Effect of engine height on other aspects of performance than top speed

[John800]

I asked in another thread about adding a foil to the boat I bought. Over the course of the conversation it came to light that the CavitationPlate is below the bottom of the v. My understanding is that raising the engine will create less drag and would likely increase top end. The question I have is: what else will it affect? Would it likely cause any change in how it planes or handles? Both at top speed and below top speed. I am not overly concened with top end, so I am not sure if it is worth messing around with or not.
looking at it and thinking about it, it may make it plane better by pushing the boaT forward rather than lifting it, or maybe there will be no noticeable changes.

[JPEROG]

Depends on the boat but for what you were talking about "pulling the kids and running around with a 90 hp motor" raise it up so that the cavitation plate is surfaced by a couple of inches when the boat is on plane, add your foil after you have it set there and go have fun. When you see guys on this board talking about raising a motor "they have water pick-ups in the bottom side of the case". These are designed to be "surfaced", run high, and are looking for top speed and better handling at high speeds (65 mph and up) typically.

Joe

[keefallan]

Raising your motor a hole or two shouldnt affect anything for you. it will give you some extra speed. You just need to make sure that water holes stay in water at all times.....thats really what you need to be aware of the most.

When i was a little younger, I didnt give it a second thought......the motor is hung on the transom at the hooks, drill your holes seal 'em and go. Then, i got into the going faster thing, and found that there was free speed to be found by lifting the motor up a hole or two.......and there was. What i found the most interesting as an observation was that my wake would get smaller the higher I raised the motor. I directly correlate that to less drag.

I didnt notice any negatives on my crab boat when i raised it two holes. It was all positives...........my plate was just below the "v" as well. Now its an inch above. On my bass boat that I restored, i raised it to the point that the bullet was at the bottom of the boat. It did affect turning at that point....much wider turns. But that was an extreme difference and sitting on a 6 inch jackplate with a pad on the boat as well. I miss that one from time to time.