Welcome +1.
We used to have a Mercury Ocean Runner 420 and used it regularly in the places you mention. 40hp gave a sometimes chine walkingly scary 30 knots when solo and it had plenty of grunt with four. I can't see 50hp is needed with this size but anyways..
I followed our campsite neighbour up the estuary, he'd just purchased a new Brig the same size as ours with 40 Merc. It had a bench seat and I was struck how low it was at the stern, sub-planing speed, just him and his missus on his first trip out. Didn't seem a well balanced boat. Ours was set up perfectly, console well forward and central jockey seat, no bench. I think this is more important than the depth of V, the Ocean Runner had a shallow V but it coped ok with the Solent chop, always felt safe in big seas or crossing deep wakes. Power to weight made it almost like a big jet ski. Jet skis are well balanced and have a shallow V
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Our latest 4.7m boat (Ranieri) has a big forward deck area and more rear weight similar to the Brig. Looks great for style and social function, but ultimately handicapped for handling and performance because of limited size and the layout. Design compromise wouldn't be an issue with a longer model except you then need a bigger engine and costs go up.
Sula
