hydrostream hst

[sterling]

I have a question ,today drove a hydrostream hst 20 ft with a 300 drag engine ,the guy had this rig for some time and had it always equipped with 24 choppers or 24 ET lightning 22 chopper and a laser 2,and did not come any higher than 90 -93 mph so he want more speedoff course, he placed the engine 3.5 inches under the pad,so today I put the lower unit a half inch under the pad,and brought my 14x30 inline blueprinted chopper,I never drove a hst before (I have a vector myself) but found thatthis is a great boat I was suprised that I didn,t have to steer the chine walk out as I,m used to do with the vector,Man this thing pulled so strong after a few easy laps that I had seen 98 mph on the onboard GPS at 7200 rpm ,and found it more than enough,after all it wasn,t my boat.
So the owner took place and drove by with a few impressive runs ,this runs so different than my vector ,it runs flat ,other than my vector ,that one runs with the bow high in the air.
So he came back with a big smile and saw 108 mph several times and 8500 rpm.
Now here,s the question:is this rig capable of higher speeds?
I have a steckbauer 1,78:1 on my vector ,will the hst be improved with it?
he is using a 2 hole CLE now.
Can we raise the engine higher?(12 psi water press now)
I,m afraid that things could go wrong , so I do not want to set it up wrong for him.
He is very happy the way it runs now ,but that will be over in a few weeks,I know him.

Thanks Sterling

[Capt.Insane-o]

The lighter you get a HST the better it runs, I had a svs'd drag on mine before I stuck it on my burgess and it ran 128 and climbing with a labbed merc cleaver. Just barely maintaining 10 psi water pressure. Mine weighs 600 lbs though. After I took all the soggy foam and other materials out of it. Rigged as it is now with about 300hp it'll pull a 26 chopper 9000+ rpm. Have'nt found out how many more+ rpm, because the nose cone came off at 9000+ rpm 2 weeks ago, thanks Bob's :/ . Yes the Steckbauer case will help, I don't like the way a sportmaster handles on mine, a coned 200 case runs the best, but do not last very long. 108 at 8500 is off with a 30p prop, unless he's running a weird ratio gears or the tach is wacky. 8500 with a 30 and 1.87's yer hauling ass.Weigh the boat, and try to get the cg about 2 feet behind the driver. Run it flat, flat is fast, get the bow up at 110+ and it gets ugly.