Beach House Sponsons

Well, if you can't be the fastest on the water, you might as well be the most aggressive. What better way to do that other than installing Beach House Sponsons. After reading the installation instructions, the job seemed like a cinch. That was pretty much so; except that in order to install the left side, you must wrestle with the waterbox. Man, was that a bitch! It was tough but not impossible. Anyway, after I was done I was proud of my work and I was itching to go try them. That is a whole other story....

I got to Lake Thurmond that following Saturday with my buddy Craig . After a couple of solo runs in smooth water, I could feel the difference tremendously. The handling was superb, like I was riding a whole different boat. Wherever you pointed the nose, that is where it was going. Even high speed turns where sharp and accurate, as if I was riding on rails. All this was on smooth water and controlled turns. Now it was time for the real test, umpredictable close cornering following on somebody's wake; just as you would on a closed course race. Now this was a whole different story. The ride was sharp and rough with the exception that it was a lot more physically demanding. After about twenty minutes of this, my body gave up on a tight turn at WOT and I got shot out of my XP like a used diaper. One minute I was hanging on, the next I was in the water with a throbbing right calf, a sore left thigh muscle, and an aching left shoulder. Craig suggested that I switched the setting to recreational from aggressive. Not me though. I feel that it is like learning to ride a stick shift car, once you learn that, you also know how to drive automatic. Nonetheless, I learned the hard way that I have to respect this new sponsons. They are the first and only product that actually deliver 100% of what they claim to do. Now the installations:

First, the instructions included with the BH sponsons are pretty accurate. They only fail to point out the degree of difficulty in dealing with the watrbox handling. You can't remove it, but you can disconnect all hoses so that you can move it back and forth in order to get to the sponsons' bolts. There is no need to mention the removal of the battery since it is very simple.

Disconnect the coupling hose from the intake of the waterbox, the hose from the exhaust side of the waterbox, and the water regulator valve from top of the waterbox.

Now you should be able to wrestle the waterbox back and forth in order to get to the bolts. Place shop rags in every open crevice in order to prevent carbon from soiling all over the place and also to prevent Styrofoam from getting in.

Remove all bolts using a deep socket and an extension. Preferably, use a magnetic extension to prevent the nuts from falling all over.

Use a serrated knife or a cardboard cutting utility knife to cut the Styrofoam dividers. Try to be as neat as possible in order to prevent Styrofoam bits from getting all over the place. Notice that I didn't. Cut enough to fit the support bracket flat against the frame. Check for stress cracks.

Check for stress craks. If you have any, you may want to reinforce the hull with extra fiberglass plates.

Once you have removed the stock sponsons, clean the area thoroughly. I used WD-40 first and an alcohol finish. Once again, check for stress cracks.

Apply silicone to all the mating parts and install according to the instructions. Make sure that support plate is flat and the washers are on top of the bracket.

This is the front hole that is not used. It must be sealed with heavy-duty epoxy. Clean area inside of hole from old silicone before applying epoxy.

Let all the silicone and epoxy cure for about a day. After it is cured, check for screw tightness. Caution: Don't over tighten. Only hand tight.

Put everything back together and have someone look for anything that you might have missed. Vacuum all of the loose Styrofoam so it won't block your bilge pumps.

Lastly, ride and hang on for dear life.