96 Mercury 120 xr sport jet Stator Please any help?

[gpshogan]

My boat does not rev up enough and will not hit top speed like it should. Ive ruled almost eveything out. I now reliazed that its running off the battery, and the stator is blown...

But could a bad stator actually effect preformace and how?

1996 jazz bayliner 120 xr sport jet.

Thanks