[willy]

Blue in regards to the bracket I have experience like MJ in owning a cuddy V20 with an Armstrong 28" set back and a Johnson 4cyl 2stroke 115hp on it. I also have experience on two other VCuddy's with brackets and larger motors. And basically this is what I found.
1. Your performance and fuel economy with a bracket will be increased, my 115hp performed better than some 150's I have had the pleasure to run on.
2. The ride characteristics can be fickle and will vary from extrordinary to horrible. Boats that are unbalanced weight wise will porpoise in the water and if the boat you are mounting it on sits a$$ heavy you will be disappointed for a few reasons.
3. Two V's I tested with 30' Brackets and large heavy V6 motors never completely dunked the motor in the conditions I had them but came close, if I was fishing them in the conditions I fished Old School they would have definetly dunked(drifting thru inlets and points with steep standing waves etc. ) Also just coming off plane caused one to bury the exhaust everytime.
4. The slow manuevering in the marina etc. is trickier but not a major problem. You get used to it and learn to compensate for it pretty quick.
5. The flotation, though not substantial definetly helps, not so much because of volume but because where it is located. So if you have the oppurtunity get a flotation bracket, the Armsrongs are not sealed but have a water tight inspection port on top and mine did not leak even after years of use.
6. Others here may disagree with me but in my opinion putting a heavy V6 motor at the end of a thirty inch bracket on the V's, or any 20 foot boat is a mistake, that is with a cuddy, putting one on a CC would be outright dangerous in my humble opinion.
This is my thought on that, it is based on personal experience only and others may have had other experience and I certainly would not discount any of the fellows on this site especially but the most important thing about how sea worthy over all any boat is balance, the boat should sit level at rest, that is how the hull is designed to be. That is how the boat is supposed to be to get rid of water taken over the gunnels and to handle all sea conditions. Our boats are only self bailing when we are moving forward, under power, and frankly the reason MJ and his friend are here today to talk wiith us and annoy us is because God smiled on him and he had a good motor that did not fail him after being tossed around and dunked.
If you are doing a bracket this is how I would do it, get an Armstrong or other quality makers bracket with built in floatation, speak to them on the phone and get the least amount of set back that will be needed, not 1 inch more.
Have someone who is well experienced help or install it for you as mounting height is critical for them.
Put the lightest motor you can on that sucker because weight is not your friend sitting out back of your transom. There can be substantial weight diferences between motors so go by spec's.
Because of the bracket my 115hp Johnson 2chocker moved my 1985 V20 Cuddy smartly at 35-38 MPH fully loaded with three guys and full tank along with a enclosure up. It also got up on plane quick and handled well. That was plenty for me, it also sipped gas.
The max I would consider is a 150. Take a look in the gallery, look for Old School under me or the previous owner Filllet1, look at the pics and pay particular attention to where the scupper drains sit at rest and how the boat is balanced.
That is one of the major reasons I bought her. It is very important.