Why the need to go in the high 70s? A better question is what bass boat handles rough water the best.

The need to do 70 on the water is the same as the need to do 90 on the highway. The best handling one is the one YOU can drive the best in rough water.

Lol

I'm able to get my 115hp nitro 17 foot up to 56MPH on dash or 54.4MPH on Lowrance by myself with equipment. Having this shorter boat in rough waters is crazy and couldn't imagine doing 70+MPH. With second or third person I only lose a couple MPH. I bet if I had a 21foot boat it wouldn't be as bad doing 60-70MPH. But, I agree with not trusting these lakes with floating logs or other debris floating in the waters.

Nope but nice first post and welcome aboard.

Nope, not here. Fastest I've had the FX is 75.6mph GPS, and it was in optimal conditions.

Thats flying for that size boat bro

There's that word "Need" again...

There is nothing on this entire website that has anything to do with "Need"

Because it's fun

>78 mph is a hard number to hit for most production bass boats. Bass Cat Eyra, Ballistic, Bullet, Triton (older models), maybe a Phoenix are the models that I see on the elite trails that have the capability do it but it’s usually not out of the box. Tweaking is required. I don’t think many of the pro’s are getting top speed since they run with so much equipment. I’ve hit 76mph in my ZX20 with very lite loads and 1/4 tank of gas.
. Now and I’m trying to tweak my unit to hit low to mid 70’ consistently with lithium’s, prop work, weight distribution, maybe an ecu flash. 70-73 is fun in optimal conditions but the pucker factor jumped up 100x when I crested the 75 mark. Truth is with the wind and lakes in North Texas I don’t get to make that many long runs that is makes a difference. So my quest is just for my own satisfaction....

This rig will run 78

FYI: ALL boats that exceed 20 feet are NOT rated by the Coast Guard but rather the manufacturers. Insurance has NOTHING to do with it. The manufacturers do so because most have Lifetime warranties on the hulls which is big bucks to them, so they rate them to reduce the number of claims! Until a few years ago Bullet, Allison etc.. owners had trouble finding insurance and paid a higher premium when they did. Now it is about the same as others but we always want to have an "Agreed Value" policy mainly because the resale value is much more than book value!

Guys I've been running Bullets for almost 30 years, my first one would actually break triple digits when stripped down runnin alone. I am on the 3rd motor of my current 20 footer that on a cool day may hit 83-84. Many have asked here "Why" do you want to run that fast. The answer I will give to everyone is because I can! To each his own and it is that person's business. Just as it is with guys who ride crotch rockets capable of 200 mph or a Corvette owner who can also hit 200 mph. Yes there are dangers associated with running that fast but on the side of safety you mitigate those factors as much as possible. Do I run at WOT all the time---of course not neither does the bike or the Vette previously mentioned. Most times I'm around 4500 RPMs or so but still outrunning most boats on the water. And getting better fuel mileage than most all others while doing so because a light-weight boat is extremely fuel efficient compared to heavy cookie cutters (As us Go-Fast Guys call them). Can it handle rough water?? You would be surprised how well but is it as good as a heavy Ranger--Of course it isn't! Do I need to worry about getting out and running in 4 footers like an Elite angler does---NOPE, cause I keep my buttt at home if it's that bad!!

Bullet, Allison, Ballistic, Stroker etc. do not rate their 20ft plus hulls because their business is producing High Performance boats. How "High" is a 20 ft boat if it were limited in HP??? In the Mid-90s Bullet and Allison added this statement to their plates (Adding a 3.0L motor or larger motor will void the warranty) This was done because the transom was not designed/capable to hold the added weight. In 1996 Bullet added a third stringer and beefed up the transom to accommodate them. However, I now know of many pre-96 Bullet owners who have them on without any issues! Many don't even know that Stroker and Ballistic (and a Bullet or two) are running a 400R!! Go-Fast boats are only limited to the weight the transom and hull can withstand and extremely expensive HP props ($5K--$10K). Most will run out of prop before hitting the motor limiter. Are these hulls tough?? Tougher than wood-pecker lips!! These manufacturers use different resins and leave them inside the molds for much longer periods of time which creates a more rigid hull all while creating a much lighter hull. Mine actually has kevlar mat instead of fiberglass along with AME 4000 resin which cookie cutter manufacturers don't use simply because of cost.

Several have also mentioned boats running 300s! I can say for a fact that a cookie-cutter boat rated for a 300 will still rarely break 80 mph. Trust me I've made several of them believers!

My favorite line is: You can't catch a fish doing 80 mph---You can't catch one doing 55 either!!

I've got 21'-10" of fiberglass running a consistent top end of 78 with a stock 250 ProXS ..... and only because my prop is getting old and pretty dinged up.

The new Gambler line (Both Models: 20'7" & 21'9") out of S.C. will run in the mid 80s & low 80s with a stock 250 SHO. They are not mass produced so they you don't see them very often, but they're very nice boats with a comfortable ride. https://www.gamblerbassboats.com/

Lord that's running. I think the best the 921 has run was 75 when it was cold with very light load. Normally its a low 70s boat with the two stroke.