Any opinions on a 26 Daytona powered with a 575SCi and XR drive? I have always liked the layout of the 26 Daytona and write ups on the boats ride. Is this a good power point and setup for this hull? How is the overall handling of the this boat? Could this boat be used a reliable family truckster on a small lake, accomodating cruising, water sports, rafting and an occasional high speed pass? Any insight would be appreciated, thanks in advance.
Rob

The 26 is a good hull and has been around for many years. The 575 / xr is also a good base however beware there are several parts of the 575 that are either discontinued or becoming hard to get

my .02

Seems like a good combo. Pull off the merc blower/carb setup for a Blower Shop chiller, 871, and two 950 4150 holleys. That should get it moving........

Couldnt help but notice you included watersports......that kid will get an earfull, and maybe mouthfull.

watersports will depend on the setup and the prop selection. I can ski behind mine, but the x dimension seems to vary from boat to boat. Mine seems pretty conservative

Let me clarify my definition of watersports. The boat will have to pull small children on a tube, occasionally pull my wife and I on a slalom ski etc. We do this currently behind a 259 Checkmate. The Checkmate of course is not a boat built for water sports but you can make do if you're not too serious about it. The Eliminator I am not so sure about. If the X-dimension is too high maybe planing performance will not allow a skier to be pulled out of the water. Perhaps the Daytona will wonder at 33mph or just refuse too stay at that speed. The only cat I have ever driven was a 26 Awesome Cat. It seemed the only time that boat had a nice ride was at WOT. I am attracted to cats because of the speed capability (I am a speed junkie) but am not sure if the Daytona is civilized at speeds less than 50mph.

The awesome does not have a center pod correct? My boat rides really nice even at low speeds, but it does not turn well. (leans to the outside at low speeds). Over 35 or so mph it will lean into the turn and it rides good. To get the "floating" feeling you need to be around 50-60mph. If you are a speed junkie this is the hull for you. I had a 750 hp motor in my boat and it would easily do over 100mph. I stepped up the power this season by 200.

what kind of speeds will this setup run?

high 80,s low 90,s depends on setup