Did you put the trim tabs down at cruise speed? Boats like the one you bought will commonly pick up a few more knots by trimming it properly with the trim tabs at cruise speed.
Capt. J, we were not able to trim properly as the port trim tab blew a ram when it was checked out of the water, So your comment is noted and will do so when its fixed. Thanks for the reply. R
I'd replace all of the rams. They're not that expensive and if 1 goes, the other ones probably aren't that far behind it.
Ok, so we ran up from Ft. Myers to St. Pete today, delivering the yacht to the service yard. The first two hours we ran at 1800 rpm doing 8.8 knots running up current. At 2000 rpm we were traveling at 9.3 knots and trimming the boat again, running up current. At Boca Grande we went outside and increased speed to 2850 rpm, full throttle and hit 16.9 knots triming the boat. We backed off and did a comfortable 14.7 knots at 2400 rpm for 7 1/2 hours. Winds were less than 10 and seas 2 ft. We ran for 91/2 hours and burned 140 gal. All in all a perfect day. Engines ran great, now a bottom job using Speed Prop on the running gear. We'll see how she does after the engine maint. and new bottom.