I've heard that ya'll's buddy/ 28 heat guru, Steve Zuckerman is thinking of throwing in the towel......I can hardly believe it. You know what to do!

The rumors of my death are premature..................
Steve

Our little family is falling apart.... I don't like it.

Well lets get with it my brother!!

Back on the water after a little down time. Back better than ever. A quick 88 with 2 inches of stick left .........
Thank you Stabil! With fresh fuel???
Steve

Note to self, chill out and enjoy the lake and your friends .............

Hey Steve, you seem to have quite a lot of experience with the heats. What drive are you running and are you using a spacer? I have a 2004 MCOB and am contemplating a 1" or 1.5" spacer. I am running an IMCO SCX upper with an SC lower. My prop slip is 20% +. Also, thinking about a 5 blade prop. I would love to hear your thoughts.

Hello Jason,
I went through the 20% slip deal as well. Very inefficient for speed as well as mid range cruising.
The XD on my boat was/is very high at 19.25 inches. Combine a high XD, with a slipping 4 blade Bravo, and a long heavy boat, is a recipie for 20%.
I am assuming your SC lower is the standard length version. If it is (not a "shorty"), a 1" spacer will help a lot. Regarding propellers, the P5-X should really
help you with the MCOB deck. I don't know if they weigh any more in the bow, but they may, and you'll need the extra surface area of the 5th blade to help
carry your nose. I would also test your current prop after installing the spacer. Your propeller shop may be able to add some traling edge to help get more
bite and lift. It won't work as well as a five blade, but it will be better, and we all need spare props.
Let us know how it goes.
Welcome aboard,
Steve

Steve,
Thanks for your input! I do have a standard IMCO SC lower. I have heard a couple different XD measurements. I'm not sure what you mean by 19.25". My drive center-line is 3.5" below the pad. I was able to try a 15 5/8" Maximus and it made a world of difference, down around 13%! I have a P5-X on it's way and am excited to give it a try as well. I have not put a spacer on yet but that might have to wait for testing this spring as our season is quickly coming to an end.
Thanks again,
Jason

The X dimension is the vertical distance between your crankshaft center line, and the lowest point of the hull, in our case the pad.
It is help ful to know the number because we have bulit up a good data base of information for these boats.
You can already see the difference with the large diameter 5 blade Maximus. It may be OK for your application. It isn't going to get much better than 13 %. The P5-X stock out of the box, to stock out the box Maximus has been a little faster in most applications. Either of them can be customized to perform very well on the Heat. If you can get good lift and low slip numbers like you currently are, there is no need for a spacer. I just noticed your year model. After we brought the high X dimension issue on the early 00s (mine is an '01) to Nordics attention, and/or maybe they realized it too, they did lower the XD to 18.25"s in the mid 2000 models. Your getting there.
Regards,
Steve