i am going to be doing stringers and transom at some point on my Scarab III and was thinking about staggering them. i think i have the room, cockpit is big enough i can loose a few inches. what is the biggest reason for staggering? handeling? speed? lower CG? what can i expect in speed gains?

If for no other reason it will be easier to change the plugs

The only speed gains will be from a raised X dimension.
You can usually run the props higher, relative to the bottom, because the drives are moved in and down. Since they're going down, relative to the CG, you still have the leverage to trim adequately.
Not sure if I would do it on a 34. I've been on several smaller boats , 31-34', with staggered engines and never liked the ride. Porpoising, funny trim chratersitics. on 38+' boats, I dont think I would even consider side by sides though.
If you're glassing the dtransom, consider raising the drives an inch or more.
Wellcraft used to run the drives, especially TRS, pretty deep. Raising them should be worth a couple mph.

thanks guys.

cooltrips . . . yep, that was my first thought. actually came to me while i was putting a starter on it this weekend .

rdoactive thats a good point. i never thought about boat length. this boats never gonna be a speed demon anyway and i dont think i wat to risk any ride issues. i do plan to, at the very least, take some of the X dimension out of it. they are Bravos and yes there pretty deep.

JUST PUT THE 525 S/C's in it and hang on...LOL...

Dave, remember that if you raise the X there may be some issues with planing on take off and pushing the bow down in a following sea. Unless you can get some solid numbers and results from someone that did it, this might not be an experiment you'll be happy with. Like you said, it will never be a speed demon with stock power and losing ride quality for an extra 1-2 mph might not be good.