proper prop selection help
 

Hope someone can save me some time here. I own an older Powerquest, when it was still called Powerplay. Its a 230 conquest. Boat still in great shape and now has fresh motor, putting out around 425hp. Still has smaller peanut port heads though for now, ran out of money at the time. But boat pulls hard with these heads.As of now, it goes about 59-60 mph on gps. I have a 23p mirage on there now. I realize that another set of heads would help , but for now, I want to make sure I am getting all I can with this. I did a slippage calculation, ( 5,200 rpm, 1.5 ratio, 23p, 59mph,) and it works out to about 22% slip. Even if I trim up more, say to 5,300rpm, I gain no more speed. Before I did the calculations,I always assumed my heads were my limiting factor as far as speed goes, but 22-23% slip seems high. Would not mind bumping rpms back down to 5,000 wot. Wondering if anyone can recommend a good prop for this boat with these parameters. I realize the obvious is to go up in pitch, but which style prop would help me most with this hull. Thanks.Rich :D

Re: proper prop selection help
 

Is your prop a Mirage plus or a regular Mirage. If it's not a plus I would try a 23 Mirage plus.

Re: proper prop selection help
 

I would think that you will be hard-pressed to ever get your hull much below 20% slip. If you could get to 15-18% you'd be doing great. Doesn't your boat weigh 4500 lbs +?? At my marina a gentlemen has a 225 Crownline. They do not make this model anymore but he ordered it with a 502. I'm sure the boat is lighter than yours and he can run a legit 68 GPS although it is not driveable (safe) Its a 2O-21 deg. hull and just not up to that kind of speed. Sounds like you need to try a 25P. Good luck

Re: proper prop selection help
 

How dare you call my boat overweight! :D Actually, I just looked it up , and it weighs in at a solid 3,975 lbs. Still not exactly a featherweight, but I get your point. Maybe going to a 25p will help , but not sure if I need to try it in a mirage, or a mirage plus. Not too many options where I live to be able to try different props. Marinas around here are small, and cater to the cabin cruiser variety, and dont have anything just to try out. Sucks having to fork out the cash on a new prop , only to realize its not the one you wanted. :(

Re: proper prop selection help
 

Talk to Matt @ Throttle Up Props. They are an advertiser on the site. The guy knows what is is doing and is very helpful...

Re: proper prop selection help
 

I own a 93 Conquest with a stock 454 mag with abravo 1 drive spinning a modified 23p Mirage turned down to a 22p. Mine runs at 5100rpm at 62mph.
I think you'll be hard pressd to see anything over 65mph with this hull. I've talked to others that had these and have put some pretty bigp power to no avail. This hull was never designed to see those speeds, simply a nice riding, mid performing boat in it's day. She is a very good riding boat and very predictible + fairly good on gas! We really love ours and she's a beauty condition wise. I tried 5 different props last year and it was amazing what the boat did not like. The worst was a bravo 4 blade. I did talk to Huston Props and he thought he could get me another 2-3 mph doing some work.

Re: proper prop selection help
 

I agree with your opinions of these boats. They really are fun to drive, and handle very well. The ride is also smooth, as you said. I have had mine about 6 years now. The hull is in great shape, and solid, not rattling apart like other older boats that I know. I have only had to repower with a fresh motor. All else is in great shape. I owned a checkmate before,and fell in love with this one as soon as I test rode it. A totally different ride to me. It rides like its much bigger than it is. Glad to hear of your testing of the 4 blade prop results. I wont even bother. Working out your numbers , your prop slip is quite good. That gives me some hope. I think you are right about not expecting much over 65mph. I would even be happy with your numbers. Thats still 3mph better than me. And my slip is about 22% right now. If I had your numbers, about 12 or 16% slip, depending on what you plugged in your prop as, (22or23p) I should be right where I expected. About 62-64 mph. Thats 5 mph for me, and would make me happy enough for this boat. Would still like to try out a mirage plus 25p, just for kicks, and see what happens. Ill let you know if I get a chance to. Even the mirage plus 23P may help out. This prop I have (mirage 23P), has been repaired before, and I never really trusted it after that. Your slip numbers even give me more reason not to trust it.. Thanks for your advice.. :)