the future of SeaCraft restorations...
 

So......yeah I'm a boat nerd, I study almost every pic of every boat and every configuration there is... but that new 450 merc introduction last night... holy chit!!! all the guys that were putting on 300s the last 5 years or so... when 300hp was the benchmark to reach... now some are going 350.... now there is 400 and 450 options, that actually work with no further weight compromise or modifications during the rebuild. we are talking about a 450 HP motor that now weighs in around 50 lbs less than the 350 zuke. and around 50 lbs heavier than a 300 zuke. 100 lbs heavier than a 300 Yamaha. my question is how does this change the future of seacraft restorations.
maybe this is too technical of a theory... but i think this going to drive up the value of any 23 or larger seacraft, contender, older albemarle, formula, seabird, contender, etc... people will seek out hulls that can handle the power. the guys who currently have the seahunts, seafox, nauticstar, scout, and other cookie cutter boats are out of the game because those boats were only designed to handle the weight of 4 cylinder 150-200 yamahas. any boat that can now currently handle the weight of the current verado I6 platform(670 lbs) can now have more than just a 300 hp repower option (if you stay with the American made outboard!) you can go 350,400, or now even 450...... any way you go only limits your wallet, not weight restrictions. so i think there will be some very interesting rebuilds in the next few years..
if you think the 350 zuke numbers posted were amazing enough, a 450 will probably pushed a loaded 23 i'm taking wild guess at 40 mph at only 4000 rpm. this could get really interesting as a huge game changer as we take old proven boats and put latest motors available to power them.. can the hulls handle this speed without severe chine walk or breaking loose? what say you?

Good discussion starter!!

I saw the pic of the new Merc 450R on Instagram with the five blade prop, yep bad ass!!

i'm real curious when all the technical gurus chime in on this, Flying Frizzle, GFSM, big shrimpin, ken, chuck and rest of the gang.
how fast can these hulls really go safely in calm water before they break loose.
when i repower, i'm pushin' all my chips to center of table. I'm all in.

I thought there are restrictions or limits based on the hull
 

I am not sure what they are for the 23s but would 450 be outside the limit?

"Pricing on the new 450R ranges from $54,000 to $64,000 depending on cowlings and other rigging."

Isn't the max horsepower rating for the 23' 400?

Haha!

Were you recently on Jeopardy?

Let`s see. Dave had a Bibe Oh Two BB cheb in his SeaVette.
He saw low 70`s.

Doodlebug had twin 250 Optis on their Sceptre and saw about the same.

They will chine walk in the 50`s, but you can drive through that.

Bones sees 63 light in his 20. His Merc is 238 at the prop.

The ratings went up as the years passed and HP increased. Funny that.

My 89 20 is rated for 235.

The hulls can go fast as you can stand to push them but "safely" would be the thing. And what you consider "safe". With the right modifications you can push the limits but what you call or I call safe may not float with others. Some say running over 45 mph is not reasonable due to you don't know what is floating under the surface. My friend has a small Allison with a single hopped up Merc 2.5 260 that will touch 100 mph and I see him flying up the river past me while I slow down for floating logs.

Jeeez....that's a small pad!! :)

in total agreeance with what GFSM said. but from what i understand, applicable to my vintage, (2005, bass pro editions), they were actually rated for 300. that's because they were mercury only transoms, and verados where somewhat new if you wanted a 4 stroke over the optimax. so at that time, you only had choice of 225, 250, or 275. (verado). or twin 150 optimax, to get you to 300hp. everything revolved back then around weight. the good thing? maximum motor weight is 1000 lbs. the Vrods in 30" shaft weighed 680 lbs. whether 225, 250, or 275... so now, you can go 300, 350, or 400, all with same 680 lbs.. so weight is no longer the issue.. to further add to the mix, the new 450 still weighs under 700 lbs. either way, my 2005 does NOT have a maximum HP plaque. but i do remember seeing maximum "recommended" HP as 300. according to my merc dealer, you can easily hang a 400 or even the 450 on her with no worries. there is no "legal" documents saying that you cannot. nobody knew back then the future would hold these higher HP opinions in weight packages that "work".

The only reason I can see moving up in hp is for fuel savings that over time would cover the extended cost. What is a $55k 450 really going to do for a 23’ SeaCraft? I love fast toys but this makes about as much sense as dropping a Keith Black blown hemi in a old Jeep.

With the VDH hull, if you get up to a speed where the hull is planing only on the interior planing surface, it's gonna chine-walk. There's no getting around that simple hydrodynamic.

This is where trim tabs - particularly K-planes - become so effective. What the do is give the hull a balanced secondary planing angle so that the hull isn't trying to run only on a V alone, and thus tend to fall off on to one side or another.

well what is that "speed" ? and on a 23, not 20. much more weight and mass.
some 23s from what i have read here have easily been in the mid 60s with no issues. a 400 on a loaded 23 with T-top, enclosure, would be a lows 60s boat IMO, speculation only,

My 23 was once powered with twin 250 Yamahas and I can tell you that once you experience the chine walk these hulls are subject to you will be done with that experiment. It had big tabs but that didn't stop it from occurring but helped to keep it from swapping ends and throwing everyone out of the boat.

I kind of chuckle about all the talk of 70 mph SeaCraft legend. One may touch it with enough hp but in no way will it sustain that speed long enough to capture it on a gps.

If someone for some reason wanted to make it happen the back of the hull would require serious modifications to create/build a pad for it to run on. Tons of work and experimenting to get it right as most of the center dead rise would have to be removed. Just dropping big hp on the back isn’t going to do it.

before i put my trim tabs on, mine was just starting to walk at 59 mph