I'm looking for a fast early 90's 42' Fountain Lightning that can run around 90mph. My question is what is the max horsepower for a Bravo 1 drive? I want the power and speed of the tripple 525SC models I've been finding but I really don't want tripples because of the added maintenance, fuel cost, and weight. The Fountains sit low enough in the stern and it seems that the tripples really make it sit low and look weird. Plus isn't it more drag with 3 drives in the water and a less effecient drive system? I don't know if I can get the same power with twins because I don't know the limitation of the drives. Since I want silent choice that means I can't go with the #6 drives so I'm stuck with bravo 1 drives right? Perhaps there isn't much of a difference in speed between the tripples and twin's, is there a huge difference?

I personally am partial to triple engines. In the mid 90's I had a 40' Hustler with trips and I loved it. I did all the non-warranty work myself, so I didn't really feel the higher maintenance costs. The fuel costs were not that much more because three engines didn't have to be pushed as hard as two to do what I wanted. Three engines share the load better than two.

In this economy you can steal a trips boat due to the panic of owners dreading feeding three engines rather than two.

Another great thing about the trips boats is that as soon as they are moving forward they are almost already on plane without the bow raising so high you can't see anything until the boat planes out and the nose comes down. This is a great safety factor in crowded areas.

If you buy a trips boat be prepared to be spoiled.

It will be a tough find to get all you want.

To get a non step twin engine 42' to 90mph, you're going to need 700+ HP a side, probably more. There are not too many 700+ hp engines that would compatible with silent choice. Also, pushing 700+hp through any style bravo drive in a 10k boat is just a question of how long the drives will last, not if they will last.

Interesting, those were some good points on the tripples. I didn't think about the fact that the tripples aren't going to work as hard the push the boat, hence the gas consumption may not be such a big factor. Also I never heard about how they plane quicker like that. I just assumed that tripples were a rather inefficient setup, but then again they wouldn't have been made if it's no good. Thanks for the responses.

I think trips have a big difference in Insurance cost, check before you buy.