Competitor 185cs mph

I have a 2014 competitor 185 side console that I bought new. In an effort to save weight and money I had it rigged with a 115 mercury 4-stroke. Up until this year I never took it on a lake bigger than 5000 acres so speed wasn’t an issue. My question is my boat maxes out around 32mph with the motor trimmed up. I’ve seen similar 18ft aluminum boats with a 115 running around 40mph on the gps. I’ve ran both a 3 and 4 blade 17p prop and at around 3/4 throttle it’s already turning close to 6400 rpm. Tried a 19p 3 blade with similar results. Am i crazy or should there be another 6-7 mph hiding somewhere?

I had a 1775 pro V with a 115 2 stroke that would run about 40-42 mph. I would think you should be at 38-40 mph with a little bigger boat.

Have you tried installing speed holes?

The 185 is a good sized boat. That’s pushing a 95″ beam as well. A buddy runs a 115hp on his 175 and it’s not a 40mph boat with 2 guys and gear…more in the 37-38mph range when loaded. You’re a foot longer with a little more weight.

32mph seems low, but to think you will hit 40mph seems like a stretch. That’s a big wide hull to push.

Lastly, I’d take the “speed” anyone says they get with a grain of salt in any boat. A tank of gas and another body + gear is a lot of weight and everyone’s amount of gear is unique. The countless variables added to the factor of everyone wanting to “be faster” makes it tough to get truthful answers without being there to see conditions.

You need a different prop if you are at 6400 rpm at 3/4 throttle.

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

You need a different prop if you are at 6400 rpm at 3/4 throttle.

Yup. Those years from charts I see had 07-14′ mercs at 5800-6400 max wot. A lower pitch will get ya more speed, but may be doggier out of hole.

Deuces wrote:

A lower pitch will get ya more speed, but may be doggier out of hole.

You got that backwards. A lower pitch will give better hole shot with higher WOT RPMs, a higher pitch will give more speed with lower WOT RPMs.

Yep, lower pitch gets you the hole shot and more rpms, higher gives you less rpms but more top end speed. It’s ok to be near your 6400 limit, but you don’t want your rpm alarm going off all the time either. I would be willing to bet that a 19pitch spitfire is going to be the all around best aluminum prop for your rig. You’ll be upping in pitch, adding a blade, but reducing diameter a little bit to keep your rpms up.

I’ve seen that prop perform incredibly on 115’s in boats in the 17-18 foot range. See if you can find a shop that will let you test one, I bet you’ll see an immediate difference, and keep your hole shot too.

Rough week

I just got a 2015 175 Alumacraft Trophy with a 115 Suzuki SS. The guy I bought it from said it topped out at 34. That seemed low to me. I’ve been able to get it up to 37 trimmed at 6200 rpms. Not going to win any races but it is a deep wide boat. My old 96 ProV with a 115 Johnson would go 42 mph.

I’ve got a 19p hustler 3 blade on it right now. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do much testing with it. I just didnt know if i should be looking at something other than the prop

I’m running a 2014 Competitor 185 tiller with a 90hp Merc 4 stroke with a 15p 3 blade and do 36 mph

My 2018 alumacraft 175 edge hit 45mph with ss prop.