Engine height? 21' Seebold Eagle 200 mercury

[speedman79]

This is a repost since my other thread got almost no feedback...If you have anything similar let me know your engine height and what prop you use and rpm you get - Thank you!

I bought a Seebold Eagle 21' in August '11 and I've been posting in other threads about not achieving the right RPM range and really can't come up with an obvious reason. I have some ignition testing to do come the spring to make sure timing is good and not dropping a cylinder but I can't help but wonder how much performance is being lost due to a wrong setup? I only get 5000 rpm out of a healthy 200 mercury 2.4 black max! I run a 14.25x24 chopper with seems to be a reasonable prop for this boat. The weight of the boat I estimate around 1200-1500 lbs. There is very little reference available for this boat online. I asked a guy on youtube with the same boat and that was his estimate too. My lower unit has a low water pickup but it is far from being utilized - stock rigging with the anticav plate at pad height - so the prop is buried until I use a lot of trim. I've read that the prop shaft can be at the pad level....Thats about 6 inches higher! How high do most guys go with 21 superboats, checkmates, challenger ? How much can I expect rpm to increase by raising a bolt hole or two ( no jack plate...yet ). The transom extends beyond the pad so the hull has some setback built into it.
-21' - 1500lbs max
-200 mercury 2.4
-24 pitch chopper
-5k rpm max



Thanks!

[Inline Six]

If your cavitation plate is level with the pad buy a jack plate and raise the motor, that is way too low

[speedman79]

How much higher? Bullet of the lower unit under the pad? I want to be able to ski off of it without taking a roost in the face - lol.

[Inline Six]

Buy a jack plate so you can adjust it.

[speedman79]

Right now adding a jack plate will require changing my steering cable so for now I'm going to at least raise it two holes. Do boats like this usually run the bullet of the l/u just below pad?

[johnboy 88 vegas]

Raise the motor as high as you can using the motor holes for a start. Thats still gonna be way low for a top speed application but probably good enough for water skiing. Your gonna need a jackplate or a 15" mid section to get the bullet about even with the pad for good performance.

[speedman79]

I think I'll be able to make the cable work - decided to buy a CMC ML65 - got a good deal from a local guy on Craigslist. Sucks to be in NY right now - snowing.