Hi to all, yes I am the new guy on the site.
I have a 1991 Arriva that I am considering to rebuild. It already has a 1996 Merc 200 EFI Iput on it. I had a prop Co. come to our local launch [ Catskill NY] and they taste drove it with about 7 diff porps till they put on the one it has now. It's a 4 blade SS. I am now looking to replace the piece of crap land and sea jack plate with either a CMC PL-65 or a Bob's marine , my question is how far of a set back is correct for this hull ? It's a 18 ft bow rider, shallow V , Arriva is a subsidary of Bayliner. I am planning on a complete make over but wanted to start with the jackplate.
Thanks for any help

Just be wise in your rebuild cost. A boat like this is probably only worth 3-4 grand tops. So think about what you got into it and what it cost to rebuild. Hate to lose money on it in the future. But if you dont care and want to do it anyways good luck.

OK, since nobody else wants to say it, maybe I will. An Arriva is built exactly like a Bayliner and is not designed, constructed or intended to be a high performance boat. That said, it will not react well to lots of power – and a 200 on an 18’ – 20’ boat is a lot of power. What you will discover quite quickly is that the boat will not handle it well and even if it does go fast, it will tear itself (and maybe the occupants) up in pretty short order. Said another way, there’s a lot more to safe high performance boating than a big motor.

Getting back to your jack plate question, a jack plate is a great way to optimize hole shot, speed and handling – on a boat that will handle the extra stress a jack plate puts on the transom. An Arriva was never designed for that kind of extra stress. So adding one will simply hasten the demise of your boat. In all honesty, you might want to save the money you’re going to invest in that boat and instead buy a boat that will take the extra stress. Sorry if this sounded a bit harsh, but I’ve seen it tried time and time again. The results have always been bad – and sometimes tragic.