Another Prop Question?

[BassChump]

I have posed a question about the prop on my 1995 Spectrum Pro Avenger with a 90 hp Force hanging off the back.

I originally asked about a good prop for skiing but now I'd like some opinions on a prop that will add a bit of speed.

After having the boat on the water a few times, the prop that is on it spins up to almost exactly the redline of 5250 rpms. A half tank of gas, all my fishing gear, trimmed out and smooth water, I get 39 mph out of it. I've hit 40 a few times when the air temps was a little cooler but that's tops.

The prop is a 13 X 19 aluminum. So my question is, if I went with a 20 or 21 pitch prop, I realize I would lose some RPMs but would I gain any significant speed?

Just curious...

Thanks for your suggestions.

[slonezp]

I'm willing to bet your maxed out and will gain nothing significant. A stainless may give you a little more but you'd have to justify the extra cost.

[BKeith]

The bigger prop will come closer to slowing you down instead of giving you more speed. It would also make the boat much harder to come out of the hole.

I don't know anything about the hull you have. Some hulls are just flat not built for speed and hit a wall at a certain speed. With those, you could double the horse power and my not gain five mph.

The reason I say that, in most cases the best way to get more speed is through your setup. Adding a jackplate for more offset will let you dial in the offset and engine height. Then going to a high rake, stainless steel prop with the right offset and engine height can sometimes gain you an easy five to eight mph. However, different hulls respond differently. You could easily pay close to $1,000 for a good prop and installing a jackplate and not gain three mph. There is an old saying with most anything that moves, how fast you wanna go depends on how much you wanna spend.

[BassChump]

Well, that's kind of what I thought. This hull isn't designed for speed. It's more of a utility boat that does it all. It's a great boat and it does everything well but excels at nothing. It's a good all around fishing boat, it's a fair ski boat and it's a very good sightseeing and pleasure boat. I'm very, VERY happy with it but just a little more speed would be nice but if I can only get a couple mph out of it with a new prop, then I'll live with what I have. No complaints.

It's a fairly deep V so I wasn't expecting miracles. It sure has a nice ride though. It's an aluminum hull and being so light, I thought the ride would be rough but it's as smooth as silk.

So I thank you guys for your input. I do appreciate your opinions and it sounds like a situation of "if it ain't broken, don't fix it."