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Hi All, I just bought my first boat a 2002 Ventura 180 with a 130hp Honda. The boat handles nicely and takes the chop just fine but it struggles to get on plane with any real weight in it. With two adults it gets up fairly quickly but with 4 adults I have to get a lot of weight on the bow to get it moving. I put on a new prop (13-1/4 x 17) which helped a lot as the original one was banged up. Once it's going I can hit about 32 mph WOT. I was thinking that trim tabs would be very helpful but I am really new to this so any advice would be helpful. It seems like the Dauntless is very similar to the Ventura other than the console and seating layout so I wonder if they should perform the same or close to it but I don't know what is typical. I am mostly in the Sassafras river off the Chesapeake which is generally very calm.

One other thing I haven't figured out - the The engine shifts fine but neutral isn't always neutral. It will start in gear if it's close to the center. That makes it a little harder learning to dock. I'm guessing a linkage adjustment? Thanks in advance for any advice