Cougar Cub

[Bronzeman]

I'm new to this forum and not looking specifically to race. I am however looking for information about my tunnel hull. It is the avatar and in that photo has a 55 on it.

It is a 1984 Cougar Cub, 10 foot long, picklefork front. I have had everything from 8 to 55 horspower on it. 8 does not work, 12-15 gives about 18-22 MPH. I only got the 55 up to 30 before galling a crankpin and rod rollers and it has not been on the boat since.

Since Cougar boats is out of business--at least as far as I know--does anyone out there know what horsepower it was originally rated for?

Currently, with a Chrysler 20 I get about 27 MPH. However even at that speed with my weight and the weight of the engine, the 5 inch tunnel does not clear the water. (I know because I can actually feel the waves bumping the tunnel up into my butt--seat is right on the tunnel)

I have cut down the original 3 blade prop from 9 1/2 to 9 inch diam. for less blade area to get the engine rpms up and to reduce a nasty torque reaction and this did work. I have also tried a NOS stock bronze Chrysler 2 blade racing prop and it does no better than the stock general purpose aluminum.

With any engine I need to lean out over the steering wheel to get it down onto plane and it takes a while, but once onto plane it will stay there as low as 15 MPH

I would really like to maximise the performance of this hull if it is not so already. ( Ahh! Let's face it--I want to go faster without investing in another engine) So, if any of you have any ideas, or if you have experience with this hull, I'm open to suggestions.

Cute little boat. Everyone is used to seeing jet skis in that size so I get comments on it every time I take it to the ramp.

[STEVE FRENCH]

They were raced APBA in the 80"s with a 25xd Merc. .....I had one 10 years ago with a 25 xd Merc.....I lived on a 10HP lake at the time..... mine ran 30-33 MPH depend'n on prop.......currently a legal Mini-GT rig with a 25 OMC or Merc.
https://hydroracer.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8433

19P

[RabidGatorFan]

If you want what was originally intended, go get a 1985 - 2000 25hp Mercury, put a nose cone on the club foot, have a 16p aluminum prop reworked to about an 18p, put the tilt-pin in the number 5 hole and cavitate your butt off to get it on plane while going into the wind to get air under the tunnel. With less than a gallon of gas you will run 43 - 45mph. I had 3 of these in the mid-80's and that was the best it would do with many hours of testing. This presumes you weigh about 125lbs or less as I did when I was 17. haha.

Mercury made an 18p Chopper for the 25hp. You have to raise the engine 1 inch but it will give you NO INCREASE in speed.

There was a guy in Texas with this setup (no chopper though) who put nitros on the 25hp Merc and he claimed it would run 80mph. He sent me pics of the setup and it was legit that he had nitros on it, but I cannot imagine the Merc holding together for long at those rpms.

When Mercury had the rights to the boat they called it the MerCub. Johnson/Evinrude used the boat before that but I cannot remember if they had a 25 or 35hp on it.

Fun boat, but has many limitations. It was a great entry level rig but failed to catch on nationally and I am sure Mercury pulled support after just a few years.

[RabidGatorFan]

They were raced APBA in the 80"s with a 25xd Merc. .....I had one 10 years ago with a 25 xd Merc.....I lived on a 10HP lake at the time..... mine ran 30-33 MPH depend'n on prop.......currently a legal Mini-GT rig with a 25 OMC or Merc.
https://hydroracer.net/forums/showthread.php?t=8433

19P

Steve,

What setup did you have that only ran 33mph? How much did you weigh, what pitch prop, what tilt-pin hole did you run, how much gas in the boat, where did you mount your battery (up front or behind the drive)?

You sure it wasn't an 18xd instead of a 25? The only difference in the two was the carberator and decals.

I always found the rougher the water, the better the cub would perform. Since it wouldn't go fast enough, the waves kept air in the tunnel and kept it "loose" to gain speed.

[STEVE FRENCH]

Can't give any set-up details....it was a few years ago....Basing speed on the speedo it had and against the MFG 10ft tri-hulls with Mark-28/quickies I would run against............May have been less---YA GOT ME on this one!
Sold rig to a fella in Georgia who had a couple more.
Someone had some pics a while back of em runn'n in APBA compitision......

What are ya see'n with yours?

19P

https://hydroracer.net/forums/showthr...ghlight=cougar

[Bronzeman]

Cougar Cub

Hey! thanks for the replys guys!

Now if I read you correctly, then it appears that with an old, tired, Chrysler 20 at 126 lbs, 9 1/2 inch pitch prop, me at 180-190, 6 gal gas, and a standard sized auto battery, 27 MPH aint too shabby. I can live with that.

Not being Fluent in Merc Language, was the 25 xd a long shaft or short shaft engine? That is, should I be running a 15 inch leg or a 20 inch leg on this hull? Currently I am running a 20 inch leg with the cav plate about 1 inch above the bottom of the sponsons

It may interest you to know that last year I got a little ham-handed in a wakeboarder's tall well-defined wake. As she crossed the top, the 20 didn't have the power to keep the stern up, she took water in over the back corner, pointed the nose skyward, and flipped. Turned out that she was just barely neutrally buoyant so I added about another cu. foot of foam under the gunwales and in the free spaces under the splashwell. Added about 1 dozed empty 1/2 gal plastic milk bottles--just in case.

When I bought the boat, the transom was cracked and reinforced with two rusted steel straps running from transom to seat back. I removed them, re-glued the transom, and plated the whole thing with .080 aluminum--including angles running inside the sides of the well. Nice and rugged now and looks way better too. It was bottom painted in rough, ugly black. Who in hell keeps a boat like this stored on the water?

[Dew1us]

I still have the original poster for the Merc Cub. When I get time I'll get a picture and post it.