Hello to all! This is a heckuva first post but I've got a lot of help from this board over the last two years as a "lurker". I'm not a class racer but am a racer. We race in the local rivers with 40 horse ob's (at least thats what all the covers say) on 12 to 14 foot fiberglass boats. To be competitive you've gotta run 70 plus. We're running about 70-71 gps now. I'm thinking the hull weighs about 250lbs +/- (about as light as we can get it as it is still 14'). The boat is manufactured in Georgetown,SC and is called a "Fast Craft" It has a vee bottom with a 6" or so pad. The motor is a much modded nissan/tohatsu three holer on a 15" mid with transom-mounted low water pickup. Custom jackplate with 5" of setback used to get the bullit up. Cavitation plate is usually about 5" above the bottom. Last prop tried was a D A H 23" cleaver. It was the 70mph+ prop turning less than 6000 rpm's at the end of our straight(!) - it should be turning 7200 -7500 at that speed according to everyone else. Guess at this point I shoulda axed Ron Hill for some prop help. BUT - I had a brainstorm. What about an old utility runabout? I could get one of these by these guys without too much s**t "because its wood and it ain't a hydro" and they have never been outrun by a wood boat. Aren't the utility runabouts light enough (maybe 100+ lbs lighter than our boat) and fast enough to be an advantage over the fiberglass hull? If so, I'm thinking chop the mid to ten inches and lose the jackplate. Can't run a Bass mid or a real racing L/U but we have installed a nosecone and streamlined the lower. I really don't know but I'm thinking a D or E class runabout? Opinions and suggestions? I'm trying to get some pic's today of the boat and the setup to post. What say you oh sage guru's of the water and wind?