Will a 60/40 merc 4-stroke plane a 17' 900# boat?

[GoneFission]

I have a 2003 Alumaweld Stryker 17' with a 60 horse merc 4-stroke prop outbaord and I'm wondering if I added a pump would it get the boat and two passengers on plane. The boat is the same dimensions as the current Alumaweld Talon model at 17' and ~900 lbs with a 5' bottom and constant 10 degree "V". Alumaweld says the current Talon I just described has a max HP rating of 60/40 prop/jet so it leads me to believe that the pump would do the job on my boat, but just barely. All-together, with two passengers and a minimum load there would probably be about 1700 lbs of boat/motor/kicker/fuel/people/gear, which is a little over the guide provided by Specialty MFG (the folks who desinged the outboard pump) for a 60 HP motor. What I would really like to hear are the opinions of folks who've run similar set-ups--any opinions out there?

Right now with the 60 HP prop and two passengers and a light load it planes pretty quickly and will do 32 mph. With 4 passengers and a heavy load, I need to balance the weight in order to get it to plane in a reasonable amount of time, so I'm pretty sure that with a pump in those situations it would never get on step, but as long as it will get two people and a light load on step I think it would be worth the investment.

-GF

[fishkisser]

I really think it would not preform as well as you think , but I have not run that motor on that style hull only on tunnel hull sleds ...
They push a 14-16 ft flat bottom pretty well though ...

[Mooch]

I'm sure it would get on step eventually.

I had a 17' SuperVee LS which is the Stryker without the windshield. I ran a 50hp propped Yamaha on it.

I had 5 adults in it one day for a little cruise. Just out seeing the sights. On the way back in I decided to see it it would get up.

I figured there was no way,but surprisingly it did.

Getting on step eventually isn't want you want on the river though.

[NWaddict]

I think you would hate it. Especially with a 4 stroke. It will plane eventually on a light load but the lack of power and hole shot will make it pretty frustrating in most shallow water applications.

[sidewinder]

You would have to go with a 90/65 to be happy with a pump imo....and even then if you loaded it up, it would be sluggish.