Several factors, #1 my relationship w/ Ilmor. When I bought the Skater my second Ilmor powered boat I did so knowing Ilmor was developing their own drive. If I haven't mentioned it here maybe it was in the similar threads elsewhere but if you know anything about Roger Penske, the folks at ILMOR & their accomplishments in numerous forms of motorsports the choice was simple for me. At the end of the day I believe a manufacturer matched package makes sense and will result in better resale value for me as well. Arneson makes a nice package but there aren't any sales or service centers in my area whereas ILMOR now has a facility here just 15 miles from where I boat.

At the end of the day I think it comes down to personal preference. My boat isn't better than yours nor yours than mine basically the same model spec'd / opted differently.

I haven't spent anywhere near what you think & I sold off the original equipment for a decent $$ which has also offset my costs.

#2 Peter, Trevor, Paul & the others at Skater have been great to work with. They didn't take any short cuts & often went above & beyond what I asked for. Had I left the boat another week Trevor probably could have gotten it dialed in the rest of the way but between the weather & water conditions, availability of props at the time (LOTO) & the fact I wanted my boat back to use before the weather turned has resulted in some testing & tuning on my part. I reached out to Ben b/c I've met him before, he races cats, he's tight w/ Ilmor, was involved w/ the drive development & hes 3 hrs away.

#3 Ben's son works for Hering & between he & Jeff Johnston I couldn't ask for better service & support. They've sent me 5 sets ($50k worth) of props for testing and simply stated that when I'm done, return what I don't want or can't use. All they asked is that I commit to purchasing a set opf props when all was said & done. They will make me anything I want & or whatever the boat needs. I don't think I could ask for any better a deal than that, well maybe free but I'm speaking in the real world of paying customers.

ILMOR continues to provide unmatched customer service, engineering & technical support. My boat is the first retrofit & they are committed to delivering me a finished product that performs & is reliable.

I don't know that I've satisfied your curiousity nor whether you agree w/ my reasoning but nevertheless it's my boat / project, I've done my due diligence & am very confident in the 3 parties aforementioned that they will see it all the way thru to my satisfaction.

I don't know very much about your boat from a factual standpoint & while I certainly understand that you are very partial to your own setup it's not the only one available. You make it sound as if you purchased a Skater w/ custom Sterling power & bolted on a set of Arnesons yourself nailing the entire setup the first time out. Like the set of props you boat w/ is the only set you've ever bolted on. And if that is the case my hats off to you, Rik & Peter but that would be considered an anamolly in my book. Keep in mind your boat was built as an Arneson boat from the get go & whatever that entails while I bought my boat 2nd hand, it was originally equipped w/ IMCO 1000's & ILMOR 625's then IMCO SC's & ILMOR 710's & now the Indy's. Those working on my project don't have the luxury of putting the engines or drives exactly where they may have liked to. My bilges are fixed as are the bulkheads & stringers. These are all obstacles one must embrace & find a way to work around. Ultimately these obstacles may require a little more dial in time.

While I agree the your package is tried & true but then again when mine is complete w/ a few hours on it won't I be able to say the same thing? While your tried & true statement is true its sort of no different than a baseball player w/ 1 at bat & 1 hit. Undisputably he's batting 1000 but would he still be after 10 at bats & so my question to you is if there were 10 Skater 30 inboards all built w/ arnesons but some small blocks, some alum v-10's some custom blower motors & others w/ Merc 496's or 525's would each of them perform as great as your boat just because they were spec'd w/ Arneson surface drives?? Now ask the same question only retrofit each of the 10 boats w/ Arnesons after the fact. Will they all be dialed in directly from the rigging floor w/o any investment in sea trialing testing & tuning?

I realize that question can't be answered but then again thats my point.

Thanks for the response! I fully understand your reasoning now is due to your relationship with the people at Ilmor........makes perfect sense! Much of my decision going with Arnesons was due to my relationship with Rik and Howard (plus having been in Howard's 40 - INCREDIBLE!) as well as Pete highly recommending them. Just my own simple knowledge of design and performance boats led me to believe the drives would work well on my setup - Arnesons are lightweight, have an excellent prop height and are very strong and maintenance free by design. And yes by the way, the props on my boat are the first set we ever ran! I would LOVE to be able to go out and try multiple sets of $10k props on my setup. Like I said before, I'm sure my boat is capable of even greater speeds if I had the kind of resources you do. Thanks, and good luck with your future testing.

That's why I mentioned the other people chiming in that they've gotten wet spinning out. I'm sure there are boats that run better each way for whatever reasons, but the physics of it makes sense to me. Maybe on wider cats it doesn't matter, etc. There's a lot of variables I'm sure that are impossible to really model for the avg guy, so trial and error it will continue to be.

nascat I own your old 06 spectre and just spent the upper part of the lower unit.lower gears are shot too and replacing them as well. Love the Ilmor motors but have a couple issues that we are working on

We went with Ilmor on a new bld Sc32 Spectre For much of the same reasons. Tech support,and hands on help. With the help of Spectre,Ilmor,and the guys at Herring. The boat is very easy to drive,and lays down big numbers.

Tim
oregoncustommarine.com

According to Bob Teague some of the wear & tear on the drives is inherent to the use of the Bravo1 34 4 blades assuming those are still on the boat.

Ilmor and Skater lake cruiser
 

Mikes boat ran great, still hops in the mid range but a inherant problem with most cats. Ran very fast for 1:50 ratio , very quick and will carry 5 passengers above the 125 mph mark without working very hard.
Engines ran flawless and shifted great. Smooth and quite for a boat that fast. Great rig job from skater and crew.
Boat is capable of 140 with better gear but for a lake boat its unbeatable. Hering props did a great job with selection and customers service.
New Indy outdrives perform to what you would expect from Ilmor
Ben Robertson

what did you guys finally decide for prop selection?

Having the opportunity to run the boat w/ Ben Robertson was an invaluable learning experience & I appreciate him making the 3hr trek to Charlotte to share his expertise as well as lend a helping hand.

We went thru 4 sets of props, added ballast but didn't end up installing the spacers. After seeing the boat in person & taking some measurements Ben agreed that we didn't want to go down & if at all possible maybe even up. At the moment that option isn't possible.

The Hering 16.5 x 37's 18deg 5blade SCL props ran best. They accelerate hard & topped out at 130mph 2 on board 1/2 full of fuel. The 39 SCL's will give me 4 or 5mph on top but they don't accelerate anywhere near as well as the 37's. I could split the difference w/ a set of 38 SCL's but my boat really likes the set of 37's I have & much like a set of race tires some sets perform different than others even though they are all the same.

I'd like to thank Ben & Jeff at Hering Propellers for their customer support throughout the test & tune process. They have been very supportive accommodating all of Skaters & my testing needs requests. I couldn't ask for any better service from Hering.

In summary I see my current set up as having gained reliability, docking maneuverability & awesome acceleration at the expense of 5 mph & maybe a little fuel efficiency over my previous setup. Reliability was my #1 goal & the assumption was I'd lose a few mph spinning a trans, larger drive & props. Depending on ones personal preference one could opt to give up on the acceleration side maintaining or possibly increasing their current top speed. Thats pretty impressive & says alot for the efficiency of the overall Indy package given the fact that there's substancially more rotating weight to spin w/ the exact same HP.

ask them what they think about running 16.25's vs 16.5 diameter. Thats what i've got on my boat, and it runs real nice, just need more pitch.