[Fr. Frank]

Let me begin with the fact that I was manager of a SeaCraft dealer marina back in the early 80's. We rigged the 20" hulls with everything from a single 70 hp Evinrude, to a single 175 Evinrude, and all the Evinrudes and Mercury motors in between.

The most popular rigs for hp was either a 115hp V4 Evinrude, or a 115 Inline 6cyl Mercury. The next most popular were the 85hp V4 Evinrude, and the 90hp inline 6 Mercury. Only one time did I ever have someone come back because they didn't have enough hp, and that was a customer who was unhappy with the new 80hp inline 4 cylinder Mercury on the back of a 1969 20' Seafari, because he couldn't pull two skiers at once. He had repowered from a single 135 Mercury inline 6. So at his request, we added a second 80hp inline 4cyl Mercury, giving him twin 80 hp motors. He was happy with that.

I can think of no reason to power a 20' Seacraft with more than 140 hp except going faster than 40 mph and/or just wanting to spend extra money on fuel.

Even the boats I see rigged with 150 or 200 hp are running less than 20 mph offshore, and they have a lot more trouble keeping on plane at lower speeds because of the extra weight hanging on the back of the boat.

My '71 Seafari 20' with it's original Mercruiser 140 and trim tabs can hold plane at 12-13 mph offshore in 2-4' and still give me a fabulous ride, where 17-18 mph would have me airborne from time to time. I came in from 29-30 mile offshore Saturday in 2'-3', with the occasional 4' or 5', with a fairly short wave period, and I came in at on plane at about 13 mph all the way. Never airborne, never stuffed the bow. If I had too much weight on the back, I would have either had to fall off plane, or would have pounded the crap out of myself and my family.

The target weight is 300 lbs for a transom-mounted outboard. Get as close to that as you can.