Yeah...that ol' johnnyrude 90 degree is lugging. You need to have her above 5500rpm...That engine will be very happy in the 5600 to 5700 rpm range. What type of prop and pitch are you running?? A renegade in a 19 or maybe but probably not a 21 degree pitch. Where you are running is going to coke up your rings and cause carbon buildup in that engine pretty quickly. 5500rpm with a avg to heavy load would be good. That way when you are a bit lighter you can get on up there a bit. As said before...two strokes like to run...and its way better on them. You have to remember that you are starting off in overdrive...no gears...so if your lugging at WOT...you are lugging when taking off....when easing around...all the time your lugging. You may also want to see how deep in the water your motor is...engine height has ALOT to do with performance. I would think you should hit 40 in that rig. You may also have some wet foam...just some things to check out.