[zach]

Sure wished I had a solid transom at that time, so when I finally repowered last year, I had the transom closed in, picked bracket with most flotation and lightest & quietest motor I could find, the V-6 150(165!) E-Tec at 427 lbs. I probably would have bought the V-4 115(125) which is about 50 lbs lighter but they were not yet in production. Waterline is within about an inch of original and boat is still self bailing, so the big bracket maintains static balance provided you don't go nuts with engine weight. I believe the Seafari has more weight forward than the cc, so it probably will handle a bracket better than a cc also. When you're up on plane however, bracket flotation is gone and the boat KNOWS there is a bunch more weight on it's ass, located 30" further aft! I believe this tends to hurt the ride a little, but you can compensate with a good stern lifting prop. A 4 blade prop was a big improvement over 3B. The bracket allows you to raise motor a lot (My cav plate is about 4.5" above keel) and is probably worth 2-3 mph in top end. I've seen almost 50 mph which seems to be pretty good for a 150 on the 20' hull, although I care about ride much more than speed. It WILL start to porpoise if motor is trimmed out more than about 60% (0=full down, 100=full up). This condition is most efficiently corrected by changing thrust angle (motor trim); trim tabs will also do it, but they add drag as well as lift, so use power trim to change running angle and use the tabs for side-to-side balance! Just my .02 FWIW. Denny

Can anyone give a similar description to bushwacker's about their experience with a floatation bracket on a 20SF (the center console)? I am redoing my '72 and have seriously contemplated putting a bracket with a floatation chamber on. I plan on moving the fuel tank forward and batteries under the console to compensate for the extra weight on the transom. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.