Had I indicated that this is another propeller question, whould you have opened this tread?<br /><br />I have a 17-foot Four Winns bowrider with a 3.0 Volvo Penta. Final drive ratio is pretty short at 2.18. The stock prop was an aluminum 14.25 x 21". At WOT my RPMs with the stock prop were around 5000. Volvo recommends WOT operating range between 4200 and 4600. So...<br /><br />I recently picked up an aluminum Hustler prop from Turning Point Propellers. I went up in pitch to 23" (still 14.25 diameter). I expected my max RPMs to drop by about 400. They dropped a little more than expected - to about 4400. This was with a moderate load consisting of two adults and 1.5 kids (my wife is 7 months pregnant) and 3/4 tank of gas.<br /><br />Hole shot feels a little slower but top end has increased by 1 to 2 MPH (to about 44 MPH). The biggest benefit is the cruising speed has significantly increased. At 3400 RPM, cruising speed used to be around 25 MPH. At the same RPM I'm now around 31 MPH.<br /><br />My only questions are: Is 4400 too low for WOT RPMs (i.e., should I be closer to the 4600 max)? I was surprised that a 2" raise in pitch lowered RPMs by about 600. Is this because of more aggressive cupping in the Hustler prop?
