As a former owner and driver of three of these 10' Cougar Cubs with 25XD Mercs back in 1984 - 1986, these boats are very fun to drive. Not too sure of Ron's experience with these, but I had a lot of fun in these as both lake boats and on a course. Of course, I was 14 years old and didn't know any better either. hehe.

With a 25 Merc, trimmed out in the #5 tilt pin hole, you can get 43-45mph with a re-pitched aluminum prop to 18". Mercury made an 18" Chopper for the 25 that you can find here or there sometimes on the internet. I lost the part number a couple years ago. If you get one of these Choppers, you are supposed to raise the engine 1" on the transom. Otherwise, leave it flush on the transom. The Chopper will not run any better than a repitched aluminum prop, so save your money and don't look for one. There are also some cleavers out there too, but I never ran one of those.

One thing about the #5 tilt pin hole, it will cavitate for days and never get on plane unless you are heading into the wind with serious waves to get it going. Once it planes though, you are trimmed to about the last 12" inches of the stern in the water at top speed. Start out in the #3 hole and work your way up until you get the feel for how to plane it out. Of course, I only weighed about 110lbs. back then.

I saw one on the net about 5 - 7 years ago out in Texas where a guy had taken this setup and put nitrous on the 25 Merc. I think it was a 50 shot, but he claimed the boat ran 80mph top speed. Not sure how long that engine will stay together and whether or not I could knowingly put someone in a Cougar Cub IF it really ran that kind of speed. I was never afraid of its attitude at mid 40's, but like others have stated, it wasn't meant for much more than that.

Good luck, have fun, and be SAFE. Slide over and lean into the turns to keep it right-side up when turning left. Like a dumbass, I tried to turn one over one time and almost succeeded. Never did though. Maybe Ron just weighed too much. hehe.