Very cool boat! Congrats.

Nik

For sure swap to the 21"...the boat will certainly have more snap to it and you will not be straining the engine as much with a heavy load.

If you have the forged Mag internals...save up and watch for a deal on a set of oval port heads, high rise marine intake and a more aggressive cam profile. Along with a bit of exhaust tuning there should be another 100 horse power and at least as much more torque in that 454. That combo may put you at 60+MPH.

Congrats on the new ride. Much better without the tower. Seeing yours makes me excited to get mine (3 more weeks) I also have a bottom paint job by the previous owner, let me know if you find an (easy) removal method. I wasn't a big fan of the red hull, but, after seeing yours in the water it's growing on me. Enjoy the NW summer.

Just sold my 1988 nova spyder with twin built small blocks in feb and already miss the hell out of it. I never realized how much room the cockpit had for a 26 and it did ride nice. It was a great party boat for a 26er. Enjoy!

My bottom paint is pretty much gone on the stern and sides (its just old and scrapes off with a fingernail). What I need to remove is the barrier coat and Im not sure how to easily remove that! I may attempt next season but for now Im just going to enjoy the boat and the nice weather...

Good call....keep it in the water and run it as much as possible.

You shouldnt have sold it! I agree that it has a huge cockpit area for a 26 foot boat and with the solid ride I feel like the hull could handle alot more power.
What kind of speeds were you seeing with the twin small blocks?

What a GREAT summer!!! I only put about 45 hours on the boat but it seems like I had a ton of use out of it (of course the boating season in Seattle doesnt really start until mid July). The only problem I had with the boat was the water pump going out but that was a $50 repair and I was back on the water...With the 21p Mirage prop I was able to consistently hit 54-55 mph and even with 9 people on board this boat just launches on plane...Smooth ride too! Even 4 footers were no match...

Here are a few pics from this summer:

Congrats Mike, it is a cool boat. Give her a good wet sand this winter, and it'll look fantastic.

Thanks bro! Yeah, Im going to replace some of the vinyl this winter and will do a full wet sand in the spring...

I have so much fun boating! Im sad that the season has come to a close...