Fountain propping questions
 

I'm posting this in GD for more exposure.....Recently I bought a P5 Hydromotive for my 29 Fountain. The boat is an 03 with a 525 and if I measured the X-dimension right, it measures at 1.5 inches. The prop is a LH Hydromotive P5 26".
Against all predictions, the boat did not take too well to the new prop. I was only able to get 74.6 GPS out of it but the tach was floored at 5400 RPM. (lots of slip)The testing was done on E. Lk Toho in St. Cloud, Fl and the conditions were dead calm. The boat also porpoised a bit as well and would get very unsettled from other boat wake at slower speeds. It also porpoised when turning left and felt very sluggish in a left turn and overall. (It turned better to the right) My cruise (4000 RPM) was only 52mph. The boat was just a different beast and felt very "heavy".
Now I am working with Julie on this but before I start an expensive process of sending a prop back and forth to be tweaked, I thought I would post here to see if anyone else with the same boat is using a P5 Hydro and if so, what are your results? I have talked to a raceboat owner who uses another make of 5 blade and loves it, but his boat is a lot lighter that mine. Right now it's looking like my boat may not like a 5 blade and if I decide to sell the prop, I don't want to make it too customized to my boat thereby not working with another.
My goal with a 5 blade prop was to get a better holeshot, a higher cruise speed than my 26Bravo (I use a 28 in the cooler months) and maybe top the boat out around 76-78 or so in decent conditions. I want this to be the flexible summertime prop. I will run something different for the winter. Right now I run a 26 Bravo in the summertime, it tops the boat out around 75-76, even when the boat is full of fuel. Great holeshot, but cruise speed suffers.

Thanks for the help and input!

You've gone to the right place, Matt and Julie are not only experts to the max they are straight shooters, We run there props on our race boat and have allways been happy with the results.

what pitch is the P5 ???

The P5 is a 26" prop, guess I forgot to put that in there.

Might want to think about trying a P5 X.

I assume you mean the propshaft is 1.5" below the bottom?????? If so, your actual X dim is way high around 20" assuming you don't have a shorty drive.

The x-dim on a new 35 Executioneer is 19 and have been for several years. Not sure where the 29s are?

Yes, it is 1.5 inches below the bottom, the center of the propshaft that is. It is a high X, I do know that. If I remember right, Fountain raised it in 01 or 02 I think. I'm told, shortys are a waste of money on that boat. What's the difference with the P5 X? And how do I calculate the actual X dimension?

If you want to concider other very adjustable 5 blade props, we can supply you with a Maximus for testing.

Thanks