Actually, the Talon 25's center pod is ~ 1' deeper than the sponsons... Pic attached

Doesn't sound like much of a Speedster, my guess, the drive isn't the problem.

So that would technically make it a mod v hull?

This has been debated for years everywhere on the internet but it would be hard to "define" any center pod cat a true catamaran as most have and use the pod to plane thus not really catamaran as we would envision one.

In the 80's we ordered a 29' Sanger Alley Cat, actually it was hull# 2, our boat was rigged with twin Merc 3.4 outboards to race offshore. hull # 1 was ordered by Howard Arneson and was rigged with surprise surprise a single Arneson Surface drive connected to a Gas Turbine Jet motor. Howard also ordered a couple more boats from Sanger Jack Davidson, he built one for a guy named Bernie Little. Bernie had something to do with jet engine Unlimited Hydro Planes and understood that a single surface drive and a jet engine may just run rather well. The other one that Howard did also had one of those gas turbines in it, Howard built that one for Al Copland, another guy that liked to go fast on the water, very fast. Our twin engined "offshore race boat" ran just at 100 mph, hmmm, Howard's pleasure single surface drive boats went faster, much faster. Howard told us many times that he would be happy to help us by re rigging our race boat with his setup if we wanted to go really fast, problem was the APBA would not let us play with it if we gave it to Howard first. Howard's set up was super reliable propelling him all around the western side of the country all daylong at insane speeds without ever breaking down, at speeds that approached 140 or so while we blew up motor after motor after motor.
I guess Howard had it figured out after all. Actually after the Sanger Cat, Howard decided to do something slightly larger and faster, he had his other good friend Peter build him a 32 Skater for twins and he really got serious about going fast, I am willing to bet that next 32' boat hit 200 or so without any one other than Howard knowing about it, he was a rather shy man, and I would not be surprised if it was the very first Skater to hit 200, or very close. Peter then built Howard a 32 hull that Howard put a Sanger deck on, how about that, a 32 Skater/Sanger
Not a pop or a clandestine illegal copy but one friend sending a deckless hull to another friend. Only one ever built. Actually I don't remember if Peter or Jack did the Sanger deck, I am sure Rik would remember.

I don't have any experience but I think surfacing any drive type on a single could get interesting. Need to get a prop that works and be careful.

well maybe you could convince my insurance company that its not a catamaran its just a modified vhull....

I agree they are not defined as a true catamaran,,,,,,have 3 sponsms not 2
veed center sponsom at or below outside aka tunnel v
squared center sponsom at or below outside aka mod v tunnel or tri hull

in our formula 1 outboards we run a 10" prop splitshaft at good speeds and turn on a dime
so does work
its the prop shaft angle that is tricky on a cat that has no center pod and a short arneson
shaft angle is pushing down the bow,,so natural bow lift from compression is not there
trim up to get bow up and tail is loose
both senerios is not a good outcome
a standard I/o works fine as prop shaft is lower and proper angle
the short arneson set up is hard to get angle,,,,,id try lot longer drive
as why on talon works fine,,,,has pod to flatten water and lower shaft output

This was the drives fault? Seriously? Sounds to me like improper trim and speed in the turn. You are crazy if you think a number #6 drive some how has a traction advantage in a turn.

On a side note, ask arneson how many gear and chain failures they see? The number is close to zero. For anyone considering a number 6 drive, price some gears, gimbles, and housings.....then ask if you can afford a number 6 drive when it breaks.

One of my biggest pet peeves in the boating world is bad press about arneson or surface drives in general by people with NO EXPERIENCE with them

It's not the surface drive, its the speed that goes along with it. People that are chasing a big number move to a surface drive for durability. Trust me, a 100+ single engine bravo boat is no treat at speed either. But take a 70 mph single engine bravo boat and swap it to a surface drive without adding hp and you can give a fair comparison....the surface drive is better :D