Outboard horsepower
 

Not specific to the V’s .... just interesting to see the continual march in horsepower.
When I was a kid, I remember first the Evinride 135, then the tower of power Merc 150

Now I see Suzuki offers a 350 hp, Merc a 400hp and Seven Marine the 626 hp outboard.

Ok that’s too much for a V but how bout’ a nice little Etec G2 300 hp :)

Or a 300XS Merc or a pair of 2.5 ROS and a couple extra fuel tanks:sun:

I know where a low hour 280 is setting:money:

But our boats are only rated for 250 HP and nothing will ever change that. Go too high and you lose your insurance. :cen:

Having to decide between doing or not doing something I love so some insurance company can make an extra dividend for their shareholders never really appealed to me.

Bradford, I totally agree with you, but when I think of the $$$ that I could lose if I ever got into an accident without insurance...:bat:...well, I guess I can make do with my 200HP Merc and be happy. :head:

Mine says 200 on the plate.

what plate? what insurance? Im just glad when it runs and floats

I'll check, but I'm pretty sure my 1996 V21 says 250 :head:

Im with ya Destroyer,just not fond of insurance lately.

V-21's were 200HP, and I believe v-20's were 235HP for the later ones while earlier models were 200HP. Then there was I/O's which went to 250HP I believe.

I love this discussion, some are Libertarians and they dont know it

F the Insurance companies

Unlike a VIN tag on a car, pull the HP rating tag OFF your boat
There is NOTHING illegal about doing that, its the SUGGESTED rating
If your boat is in good nick, do you think the next owner will take issue?
If the coast guard boards your boat, what will they do?
You just tell them this is the way it was when I bought it

The liberal more government folks would LOVE to see annual boat inspection

All that said, if you shove more that 250 HP onto that transom, think it out
If you are not a tool, you can over-motor a boat wo ripping the transom off
Common sense should be the rule
1% of us cant, so we all have to drive slow, under motored boats?

Sorry, I don't see it that way. I see it more as a safety factor. These boats were never made for high speed runs over flat water like you see when looking at a fishing tournement on some lake someplace. Bass boats with 300+ hp doing 70+ mph is NOT what these hulls were designed for. These are robust hulls, designed to get you out onto rough water and get you back home again. They have an extra wide flared bow to give you a dry ride, and a deep V hull to knife thru the water. Trying to do high speeds through 2-4 foot chop is like asking for your boat to fail. (At the very least your dentist will love you)

And unfortunately, it's far more than 1% that can't drive. True, some idiots just can't drive, and then there's the total f__king idiots that are too drunk or too high to drive and shouldn't be driving anything more than a bicycle. The last thing I want is for one of them to be barreling down on me at 50_mph.
So if a max HP plate will keep them from making their boat into a lethal weapon I'm all for it. I hate the Gov telling me what I can and can't do... but you know,... sometimes it's just a really good idea.

I don't really consider what the government or the insurance company has to say about my boat, but I pay pretty close attention to what the guys who built the boat say about how much power she can handle.