I know that this question has been beat to death over the years but I could not find anything in the search that satisfied my need. Ive been reading for over an hour and find all kind of varying advice for different setups so here is mine. I run an 06 Pantera Classic with a 200 EFI and a Tempest Plus 25P prop. I just had a Detweiler hydro jackplate installed, not for increased speed but more for versatility and shallow water running. From the time I purchased the boat I never messed with my manual plate and I was overall pleased with the performance. It was a little slow out of the hole, not too bad, and I would get 72 GPS fully loaded (I weigh 215) and 66 with my tourney partner, 250 lbs and a not very aerodynamically built passenger. Anyway, being the idiot that I am, I never measured the propshaft/pad elevation relationship on my setup before I had the new jackplate installed so now I am starting anew. No big deal, Im not worried about figuring a starting point out but Im curious what set really seems, to those that know, to be an optimum area for overall performance. Is it 2″-3″ below pad? Is it about even with pad? Does this setup run best set deeper? Ive read so many varying opinions and Im just looking for the range that I should be focusing on to “fine tune” things from. I do not live on the water, or even within a reasonable distance from water so my seat time is limited already. The extremes for rough water, shallow running, top end, shallow take off, etc Ill work out but, understanding all setups are somewhat unique to themselves, anyone have an opinion on the best starting range and Ill work it from there? Thanks.
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