[Capt Terry]

I never had to consider where the A/C plate was during the first 37 years of running Mercs on my '76 20' Seafari. Why? probably because both engines were sold & installed by Frank Brown, one of Moesly's race mechanics. Three years ago I bought an ETEC, then I started hearing about about height over the keel from the ETEC owners site. My ETEC dealer raised my ETEC twice and I raised it again. Last week Skippertee was riding in the stern jump seat as I cruised at 30-32 mph. He said the A/V plate was positioned just right and said Moesly recommended 1.5" above the keel, which is what I measured after the last height adjustment. BTW, I have no engine bracket like Bushwacker. As others have mentioned the propeller characteristics play into this too. I have tried a few props, but got my best results for WOT rpm and best wakeboarding speed control from a 5 blade High Five. The other props worked pretty well too, but didn't quite get it to the recommended WOT rpm.