Re: 165 fishing machine mph
I have a 90 hp Merc on my FS165, tops out at about 38 mph which I was not impressed with. I talked to a Lowe technical rep about this and he explained that the optimal speed for the hull is 30 mph and to go faster than that would take alot of HP to overcome the resistance of the hull on the water, as the hull was designed for dry ride and rough water. He siad he would be happy with 36 mph out of a 90 hp. I did talk to a guy at the boat landing with an FM165 and a 60 hp merc and he said he only got 30 mph (he also was not impressed). So according to what I was told and seen, 32 mph would seem resonable, maybe good with a 50 hp. I did change the prop to a 4 blade 20" pitch and topped at 42 mph though the boat is not as guttsy. The 4 blade did improve venting on turns, but did not solve it. I also lowered my motor to the bottom most hole and this helped a little, but in the end I still have venting problems in turns. Still searching for the right prop, the hustler looks promising.
