If Gary added pitch and/or cup to your 26's and you are spinning 4900, you wouldn't be loosing 500 rpms to go to 28's. I agree with plum, it's better to rev an engine than it is to lug it. Thats whey so many engines break on the dyno. You want to spin as close to 5K as possible.

You need to start borrowing props and do some experimenting. Then this winter you can have throttle up or bblades tweak them perfect for you.

When are you coming to the big lake?

After reading the thread below, I think the plan is to look for 26P hydros now and then maybe some shorties over the winter. Powerboat ran 74 mph with 26P hydros on a '94 31 with 502's. Also, apparently Jay Ross said that the 31 would benefit from shorter drives.

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...referrerid=329

The edges of my exhaust flanges are about 1" below the swim platform.

Chris, we haven't made plans to go anywhere yet. Only been out on Oneida twice so far.

I tried some 26P Hydros today and I have no idea how Powerboat ran 74 with them. It was extremely hard to get on plane because I kept blowing them out and ran well over 5000 rpms and without trimming out too far. It road nice and level once we finally got on plane though.

I'm thinking that some 28's would work well, but not sure if I will have the same problem getting on plane. Anyone know if 28's will also blow out or be any better?

My 97 with 502 MPI's runs 70 to 72 depending on water conditions and air temp with Merc labbed B1 26's at 5050 rpm's, and I have a set of B1 28 labbed by BBlades that run the same speeds at 4600 rpm. I was going to send the 28's back to have alittle more work done at BBlades but im adding some HP this winter and am going to wait to see how the 28's work next spring.

FYI stock 28 will spin at 4400 rpm and stock 26's spin 4800 rpm on my 31. Both at around 68 mph.

Another thing to look at is how far above sea level you are. My numbers are at 500 ft above sea level. Im sure i could pick up a few MPH at sea level.