Pontoon Boat & Deck Boat Forum

I have a query regarding the maximum speed of my boat. It is a 23' Sylvan equipped with a Yamaha 200hp engine, yet I'm unable to achieve its full speed potential. Here are the specifics: with a Yamaha Reliance 15 pitch propeller, I can reach 22 mph at 5000 rpms and 27 mph at 6000 rpms with four people onboard. When I'm alone on calm waters, the boat reaches 25 mph at 5500 rpm and 29 mph at 6000 rpm. However, after switching to an 18 pitch propeller, I managed to reach 31 mph at 5800 rpms when operating alone. The motor is currently positioned in the second-from-the-bottom hole. Any recommendations or advice?

Your motor looks to be a bit too low. I have an F200 on a 22' G3 Suncatcher which is a pretty heavy boat (5000lb with trailer and full tank so 3500lb or so with no one aboard) and it will hit 6000 RPM on the nose full throttle and right at 45mph with trim at the middle.

Sylvan used to make an RPT or something formed toon and I think those are kinda known for cracking. If yours happens to have those you may want to check them over good and make sure you're not carrying some water.


If you look at the bottom mounting bolt on the transom, the inward curve on the mounting bracket on mine would be right inline with the clean portion of the "scum line". Yamaha owns G3 so it's got their "power matched" prop setup which is the Reliance 14-1/2" x 15 pitch.

You can see the water line below. Your trim ram looks submerged whereas mine looks like it would be partway out of the water. I won't be back at the lake for a couple weeks so can't get better measurements until then.

Higher quality pic
https://photos.app.goo.gl/iXPdBbUjiG4XEha49

It looks to me like a good toon scrubbing might be in order. Take it to a beach and use a couple of those Scotch Brite pot cleaner things.

Sorry, I've been getting an SQL error the past several days when attempting to post. If I trim mine so the lower body panel seam (the one above the oil drain plug) is parallel to the water with no one on the boat and about 30 gallons of gas, that panel seam is about 2" above the water line.

Where is it at full throttle. The Cavitation plate should be running right at water level.

I am looking at buying a new Starcraft SLS3 or CX 3 both 24' models. My dealer has them with Yamaha SHO 200s (V6) and Mercury 200s. Rated for 300s. Does anyone have experience with these.

The Yam 200 SHO will push that boat just fine. So will the Merc.
However, if it is rated for 300, I would put a larger motor on it.
Nobody has EVER regretted having more HP.
The engine will work less, last longer, and resale, resale, resale.
SHO 250 could be an option.

Poorkchop wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 11:07 am

I have a query regarding the maximum speed of my boat. It is a 23' Sylvan equipped with a Yamaha 200hp engine, yet I'm unable to achieve its full speed potential. Here are the specifics: with a Yamaha Reliance 15 pitch propeller, I can reach 22 mph at 5000 rpms and 27 mph at 6000 rpms with four people onboard. When I'm alone on calm waters, the boat reaches 25 mph at 5500 rpm and 29 mph at 6000 rpm. However, after switching to an 18 pitch propeller, I managed to reach 31 mph at 5800 rpms when operating alone. The motor is currently positioned in the second-from-the-bottom hole. Any recommendations or advice?

Definitely clean the toons. You can easily lose 10 MPH off the top end. Happened to me last summer (my first season with a relatively high horsepower tritoon). Your second to last picture shows a lot of growth on the toon.

sunedog wrote: ↑

Thu Jul 06, 2023 9:12 am

Poorkchop wrote: ↑

Tue May 30, 2023 11:07 am

I have a query regarding the maximum speed of my boat. It is a 23' Sylvan equipped with a Yamaha 200hp engine, yet I'm unable to achieve its full speed potential. Here are the specifics: with a Yamaha Reliance 15 pitch propeller, I can reach 22 mph at 5000 rpms and 27 mph at 6000 rpms with four people onboard. When I'm alone on calm waters, the boat reaches 25 mph at 5500 rpm and 29 mph at 6000 rpm. However, after switching to an 18 pitch propeller, I managed to reach 31 mph at 5800 rpms when operating alone. The motor is currently positioned in the second-from-the-bottom hole. Any recommendations or advice?

Definitely clean the toons. You can easily lose 10 MPH off the top end. Happened to me last summer (my first season with a relatively high horsepower tritoon). Your second to last picture shows a lot of growth on the toon.

Exactly.

My 24 foot tritoon has a 225 Honda and gets up into the mid-40’s pretty quickly.
It’s rated for 300 HP; but I see no need to go any higher.

I have a 2019 Sylvan 8522 with the 200 yami on it. It's a tritoon with strakes on all 3 tubes. I'll have to check and see what size/pitch prop is on it and what holes the engine is mounted on, but my max speed is 38 downhill with a tailwind. lol. It hits that speed at about 5700 rpms and max rpm is around 6200ish. I have a 60 gallon tank mounted in the transom. I'll see if I can upload some pics.