Deep V or Semi V

[chris458wm]

What's the difference between a Deep-V and Semi-V boat?  Which is better?

[Mac Attack]

Depends on how rough the water you plan on riding in.
The deeper the V, the more it cuts the real rough stuff.
But it also rocks from side to side a lot.
A semi has a relatively sharp bow but transitions to a flatter bottom to prevent the side to side rocking.
Most boats these days under 20' are semis.
My 24' Trophy had a 21 degree deadrise and I would consider that a deep V.
Rode awesome in the rough stuff (I consider anything over 6' waves - the rough stuff).
I had a 24' Sportcraft that some people would call a deep V, but in fact, it was semi.
It handled pretty rough water.
Unless you are REALLY going to run in the really heavy seas get a semi.

[chris458wm]

Thanks for the info.  I'm looking to get a 14 to 16 foot boat like Crestliner's Sportsman 1450 or 1650 for fishing and won't be fishing any high seas. Unfortunately one of those is out of my budget for a while so I'm going to look for a decent used boat.  

[Mac Attack]

Those are both modified V's, not deep V's.

The V needs to be quite exagerated to be considered a deep V.
Some people feel the deadrise is supposed to be more than 17 degrees to be a deep V.
But I have spoke to a lot of people over the years that say 20 degrees.
I lean toward the 20+ degrees.

Good luck.

[Chawk190]

Deep V's are great for blasting through a head sea but a major trade off is the nasty snap roll on drift. Had a few and fished many more over the years but as I get older I'm beginning to appreciate a downeast hull with a fine entry, full keel tapering to low dead rise aft.

[chris458wm]

I have no idea what you mean by a dead rise or a downeast hull with a fine entry, keel tapering to low dead rise aft.  I don't know much about boats other than they're supposed to float and if you have water coming in you have a problem.  LOL

[Mac Attack]

He basically told you what I did.
But used some impressive verbage to do it.

Unless you will be fishing VERY rough water all the time, stay with a modified V.


Deadrise is the angle between the waterline and your hull at the back of the boat.
A flat hull has zero degree deadrise.
A Deep V allows this V hull to go all the way back to the transom.
And if you looked at the transom it wouldn't be flat, but a V, in relation to the water line.
This V hull running the entire length allows the boat to rock from side to side.
Oftentimes, with a really deep V, it rocks violently.
This is called snap rocking.

Get a modified.

[chris458wm]

Thank you for explaining the terminology, knowing what it means helps me understand what you guys were saying.  I'll definitely stick with the modified.