Hello gang,
I'm having a bit of a problem getting my 161 cat setup correctly. It originally had a Johnson 90 and would reach 30+ mph in any condition. I had an opportunity to repower with a 2019 Honda 100 which I thought would be OK since Yamaha 115 was originally a factory option. The issue I'm having is that the bow is plowing hard no matter how I set the trim. I believe the engine is running too high even though I have it mounted all the way down. I believe the Johnson must have been slightly longer although it was listed as a 20". The prop ventilates in tight turns and I have very little trim authority. The water between the hulls is very turbulent and I believe the engine needs to be deeper than I can get it. I purchased a drop bracket and tried to lower the engine, but the little hump in the rear left the bracket exposed so it turned into a scoop and shot water vertically under operation and behaved like a brake. I am going to install a fin on the cav plate and see if that gives the trim the authority to pull the engine into the water. What really showed the issue to me was I pulled the kids on the tube this weekend and the boat was running more efficiently in Gallons per hour pulling the tube on the pylon than it did without! I'm clearly burying the bow into the water without being able to get the stem down. Any thoughts however crazy would be appreciated. I've even considered adding wakeboard ballast to the rear, even though it's counter intuitive the setup is so inefficient currently I think running deeper would significantly aid operation. Thanks!
