I took the hook out of a similar boat (1990 Formula 242LS) and gained exactly O MPH.

Save your money for new props, they will get you the best bang for the $.

Wannabe

I took the hook out of my 251 Checkmate Convincer.. I could run in 3' water without any issues, when I 4' came along the boat would litterly go skyward and then trip and stuff on the next wave. I contacted Checkmate to ask about it.. "Did you take the hook out?"... I said yes.. They told me to add wedges to the next flat surfaces, outward instead of putting it back on the pad to correct it.. eventually I added tabs very close to the bottom to control the hook needed when in flat water, and pull them up for a flat bottom on the smooth water. In between the "no hook" and the tabs I experimented with adding some wedges to the bottom.. I was playing with power at the time and really didnt see any affects of straigthening the bottom. But when I took off the wedges, it allow the bow to rise and I did see a 3-4mph advantage.. A lot of work, but in the end an improvment. For what you are trying to do, you need to find out what it does for handling before you take the plunge. I would say, don't do it. Buy another something different next time!
Hope that helps.
Dick

can someone answer this question?

Why is there a hook in the first place? Why don't boat manufacturer make the mold ''staight'' right at the beginning?

Sometimes, as in my case with the 251 Check, they had two molds, one for the boats with more HP and another for the ones with less. The hull was a variable dead rise type.. Started at 23.5* at the transom and went to 27 or 29* as it went forward. It worked well for slicing the waves at speed, but it would also kick the bow up on too big of a wave, at speed. The cure was to put a bit of hook in it, to lift the stern as the transom moved over the wave crest.
After I removed the hook in the center and added wedges on the bottom between the strakes I took the boat out and actually felt the stern lift as I went over a wave. I asked my buddy who was riding with me,, he could not feel it. I ended up adding a wedge that was 11"x7"x3/8".. I could run in 3-5' water at 75mph.. and the boat would fly almost flat with the drive getting as much as 5' out of the water. It was a fun boat. Later I took the wedges out and added tabs to do the same thing when I was on big water. With a top speed close to 90mph the affect of slight hook is amplified, so it was an advantage in my case, but also a lot work and a lot of time spent redesigning the wheel.

Answer to your question, they sometimes add a hook to compensate for a problem with the hull design.

A hook can also develop from poor support on the trailer or bunks.. So it pays to ask around before you make modifications, to see if some has been down that road.

Ballz - did you get/read my response to the PM you sent to me?

Like these guys say, don't bother messing with the hook on your Nova. Hook is ouside the running surface when your at spped so here is little to no affect from the hook.

leave it alone, not worth the work!

ok thanks for all the info guys really appreciate it........ looks like im gonna leave it alone and run the piss out of it like it is!

what motor does it have now? 350 or 454? alpha or bravo? if you are putting a 502 in a small block boat, well just thank God alphas are cheap...

I bought the boat with no engine. im putting in a 502 with a bravo