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Bacchus,
Good luck with your new motor! I'm sure for the way you use your boat that and for your locale you'll be satisfied with it's performance. I also do not see the need to be able to run @60 or 70mph. However some of us do have the need for a little more power. I am currently replacing the 1979 85 hp. Evinrude with a '96 model 115hp Evinrude. The old motor ran well even though it had a pile of hours on it. About 37 mph wiht a full load. Most of my cruising and running from spot to spot was done at 22-24 mph. I very seldom ran any harder. I have run a whaler with a 70 hp 2 stroke and for my uses I prefer a few more cubes. One big reason is that I'm likely to run out the inlet on spring day to chase cobia and sometimes the wind kicks up and the tide turns and I want plenty of power to come in with. Reason #2 is that I often fish the flats and if I can find a deeper hole 30' across I can jump on plane. I generally run with18-24gal. of fuel and a 24 volt trolling motor. The reason for the 115 is that it was a deal. If I was to buy new it would probably be 90 Etec. I would be very interested in your performance numbers when yo get it dialed in. Tight lines and fair seas.