If you are in the decision-making process of whether or not to buy a pontoon boat, then the speed available could be a factor.

Most commercially available pontoon boats tend to average between 18 and 25 miles per hour, although there are some very fast production boats on the market, plus some modified ones that have recently set world records.

But generally speaking, the 18 to 25 miles per hour range is what you will be looking at. Below you can see a chart which shows some standard pontoon types, with the faster ones being very fast boats which you aren’t going to see that often out on the lakes and rivers.

If it’s the pontoon boat speed calculator you want, then scroll down past the speed chart.

Pontoon Boat Speed Chart

Pontoon TypePontoon LengthHorsepowerTop Speed
Bass Buggy18 feet60 hp17 mph
Bass Buggy20 feet60 hp18 mph
Sweetwater24 feet90 hp18 mph
Sweetwater24 feet115 hp21 mph
Gigantic30 feet115 hp21 mph
Suntracker22 feet70 hp21 mph
Starcraft20 feet23 mph23 mph
Party Barge18 feet75 hp24 mph
Suntracker22 feet115 hp25 mph
Tritoon21 feet90 hp27 mph
Tritoon21 feet90 hp27 mph
Crest III26 feet90 hp28 mph
Tritoon26 feet175 hp35 mph
Berkshire Sport RFX925 feet300 hp50 mph
Bennington QR27 28 feet250 hp51 mph
Premier Pontoons 29029 feet600 hp52 mph
South Bay Super Sport 92527 feet600 hp57 mph
Manitou 25 X-Plode XT SHP26 feet300 hp62 mph
Harris Crowne SL 25027 feet350 hp63 mph
PlayCraft X-Treme 311031 feet400 hp65 mph

You might be surprised to hear, that even at speeds in the low range of 18 miles per hour, it’s still possible for you to use the boat for water sports activities, such as pulling skis and tubes.

Pontoon Boat Speed Calculator

If you are looking to calculate how much speed you can get with an engine or prop upgrade on your pontoon boat, then there is some rough maths that you can do.

Horsepower with respect to speed is exponential as long as nothing else changes. So, for example the following speed calculation could work, but it is very rough.

Twice the speed requires 4 times the power.

But what if you want to a pontoon boat speed calculator to give you figures once you have passengers and loads on board?

Recently a read a forum post from a Bennington pontoon owner. They wanted to know how fast their 2010 Bennington GCW, with two 25-foot tubes and a Yamaha 15o horsepower engine would go. The weight of the pontoon with the motor attached was around 2700 pounds.

The owner wanted to know how fast it would go if he had three people on board and 15 gallons of fuel.

The advice given was to use download a free speedometer app for his smartphone. The app will use the GPS on the phone to calculate speed, meaning on the trip you can make notes of the various speeds that are achieved.

A great app for this purpose is the Speed Box App for iPhones, and the GPS Speedometer for Android devices.

Factors That Will Affect Speed

When calculating the speed of a pontoon boat, either with an app, equation, or by looking at the speed chart above, there will be additional factors that come into play regarding top speeds.

These can include:

  • How much horsepower you have
  • Whether the boat has underskinning
  • Load weights including passenger numbers
  • Clean pontoon tubes
  • Resistance on deck, such as a Bimini

Here are some ways in which you can speed up your pontoon.

If you have an iPhone or Android phone you can download a free speedometer app that uses the internal GPS to calculate your speed. In fact they even have compasses built-in and the Android free version will even keep a track of your trip.

Handy Hint: If you still haven’t bought your pontoon boat, you might find this buyer’s guide useful.

Safety Factors & Considerations

It’s also crucial to understand the importance of adhering to safe speed limits and navigating at safe speeds in different water conditions. 

Although your pontoon boat may be able to go quite fast, for safety reasons, you should not always be maneuvering the boat at full speed. 

First, even if your pontoon boat can hit over 50 mph, you really don’t want to do so unless you are in complete control of the boat, the waters are free of other boats and swimmers, and if the weather is ideal. 

When there are other boats and people in the water, you should slow the pontoon down to a crawl for not only your safety but also that of those around you. 

If you’re out on a windy day with substantial or even minimal waves, it’s also important to decrease the speed of your pontoon. Although the boat design is made to stay afloat, its aerodynamics are not made to safely navigate waves. As well as slowing down, you should also attempt to head into the waves at about 45 degrees.

Finally, you should be aware that even though it’s usually small, most pontoon boats do create a wake, and the faster you go, the larger it will be. On many lakes, bays, and harbors, certain areas are labeled no-wake zones. Therefore, you will absolutely need to slow down the speed to about 5 mph to avoid an unwanted ticket.Â