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Last week, on our last day on the water this year, we had a good day to test our 2000 Montauk 17 for its overall performance. I purchased the boat in June, 2021. The boat has its original 2000 Mercury 90 HP 2 stroke.

I have been reading all summer on this forum threads regarding boat performance for various model Whalers and it seemed to me that my boat could be doing better in the top speed category. I have no trouble getting on plane even with four people on-board but top speed at WOT has been somewhat lower than expected based on what I have read here on Whaler Central. Handling has been good although I have not been impressed at very slow speeds around the ramps I use. Its probably me as I previously owned a 19 foot bass boat with a Jet outboard for 15 years and my tendency is to over-steer at slow speed.

Here are some numbers from last week's run. The weather was perfect, sunny and about 68 degrees with about a 5 knot wind on the Currituck Sound, NC, near the Wright Bridge.

My Montauk 17 had on-board a full tank of gas (@22 gallons) two adults (my wife and I and all I will say is that we weigh about 3 times the weight of the gas.) and the usual gear (anchor, lines, two batteries, some fishing gear).

WOT at 5200 RPM 34 MPH (GPS Speed) - average top speed in both directions up and down wind.

Cruised at 4300 RPM 26 MPH with the motor all the way in. Trimmed out the motor about 5" and increased mph to 29 MPH.

Fuel used for the afternoon - 7.1 gallons (pure gas) GPS Odometer showed 23.3 miles traveled for overall 3.28 miles per gallon of fuel.

Our Whaler is bottom painted with the paint probably needing refreshment. I do not know when it was last painted and the finish is dull and comes off when I touch the paint with a wet finger. I trailer the boat exclusively and don't intend to moor the boat in a slip in the future for any length of time.

Outboard is mounted in the top hole and, as I understand from reading here on WC, I probably should move the motor up two holes.

The propeller on the Merc 90 is a stainless steel 3 blade and is marked 5122 22P. Most likely this is a Quicksilver 13.5" Diameter 22" Pitch prop, based on the research I have done online. I cannot find any other markings on the prop.

Boat floats at the dock right at the water/bottom paint line so I do not believe that its heavy from water in the foam. Hull seems solid with no apparent damage.

I would be interested in opinions about all of the above and whether there are recommendations anyone may have so I can improve performance. I have the winter months to work on that.

Considering the load on the boat that day are my numbers reasonable? I plan to move the motor up this winter so its mounted in the third hole. Not sure what to do with the bottom paint since removing it may not be worth the cost (I am not really able to do it myself because I don't have a garage to do that and feel too old to get on my back on the floor and do that work). I have stripped and refinished many pieces of furniture over the years but boat bottom paint is a whole different animal.

Thanks in advance for your views and advice.