First time trying to post a picture on here. Let's see! I put a new Yamaha 250 SHO on my 1998 Champion 221. It's got 17 hours on it and I love it. The first 10 hrs were scary as heck because it ran 80 mph for the wide open parts of the break-in. There was so little boat in the water at wide open that it wouldn't steer. I took it to the Mississippi River. Whenever there was a turn in the channel I would slow down about 500-600 rpm to get it to steer then open it back up on the straightaways. I went with the Yamaha to comply with the "any V6" plate. I received a lot of helpful input from this site about the rating plate. I decided not to risk a liability suit if I ever had a bad accident. I started out with Evinrudes in the 80's, then Mercury's up through this year. I would have stayed with Mercury if not for the rating issue. In the end I'm very pleased. It is so smooth and the gas mileage is way better than the 225 EFI. It took me 18 months to find the engine. I just love this boat. New Liebroc seats, a few new trolling motors, and a few new electronics, and never one issue. I need a new trailer badly and can't get dealers to call me back but one more Minnesota month and she'll go to sleep for the winter so I'll keep trying. It's hard to believe that 24 years later it is still my dream boat.
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