When my boat was built and shipped (April 20th), it was shipped with a Mercury 24" Tempest Plus. I did not mess with the setup from the factory during break in because you can't run it wide open for any period of time until it has 10 hours on the engine. At the time, you could not find a SHO prop...period. Well, they became available a couple of weeks ago, so I ordered the 24" SHO VMAX T2 version. After I installed the prop, I was curious about the Pad to Prop height, so took some measurements. If I measured correctly, the PTP was 5.5", which is mighty low, even for the Tempest Plus that came on it. I am not 100% certain that measurement was correct, but I ended up jacking the plate up 2" just to get a starting point for setup. It's still not fully broken in, but I can run WOT for a short while.
Took the boat to Lake Martin last week for a few days and fished/ran the boat for setup. No good place to measure PTP at the lake, but I had marked the jackplate before moving it, so had a point of reference, at least. Engine was too high. Got decent water pressure, but it was minimal at 12-14 psi, and the prop was blowing out coming out of the hole, and trim was very delicate for decent WP. So I dropped it a half inch at a time (twice) until it quit blowing out on hole shot, and water pressure was good, regardless. I ended up with the plate 1 inch higher than it came from the factory.
Mine is a dual console, and has a Fortrex 80 on the front end, a dozen rods, 7 3720 Plano boxes in a Plano tackle bag which fits just right into the rear front deck compartment. So, there's some weight up front. My other tackle...plastics, weights, etc is behind the passenger seat...3 bags full and three small Plano boxes for the hooks, weights, etc. I had a full tank (33 gal), and filled the livewells up. Just me in the boat and I weigh about 185, depending on the day.
I had some concerns about the SHO prop not being vented and the 175, being an inline 4 cylinder, developing enough tq to come out of the hole well. Well, those concerns were not a factor at all. The boat comes out of the hole in 2-3 seconds, no blow out. The engine even sounds throatier with the SHO prop. I have not fully learned to drive the boat yet, but I did manage to get it up to 68mph and 5800 rpm before the chine walking would make me trim back down. There is no doubt there is more there once I get some more time in the seat. The ambient temps were high 80's to low 90's, with a LOT of humidity. So in the cooler weather, she should run even faster. The boat will stay on plane at about 20 mph with this prop. At approximately 45 mph and 4200 rpm, it's like the whole rig shifts into another gear and suddenly jumps up to 55mph and 4600 rpm, + or -. The entire boat lifts, the bow comes up, and she literally seems to be flying on packed air under the hull. From there it just gets faster, with WOT and bumping the trim a little at a time until she starts chine walking at about 63 mph. I can handle it up to 66-68, but by then it's totally on the pad, and I have not yet learned to catch the walk in time.
Bottom Line: I'm very impressed with the SHO prop. The lift is fantastic once you get to that "magic" spot. The boat will turn on a dime, even at speed...so much so that you have to be careful not to turn it too much or you'll be pinned to the side on a left hand u-turn. WP stays up with just a bump of down trim in a turn. As I gain experience, I may tinker a bit more with the engine height, but feel that it's pretty close as is. With just me and the listed load, I feel sure it will easily be a 70+ mph boat, especially in cool weather. The 175 SHO makes plenty of TQ down low with the variable timing, so no worries there, and gets very good fuel mileage at a good cruising speed of 45-50.
The Sabre is like driving a sports car...very responsive. It handles heavy chop like it's not there, and boat wakes are a non issue at the right trim level. It's like the ride in a "Touring Suspension" car instead of a 68 Buick. No kidney jarring hull slams, even if you take the wave a little too fast. For an 18'1" boat, I don't think you can beat it for performance and fishing in a more manageable size/price point. Can you put a dozen rods on deck all at the same time? No, but it's not a problem having 6 on the port side, and I can put a couple more on the starboard size if I want to. If you use rod socks, the rod storage is not an issue, and almost all my rods are at least 6'9" with one going to 7'10"...just put the longest to the inside.
Sorry for being long winded...
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Originally Posted by hoos202
