Perfromance Mary,

If your props are not lab finished then you could consider doing so this would put you were you need to be. Or you could downpitch them an inch and see a 200 RPM increase. If your goal is top end then you really want to run at 5200 RPM at WOT. But this will most likely result in a loss of cruise speed.

Julie

rhmuir,

Are the props Labbed by Mercury? What is your top end rpm?

We can make a modification to the props you currently have that will improve mid range. Otherwise, stepping into 5 blades would also improve the cruise speed. Of course there is a huge cost difference in the two options.

performancemary,

If your looking for top end, you're better off Labbing the current Maximus propellers. We actually used your hull as the test platform while developing the Lab technique for the Maximus line here on Lake Winnebago.

Brentt/ Julie
Guess what. My boat was the one used for the testing. The guy I bought it from worked with Merc. My problem is that when the testing was done the motors had Supper Chillers thus an additional 100HP each. I took the motors back to stock.
With the Chillers boat ran 88/89 with the 32' 5 blades but now with the lower HP and the same props I am at 80.5 and 4850/4900 RPM .
I will check with Merc tomorrow and see if they can tell me what they did to my current props. All it says on the box is " special cupping"
Based on magazine test reports I have seen on the 2001 PQ with the stock 575sci's with 33' Lab Bravo ones they got 83.1 at 5300. T figure I should get at least that with the right 5 blade.

Appreciat your comments

performancemary,

I know Mark and Tom quite well and worked closely with them as that project was developed. The props you have, if they are the originals, are special and not normal Mercury Lab configuration.

The people currently working at Merc Racing in my old position will not be able to tell you what was done without research. Be prepared to give them the serial numbers on the hubs. Depending on what props you ended up with, they still may not be able to tell you. Ultimately you may have to send them in to Merc.

If you wish, call us and we can discuss the options you have or better yet, send us the props and we can go from there. We ran alot of different prop configurations on your boat. The original prototypes were run on your boat! They were actually 5 blade Bravo 1's! Most of the propellers were Lab Finished which will effect what you can ultimately get out of the props now. Nice to hear from you!