What style prop do we like on a 20' Sceptre

[Fr. Frank]

Originally Posted by Capt Terry

When I picked up my new Seafari in 1976 from Brown & Hauptner, Mark Hauptner who had raced for Moesly added a cup to my Merc prop. Not sure how common cupping was at the time. Didn’t find out until I met Carla a few years ago that Frank Brown was Moesly’s race mechanic. Explains why my SeaCraft was set up so well!

I remember Frank Brown well. In the early 80's, I used to manage Waterway Marina in Palm Beach Gardens at PGA Blvd and the Intercoastal. Frank Brown's Marine was 150 feet away across the highway. Frank Brown did the setup and tuning on two of my boats, including my first SeaCraft, a '70 Seafari that my uncle had bought new from him.
He advised me on my repower, going with a Merc 1500XS powerhead mounted to regular 20" mid. That boat had the transom cut-out for twin motors, I remember.

I used to go over and pick his brains on everything from props, to trim, to hull design. He had more stories and anecdotes... I used to listen to stories of famous people like Carl Moesly and the bone-headed stuff they would do. Made me realize that I was just as bone-headed as they were. He's the one who got me started in offshore racing at Gulf Wind Marine as a throttleman.

The other setup setup he ever did for me was with a '73 Merc 150 inline 6 on a '73 Slickcraft SS160 turning a solid 2 blade 24p bronze cleaver prop. He added two small 6" wide hand-adjustable trim tabs just outside the keel-line that took the boat from squirrelly at anything over 50 mph, to rock-solid stable at 70+. I could just touch 72 mph with that boat at 8800 rpms. He estimated that at that rpm the motor was actually producing 170-175 hp.