150 hp vs 200 hp?
 

The V20 is the most versatile small boat. Stout enough for in-shore salt water fishing, but svelte enough for water skiing. Perfect.

My last boat was a pudgy 20 ft cuddy with a mercruiser I/O 170 Hp (4 stroke)
With 3 or 4 people in the boat it was OK (not great) at pulling a skiier out of the water on 1 ski (2 skis no problem). Based upon this logic, I'd probably want a 200 hp 4 stroke engine in a V20

One possible answer is to go 2-stroke but I dont want a 2-stroke. I troll for stripers alot and they just cant seem to go slow enough AND they load up after trolling for a long time. Perhaps a newer 2 stroke would not have this problem.

How many Hp do I need in 4 stroke to get what I want?
(I suppose I CAN'T go past 200 Hp, right? What does the capacity plate say on these?)

V21 limits 200........earlier V20's I believe 225.

Suggest just do your homework on best performing 4 strokes - including weight and go for it. Won't have the torque of 2 stroke but if you get top rated 150 4 stroke the fuel economy will be fantastic !!

If you want to go as fast as possible, get a V20, 225 hp 2 stroke, set motor as high possible, experiment with props and you'll run 55-60 mph light. That's flying for this hull.

Smooth, quiet, amazing fuel economy or...........
Louder, let er' rip top end !!

Para, you might try to contact Pipe Dream about his Suzuki DF175 on his boat. I was looking hard at that combination for my V-21. I had that engine on a 22 ft Bay Boat and really liked it. It had a lot torque and was smooth as silk. Maybe Pipe can respond with his thoughts.

There's another option MANY overlook. Buy a couple of different props for each application, then a lower HP engine can do it all. Then again, even with a 225 its a good idea to get a different prop for water sports than what you would use for cruising/running. It doesn't cost that much to pick up a 4 blade prop with 2 inches less pitch for watersports so you have extra thrust to jump on plane when you're needing that, then switch back to your other prop when you're not. I've got 3 props for my skiff, and I don't even pull skiers. Thats just to cover my different uses.

Fermanator: You raise an interesting point.

I sued to use a 19P prop for water skiing, etc It was pretty good. If I wanted to haul Arse I put a 21P on it.....but it was not very useful for much else. It even made it so I trolled a bit too fast

All things the same, lets say for a 19P prop I either switched to: 1) Stainless, or 2) Switched to a 4 blade version of a 19P in aluminum or, i suppose 3) a stainless 4 blade

How much of a difference do you think I would see. Particularly in the ability to rip a skiier out of the water.

My Suzuki DF140 pulled a skier no problem.

A DF150 would be perfect.

When you say 'pulled a skiier' are you talking about ripping somebody out of the water on ONE ski vs TWO?....big difference.

On One ski, even if the handle gets literally ripped out of your hands occasionally thats good. You can never have enough power.

The boat has to accelerate (get up on a plane) quickly too. Otherwise the skiier is stuck in limbo in this big 'hole in the water' for too long. Trim tabs despite the added load (hence the need for more power) seem to make the boat hop up on plate 2X as fast if in the fully down position, then pull them up unless you have a wake boarder in which case a huge wake is good.

Power, power & more power! Thats why a ski Nautique has a small block v8 in it

You can always get a high five 5 bladed stainless prop. NOTHING will get you on plane faster than one of them. They're also VERY smooth with an ok cruise, but they SUCK at wide open. I had one on my flats boat and could throw people out of it getting on plane, it was up in literally a boat length, but top speed was 52mph, that was it. In contrast, I switched to a 4 blade mirage plus, it would still get on plane quite respectably(about 2 boat lengths with full tabs), cruised about the same speeds of low to mid 30's with the XRI 150 Merc loafing along at 3200-3500 rpm's, but I hit 62 when I dropped the hammer, and had more in it(the wife never let me open it up fully, 60 was her limit). A prop change or having 2 or 3 props can go a long ways to making 1 boat do it all.

For ultimate top speed - drop the boat off very high cliff such as Grand Canyon - - any prop, 3 blade, 4 or 5 doesn’t matter

Put a lot of weight in the bow for better terminal velocity. :)