23 sceptre performance

[merch]

Thanks for the welcome. I know my question sounds like I’m beating a dead horse. I have been through the past threads and they have been tremendously helpful. They are part of what put my expectations where they are now. My biggest concern is that the two boats I tested came nowhere close to what I have read here and I am wondering what the difference is a result of. Two bad eggs is a possibility, but what really got me worried was the 225 OX66. It really didn’t feel like the power was in it to do the job.

I should back up a bit. I’ve always loved the seacrafts. I’ve fished on a friends 20CC for years and it is one of the sweetest little rides in that size I’ve ever been on. Always made me wonder what the 23 must feel like.

I’ve also spent a lot of time on the lesser deadrise planning hulls, so between them and the little 13ft whaler I grew up on, I decided I never want to feel another wave pass under the boat again…. Ever…

The real nail in the coffin for me was a friend’s Regulator 23. I’ve been on 40’s that gave a worse ride than this thing. Of course he had to put a 300 Yami 4-stroke on the back and I’m pretty sure now that I’ve now been ruined for life. ;-) Needs to be 23 footer now, and it needs to cruise in the mid 20 knot range. The 20 will never be enough for me again.

That being said, I’d love to have a CC, but family considerations, and Buzzards Bay in Oct/Nov, and pretty much every afternoon in the summer with a SW blowing on the falling tide got me thinking I would be better off with a full windshield in front of me.

So here I am at the 23 sceptre potter hull. The one thing I can say about the test drives I’ve been on is that the ride lives up to its promises. Everytime I expected to feel something under the boat nothing happens and it feels like falling back down on a pillow full of down feathers. I’m sold on the ride. Now I’m just wondering what it takes to get the performance up to the mid 20’s (knots). Will a 225 ever get there? Is transom mount a better option than the bracket? I/O? I know the tops on these boats will have an impact as well, but I’m wondering really how much it will actually be.

Thanks again,
Tom