Cray,
Yes, it's rated for 75 HP. But I'm curious whether this hull is "balanced" with a 70?

The reason I ask, is because I've had two boats this year that did NOT run better with max HP. One was a 17' Sailfish skiff that I restored this spring. It only went a couple of MPH faster with the bigger motor. The big motor ran great, but it had a scary, unstable-feeling ride at WOT. On my test ride, I didn't run it WOT for more than a minute or so, feeling much better in the mid-range: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Nzspbl21Q

The buyer drove the boat, and immediately requested that I swap for the 70 HP, and I agreed. With the 70. it had a strong, but manageable holeshot, and it only lost 3 MPH on the top end (from 42 MPH to 39 MPH) and the ride feels rock-solid now. It added a lot of work for me, but the end results were good.


But I know that not every boat is like that. Last year, I slightly overpowered a 16.5' bass boat that I used to demo motors, and more power made an awesome difference for the good. When I got the boat, it came with a 48 HP, and it was okay, doing around 30 MPH.
Put on a 70 HP, and it did 40-41 MPH.
An old 85 Johnson did just over 50 MPH - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsGRqm0rgYo&t=4s
And finally, I put on a 115 Evinrude, and it went well over 60 MPH, and felt really good: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdxnXtguGV8

So I'm asking the folks who know this hull in an attempt to save myself the trial and error.

Thanks!