Hard top is definitely not a good idea. Even with an aluminum frame, its too heavy to be that high. I have a friend who owned a 25 with two 2 stroke outboards on a bracket that must have been stainless, with a hard top and a tower. He and his wife hated the boat. Raising the cg that much gave the boat a huge roll(to the point that is was scary for an experienced boater) and it snap rolled badly. He took the tower off and it was still bad. Mine has a bimini with aluminum frame to minimize weight. It has a pretty good roll, but its not a fast roll and it does not snap roll. I'm good with it, but somebody else might not be, especially if it was faster and wider.
Bilgerat had twin 2 stokes with a stainless bracket and reported no problems, but he didn't run much in the ocean. I'm not sure how to evaluate that.
The 25 has an interesting history. Potter did not build it like Moesly designed it (much less weight forward). To get enough power for the boat to go fast, they needed twin 165's. Compared to my boat, thats 900 extra lbs in the stern. The boat wasn't popular and its my understanding that Potter had trouble getting the boat to act right. Rumors of adding pig iron in the bow.
Somebody on this forum posted a formula to calculate cg changes. I've lost it. Anybody remember?
Bottom line, be careful with the cg.
Extended Bahama trips. Thats exactly what I do with mine. By far, the best boat for that purpose that I've ever owned or been in. If you haven't seen my posts on the early trips, there is a lot of performance information there that you should look at.
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