HP on Boats

[lund17]

I have been asking different dealers for awhile now and no one seems to know, so I thought I would throw it out here.

Why do the West Coast style of boats (Hewes Craft, Weldcraft, Harbercraft to name a few) require less HP than other brands like Lund and Crestliner?

I am looking to purchase a new boat and been leaning towards a west coast style of boat where the driver sits further to the front of the boat and going with a platform out back to mount the motor to instead of mounting to the transom. If you look at a 18' Lund, it is rated for 175HP but that same boat in west coat style is only at 115HP. Even is you jump up to a 20' Hewes Craft, you only can get 150HP. What is so different between the two boats that you have such a huge gap in HP rating?

[Fish-killer]

That would be for the maximum Horsepower rating for the boats transom.
Stronger haul design, Stronger transoms.
Spend the extra few dollars and get the highest rated boat, For the upgrades to come in the future. i.e Bigger motor!

I hope that helps.

[npauls]

With the motor farther back on the boat it will run better with a smaller motor but also cause more force on the transom so I think that could be the lower HP ratings.