Agreed Kurt!
Although 10 on that boat will be flighty in big water

Sorry Too Stroked, wasn't finger pointing at your comment. It is just generally assumed that the only way a boat can be quick is to lift the engine to the moon. This is true in some cases, most certainly on a real light v bottom running calm water. However heavy boats running hard in rough conditions need a different approach.
The only way I get away with 10" setback is my hull is quite heavy in the nose so I guess moving the motor from 6-10" was like moving a motor on a light weight 2-3", it doesn't feel much different at all. Top speed is no different, in fact if anything it corners a little better now. I haven't seen any jacking plate yet that doesn't start to lay over one way once you start running it hard in the ocean, that's why I went static, to ensure engine movement is kept minimal, nothing worse for handling than the motor flopping around out the back. I might suggest running a jack plate till you get it dialled in then fabricating a solid setback like mine (just shorter) and using bigger bolts to mount everything.
Are you running tabs on the hustler? IMO they are a must have for the rough water racing!

Here is some pics of my set back and boat.
http://s1304.beta.photobucket.com/us...tml?sort=3&o=1

Hey guys,

Thank you for all the replies you guys are awesome... So far looking at going with the 6" setback hydraulic jackplate so I can lift the engine up while trailering due to the fact the boat is not equipped with a splash well so my trim up is limited, while doing some calculations tonight I realized that from the engine bracket to the steering ram i have 7" so to be able to properly clear the deck to trim up to be able to trailer her it looks like I may need to go with a 10" bracket, unless I decide to do some trimming of the deck... so how would a 10" bracket affect me compared to the 6"?? Is t do-able in a race situation? Kurt, your boat is beautiful man!!According to the Hering prop calculator it is showing a 6% slip with a 21p, 5000rpm, 1.87 gear ratio, and our speed of 54mph.

It will be doable, be worth throwing a few lbs up front in big water

So you think 10 is ok? or would it be worth the extra 4" to notch the deck for a 6" setup?

Forgot to mention its a 30" shaft...

If it was me, id have ten and some sort of ballast tank. You NEED a 20 inch mid BTW. That is necessary.

I'd prefer tabs than ballast, both is even better. I have both, started with just 200L of ballast up front. After a season I got dana hp1100 tabs, man did it make a difference. The tabs work quick so you can change things at the drop of a hat, the ballast obviously takes a minute or so to fill and empty. I still like to throw a little ballast in if its the sort of water where you can run fast with trim but the boat is getting unsettled on some smaller waves.
30" shaft is way to long, as mentioned a 20" would be better.
It's a wild looking setback you got on there now! All depends on the hull weight to say what setback would be ideal?

actual it looks like a 25" engine. Although it will put the center of gravity higher you can mount a hydraulic jack plate on it and it would help the powerhead/transom clearance when it is in trailer trim. My 22 velocity had a 225 excel yamaha(more like a true 175 hp) on it and was able to spin a 23 raker prop for 64 mph. without triming the jack plate it would run 55 mph. http://miami.craigslist.org/mdc/boa/3618694826.html

Weight should be pretty similar to my Challenger, I agree on tabs but these boats run so high on the pad mounting the tabs is tricky. Not to mention big bucks. 20inch mid is necessary for racing it. Even if it takes 10in of setback to make work

Hydraulic Jack Plates work great for recreational boats, but not so well for race boats. You rarely see one on an offshore race boat.

Pretty sure that is a 25", if it were a 30 it would have a spacer in betweeen the mid/lower.

Here's what a 25" mid-section looks like on my 1992 Mercury 200:

http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e6...dMotorLeft.jpg

Cant click on your pic to blow it up, but it looks about the same distance from the lower mount to the cav plate as his. My guess is 25". If he is gonna run 10" setback, he may even want to go 20". Only problem with that is it actually will lower the powerhead, and give him more trouble with his trim issue.

Sorry about the pic. Not sure what happened there. Kevin used to build all of the 22's with a small splash well like mine has. But this required a 25" mid-section so the cowl didn't hit when you trailered the motor up. He will make them now with a cut down transom that allows for the use of a 20" mid. Of course if you run enough setback, the cowl won't hit anything anyway.

I think we're on the same page, run a 25" with as little setback as necessary to clear the transom.

anybody have any links for a 20" mid setup? Also the merc. tech went over the engine today and said it was flawless, in fact he said he hasn't seen a 99 engine that idles and sounds so well so that was a good way to start the weekend and build process... now back to setup, you guys are leaning to a 10" setback hydraulic jack plate with a 20" mid section on the engine?

I'd still say 6" setback will be plenty considering your going to race in big water. 10" could make it a handful when airborne. If your hellbent on the hydraulic jack plate I will recommend a detweiler brand, there design is slightly better for what you want to do. A 20" mid is a must!
Surprised to hear the engine checked out ok, definitely didn't sound like it was running on all 6 from what you described. Still not convinced, did he water test it? Coil packs and plug leads quite often idle perfect and run fine under low load but break down once you apply load eg. Planing and higher rpm. I recently went through this with my 300xs. Only ran on 5 at high load then get it back home and couldn't diagnose cause it ran perfect at idle and low rpm/no load on flushers. Ended up being a coil pack breaking down under load!

Im thinking coil packs too..he jusr texted me, raised the engine a bit, lost MPHS...and it was buried before

Hey guys,

I did a consitent 5500rpm today with a 21p and could only get 48mph out of her. This morning we raised the engine 3 1/2" as well on the same bracket. Now I understand that the setback is way too far back but I still would have thought she would have gained at least mph or so but i dropped from a best of 54 down to 48mph lol but iv been consitent with rpms and now turning a steady 5500 when it used to be 5300!!! She doesn't know what she wants.

What was the distance below plank before again? 3 1/2" is a lot! Sounds like your too high now. The prop is slipping way more (hence more rpm) and not pushing the boat (less speed). Did the boat react to trim at that height or did it just run real flat and throw a rooster when trying to trim?
The boat should run quicker with big setback for speed runs, it just isn't conducive to being fast in the rough because the handling goes out the window.

I'll toss in yet a third vote for being down on power. And if you are down on power, all of the other testing of variables you're doing will be wrong. If I can spin a 27" pitch 6,400 RPM on almost the same setup that you can only spin a 21" pitch at 5,500 RPM, something's wrong.

too stroked.. i completely agree. If this is suppose to be a 65ish mph boat i can't see this setup holding me back especially after doing some tweaking by 15 miles per hour!!!!! As of right now the bullet is pretty much dead level with the pad of the boat and running the 24" setback. I raised the engine up on Sunday a total of 4 1/2". so as of now the bullet is even with the pad and i could only run 48mph. the boat did react to trim and seemed to run best (48) at 5400 anything past 5400ish she was throwing a huge roostertail and losing speed. Anyway to do my own check on the coil packs while running? My mechanic is busy till next week and the first NJ race is creeping up lol.

What are others running in this sort of hull for props? With the increased prop shaft height it may be that you are now getting out of the efficiency range for that Laser. It's not meant to run high and now you're up 500 rpms yet down 6 mph.

Maybe a larger diameter, larger blade...

Mirage Plus will be the fastest (besides a chopper but he might be a bit too heavy), Trophy will have little bit better mid range but 2-3mph slower. I ran my Mirage Plus real high and loved it. 25P.
The BEST prop is a BBlades Blaster without a doubt, but it isnt as accessible as a stock Mirage Plus.
BTW you will need bungees for racing, HUGE difference

Top picture 8inch of Setback, Mirage Plus, stock 200.
Bottom is 10inches of setback and a blaster, "stpck" 2.5 Carb (245)
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...un2/close3.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...psdaa7632b.jpg

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o..._5059601_n.jpg
http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o...n2/bungees.jpg

the 2.5

Engine issues aside, the proof is in the pudding so far!
Your quicker with the engine lower and I can assure the boat will handle better. Not saying you need to be 4 1/2" below plank but I'd drop it again and find the sweet spot where the boat is both fast and handles in the rough.
Try running wide open then shutting it down. Pull plugs and check for the one that hasn't been firing (as I mentioned in an earlier post). Other wise see if you can borrow a coil pack and swap it one by one to see if you can find the dud. Sometimes they are a ***** to diagnose. It may not even be a coil pack, could be a plug wire or broken wire in loom?

here was my set up. 64 mph w/ 23 raker

Or a stator or switch box. Arent outboards fun!?!? lol