Re: 200hp yamaha on 16,5 ft not as fast as I thought ....
Dee, your trim tab you know, is supposed to correct that, but if you are really trimmed out, it's out of the water and doing you no good.
Boy is running a 150 merc (2 Liter) on an 18' ProCraft at 55 with 2 people and gear. Heavy boat but has all the things I mentioned above (they have a www site). Prop is 21 (Merc Laser II) and it maxes at 6000 (rated 5000-5500) and 55, but the 21 is for skiing too. Gearbox is 2:1. If it wasn't for that the prop would be a 23......just some numbers of a nother rig for comparison.
So I agree, you need to go up in pitch (since you have everything else done) and if you get the right prop, you may reduce your steering load as Walleyehed and others have indicated that different types of props have different steering torques.
Mark