twin 200's on 23

[RICHV]

i have a 23 seacraft that i am restoring and since i have the transom being redone, now is the perfect time to repower. i am thinking of putting twin 200 efi mercs on a armstrong bracket instead of repowering with a 300hp i/o mercruiser horizon.has anyone put 400 horses on the back of their seacraft and if so how was the performance and what was your top speed?. i have also been told that 150 twins is quite ample for this boat even if i am running offshore.is it worth the switch or am i blowing alot of money to get the same hp as the new horizon 300hp.i was told that using twin outboards reduces your hp rateing by almost 30%. fuel efficiency is a major problem since i only have a 60 gallon tank.i can put another 50 gallons or so in the fish box in front of the gas tank. tidewaterplastic@aol.com

[Finster]

Richv, I am doing the same deal, but I would strongly recommend the Seamark bracket. You need as much bouyancy as possible with that rig and thats the bracket that can do it. And yes 400 pony's is farely common. Talk to John R.
Good luck.

[Mark]

...60 gallons in a 23' with twins on the back? I think I might look into a larger fuel tank if you are in the middle of a restoration already.

[barnacle]

Be sure to have a larger tank put in during the redo. I would go with twin 150's over the twin 200's. If your running offshore there is no reason for 400hp. You can only run so fast in a good chop. If your not going to install a larger tank then be sure to pick the 150's. If your stuck with Mercury brands then I would choose the optimax over the efi's.

[eggsuckindog]

The hull just plain rides better with single power. Have you riden in both? With my twins,when I bought it (23 Sceptre 150's), it never semed to respond much to trim. Repowered with a 275 V8 rude and what an incrediable difference, like a different boat. I think the hull rsponds much better with single power, maybe a big single outboard,some boats here on the west coast of FL. ran single 235 evinrudes underpowered but not bad,these new motors are so much stronger. With a small tank twins will kill you on fuel, maybe one of those new Ficeht's (sp) there supposed to be great on fuel and strong. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Snookerd]

Rich-Twin 200s [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] - Finster has it right with the Seamark Bracket. Go with the tank size upgrade too. Here is a great thread on the single vs. twins conflict http://outdoorsbest.zeroforum.com/zerothread?id=85312 [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img] .