Hey guys, please help me with a prop question...

I have a 2003 Chaparell 183 I/O that I am going to squeeze one more season out of before I buy an inboard (long story why, but trust me).

I am throwing a Monster Tower on it, and want to do one more thing…..

I have the 4.7l I/O with the stock 3 blade prop. It will push the boat about 55mph, but is too slow out of the hole to properly pull up 250lb skiers.

I was thinking of changing props to get more hole shot (45mph limit on the lake, so I don’t need the top end). I was told to simply go down on the pitch, but that I could easily over rev the engine if I was not careful and blow it. That is not acceptable, lots of different people drive my boat. Others have said that there is a rev limiter. Others, a 4 blade prop.

Does anyone have any experience with this? Can I safely get more holeshot out of my boat?

Ok, for those that say get an inboard right away, here is the deal. Long story, don’t bother reading.

I just moved onto a 800acre lake. The restrictions are:
1. No boat over 20’6”
2. No I/0 over 4.7L
3. No outboard over 115
4. Because the lake has a big ski team, they DO allow tournament ski boats (only some). They have to be a true inboard and approved as an official slalom ski boat. Weight cannot be over 3,000lbs, cannot exceed 20’6”, and NO WEIGHT BALAST ALLOWED ANYWHERE.

The upside is that its only 15 minutes from St. Louis, and I now live there. Lift goes in next week. Yeee hawww. We really don’t know what type of watersports we will get into (wakeboarding, slalom, airchair, etc), so I thought buying a 40k boat this spring would be a little foolish.

Plus, and most importantly, we are lobbying to get V-drives allowed. If they do, then clearly I would get one of those. My boat will be a family boat a lot, just cruising with friends and having a beer.

I am hoping its worth the wait. Either way, I don’t think I can go wrong by getting another year out of my runabout, and driving twenty other inboards this year to get a feel for what I really want. Hope I am making the right decision. The dealer up the street has a 04 X7 with every option (color I want too), 150 hours as a demo boat, and wants 40K. Is that a good deal?

Thanks everyone.