change his mind

[darren]

I would ask the dealer to possibly take you out in your boat and show you '' his correct way'' to use the boat and if all else fails throw him overboard

[lordy]

There may be a surveyor that could look at the boat and give you a report on what is wrong with it. The dealer/maker might be able to write off a boaties comments but a professional is harder to dismiss.

[gunna_too]

G'day all,
You people with Stessl boats MUST PUSH Stessl and not let up ,as it would appear from reading this thread that a number of The newer Stessl hulls have SERIOUS PROBLEMS. The problem seems the same, ie; the boat suddenly FALLS OVER to one side. There is a similar thread on the "sportsfish" website http://www.sportsfish.com.au/forum/topic.asp?whichpage=1&TOPIC_ID=22789&FORUM_ID=44&CAT_ID=13&pollresults=0
which relates to the Stessl "Bluewater" series hulls. I have been onboard one of these boats when it happened, and also know the owner of another bluewater which does the same thing, and there is NO WAY ON EARTH it is the fault of the loading , trim or the person driving. It is obviously a problem with the hulls and it appears STESSL are trying to duck for cover.
You people pay a Bloody lot of money for a good offshore boat and you certainly don't need this sort of thing happening, Geez what about if someone is thrown overboard at sea because the boat suddenly And I Mean Suddenly :o :o drops over to one side??
ALF STESSL are you available for comment???. I'm sure there are people here and elswhere who would like some HONEST answers.
Cheers Gunna too

[MICHAELG]

all I can say after reading these posts and the ones on the other site is GLAD I DONT OWN 1. Talk about alot of F***ing around just so can have a safe day
best of luck, getting it fixed

Michael

[grinder]

I actually spoke to Dean today and told him of this story and he said he is going to check this out (the site) so maybe we should give him the chance too respond to this matter before everyone starts to can stessl

Grinder

[SeaHunt]

They might make great boats, but they won't be doing it for long if they don't hurry up and sort this one out.
Go back to the dealer and demand your money back.
If no go, write to manager of dealership and Stessl and tell them you want your money back or you are going to a Current affair or Today tonight, they are always looking for good stories and this one is as good as any.
I would give up on having this boat fixed. It would always be in the back of your mind that this thing could flip over and drop one of your kids in the drink.
Get your money back and get a Quintrex..
Slightly biased opinion there , but at least talk to other owners and go for a test ride and really put it through its paces first, high speed turns , going over as big a wake as you can find at all different angels and speeds. You need to feel safe out there , doubley so with your children aboard.

[Fed]

http://www.ausfish.com.au/cgi-ausfish/board/YaBB.cgi?board=Boats;action=display;num=1002777089

It makes you wonder.

[dnej]

Hey , thats previous posy is about me , and my old Stessl, about 20 year old. Just put new covers on the bunks. Hope the old girl performs as well with the new super duper blue colours.
Been named as well, officially " Fairly Olde".
David

[sportfish525]

Gee's guys, my first ever time on this site and found a topic close to my heart. I was looking for new boat about a year ago and basically got down to two boats- either a new stessl mako 5.2 or a second hand Sportfish cuddy 5.2. Went for ride in a mako thought it was average in calm water, by pure coincidence come across a 10yr old Sportfish fishing cuddy 5.2 aweek later (no mean feat in victoria) and went for a spin in 20 knots of southerly and bought it on the spot. can get spray but pretty awsome for a 5 metre tinny. The stessls look ok but I was a bit dubious of build quality and now the performance quality has been answered in these posts. cheers.

[Sportfish_5]

Nice nickname lol ! ;D

[drevil]

Mrs Woody, after reading your problems, I trolled the Net and found some interesting articles on this sort of problem.

It's called Chine Walking and sounds exactly like the Mako problem and maybe similar to Jeff_B's leaning problem as well. #There are articles that describe how it happens and some steps to fix it, but if you do a Google search on Chine Walking, you will find heaps of stuff. #It may help you in your battle with Stessl.

There's an article on page 4 & 5 of a Boating Safety Circular found here: http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/pdfs/BSC78.pdf

I tried to post it but it was too big. #Hope this helps.

[mrswoody]

Howdy,
Thanks for that information. Surprising enough, both the boat builder who inspected our boat and also another engineer seemed to think that the placement of chines was not right. Also the photos posted above of chines being 'cut off' indicate that it could be adding to the problem. All comments and suggestions are extremely appreciated. Thanks again. If we ever get to resolve the issue and pin point the problem I will make sure you all hear about it, so it can be used in future reference.