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hurricane_217_ownerOP
DeckhandGeorgetown, TX9 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 17, 2025 · 7:26 PM#1
2021 SunDeck 217, Yamaha F150, whatever prop the dealer put on it which i am pretty sure is a 14 1/4 x 17 aluminum. by myself with half a tank it will touch 5,700 and run about 43 on the gps. with four adults, two kids and a tube on the rope it will not get past 5,200 at wide open and the holeshot is a long slow climb where the tube sinks for a second before it comes up.
yamaha says 5,000 to 6,000 for the F150 so i am in range but at the bottom of it loaded. would a 15 pitch fix the holeshot without costing me all the top end, or is the aluminum prop the real problem. Lake Georgetown mostly, some Travis.
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merc_150_fourstroke
HarbormasterAustin, TX41 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 17, 2025 · 9:58 PM#2
you have it diagnosed already. you want to be in the top half of the range loaded, not the bottom, because loaded is how you actually use the boat. every 2 inches of pitch is roughly 300 to 400 rpm on that motor. a 15 puts your loaded number around 5,500 to 5,600 and your solo number near 6,000, which is fine, the rev limiter takes care of the rest.
aluminum vs stainless. the aluminum blades flex under load, which is part of why the tube sinks on the pull. a stainless Reliance SDS 14 1/2 x 15 is what i would put on a 217 that tubes. it is around 500 to 550 for the prop and you need the SDS hub kit. you lose maybe 1 mph on top and you will not care. do not go to a 13 pitch, you will be on the limiter with two people aboard.
before you spend anything, check three things. hour meter says what, the water pressure gauge says what at speed, and is the motor trimmed all the way down when you punch it. half the "no holeshot" boats i see have the motor trimmed out for cruising and the driver never touches it.
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hauls_to_the_ramp
CaptainKyle, TX23 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 20, 2025 · 8:05 AM#3
i run a 217 with a 150 on Canyon Lake and went from the 17 aluminum to a 15 stainless two summers ago for exactly this reason. loaded rpm went from about 5,100 to 5,500, holeshot went from a count of six to a count of three with a tube, top speed went from 44 to 42. worth every dollar. mine is a Yamaha Saltwater Series II which is overkill for a lake boat but it was what the shop in New Braunfels had on the wall.
one thing i did not expect: the boat rides flatter at 3,500 cruising with the lower pitch because it is not lugging.
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travis_lake_life
CaptainLakeway, TX27 posts · joined Sep 2025
Sep 25, 2025 · 6:12 PM#4
stayed on the 17 on mine but stainless. it turns 5,500 loaded because i usually have fewer people than you and i like the top end for the run back from Devils Cove when the wind comes up. so the answer is a little bit "how do you actually use it." if you tube every trip with a full boat, 15. if you cruise mostly, 17 stainless. do not buy either without checking the water pressure like the man said.
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hurricane_217_ownerOP
DeckhandGeorgetown, TX9 posts · joined Sep 2025
Oct 4, 2025 · 4:47 PM#5
reporting back. checked trim first, i was trimmed about a third out at the punch, embarrassing. trimmed down that alone got me to about 5,350 loaded. then i put on a Reliance SDS 14 1/2 x 15 from the dealer in Austin, 540 with the hub. today on Georgetown with six aboard and the tube, 5,650 at wide open and the tube popped right up. top end solo went to 5,950 and 42 on the gps. water pressure sat where it always did.
the yamaha propeller selector on yamahaoutboards.com had the 217 in it, for what it is worth, and it suggested the 15 too. should have looked there before i asked.
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corpus_lake_cc
SkipperMathis, TX16 posts · joined Sep 2025
Oct 15, 2025 · 8:30 PM#6
saving this thread. same motor on a Starcraft SVX 211 down here on Lake Corpus Christi with the same slow tube pull. Academy in Corpus does not stock the SDS so i am ordering. thanks for doing the homework for the rest of us.
