Re: Bottom boat repair - coatings, and size of engine to install in a 25' Cabin Cruis
I've never heard anyone complain their boat is over powered.
Heh heh-- I have--
See the Sea Ray in my signature? We sold it to some friends, the original engine fired while hydrolocked a month later (head gasket) and busted the block. Friend picked up a 4-bolt truck engine and got thru the summer. That winter he pulled it and had it built into an over-healthy 383. Getting on plane was real easy, but too much throttle would ventilate the prop. He got the boat to 58 mph more than once- which is a feat with a deep-V hulled midcabin- and always had plenty of throttle left, but every time he pushed it for more he spun the prop hub. After 4 props, he bought a 28" pitch solid hub cleaver prop. Even with all the grunt it was a bear to get on plane. But he got it over 60 a couple of times, but not many before melting down the coupler hub. And the meltdowns came with another price, the over-revving broke a cylinder wall twice- he sleeved the first one, the second one cost the whole motor.
We ended up getting the boat back sans motor, and it now has a very low hour silver colored 1984 OMC 5.7 with a bunch of contrasting black Mercruiser parts that pushes her around very nicely...
So yeah, you CAN have too much power!
And for what it's worth, during all the abuse, the original u-jointed Gen-1 Alpha One handled all that power without issue...
and oh yeah-- Put that 3.0 in that boat with a 15" pitch prop, and she'll get on plane! Might get all of 24 or 25 mph out of her, but I'd bet a buck it would get on plane. (ok, with trim tabs at least!)