I have a 997 SI unit on my boat and its mounted on the bottom part of the jackplate...its out of the way because of where its mounted on the plate but for those that dont have the jackplate you really dont need to spend the cash on one just to be able to use the SI.....the SI only works at up to about 4mph...mine works best right at an idle in gear...so if you jsut trim the motor up some its not going to effect the SI and you will still be able to manuver the boat around and keep it fairly slow speeds where the SI will work the best