how long should the shaft be????

hello everyone,<br /> As a few of you may recognize my name, i'm new here, but another question popped into my head i'm trying to figure out. I have a Cajun Espirit 195 (an 89 model) with a GT200 Johnson motor (same year) on it. Anyone familiar with that boat hull knows that it has about a 3 inch step down from the rear of the boat to the bottom of the hull. (does this visual make sense to anyone?) Anyway, i'm just curious cause I had a jack plate on the motor, but the cylinder pump was leaking (so I have to find someone who can rebuild that for me this winter. anybody have any ideas for that too???) so I took it off. I"m just wondering how far below thebottom of the boat the prop should be set at. I"m curious as to thinking that maybe with that 3 inch "offset" of the hull that maybe that is part of my performance problems of not getting a hard solid holeshot off the start. to give you guys a visual, the top of the prop is sitting just a fraction or two below the bottom of the hull. does it need to be lower than that? Thanks for any answers guys.

Re: how long should the shaft be????

the cavitation (horizontal) plate should be even with the botton of the boat.