23 Sceptre vs 23 CC ride delivery

[Reel Smoker]

Lars, what year is your motor?

[Brian Rice]

I have a 23'CC with a 350 Horizon and a Bravo 3 drive. I cruise around 30 knots and get 2 miles to the gallon. I feel that this is one of the best sea boats in its class. We run 30-50 miles offshore and have never felt the least bit uneasy about it. Like anything else there are maintenance issues we change the boot every season and keep a watchful eye on all the systems as any good captain should. I dare say if you hit anything that would tear the drive off a boat than there will be signicant damage to the hull as well.

My thoughts for you all.

Captain Brian Rice

[Shadetree]

Just curious guys, as the designated caretaker of a 20cc i/o(120/140 Mercruiser w/ Alpha 1 Gen II drive) what kind of rpm do you all run when cruising. I was always under the impression that cast iron pushrod engines(NASCAR engines excepted)would not live long at high(over3000)rpm. I know a lot of boat owners that run thiers close to wide open a lot of the time(4000+rpm), and was wondering what kind of longevity one could expect under those duty cycles. I guess if it takes 5 years to rack up 500 hrs before a repower, it doesn't seem so bad. What is a realistic lifetime in hours for the average gas i/o powerplant? Or straight inboard, for that matter?
Pat in MD