looks way to deep to me.. Its hard to tell from the pics but I would say the motor has to go up 1/4" (5mm)
grimracer
Pete,
I agree with Grimracer. I would raise the motor up another 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch higher. I would even try another 1/16 to 1/8 higher than previously mentioned. The highest I would go is having the bottom of the prop shaft even with the bottom of the rear sponsons. There is no reason to go higher as that just would be overkill.
******Disclaimer: It's been about 10 years since I have ran this boat****** On my boat what I did was cut a 1/8 step on the center sponson for about 2 inches long. It seemed to settle the rear of the boat down and change the AOA of the front sponsons. So, basically it lowered the rear of the boat 1/8 of an inch. I think I still have the hull sitting up in the garage attic. If I do, I'll try to get a pick of the center sponson mod that I did. I only did this because I didn't like how high the rear of the boat was riding out of the water when on plane.
I also noticed on your engine it seems that the intake isn't radiused for a venturi effect. It's hard to tell in the pic. That might be affecting the fuel draw. On my engine, I ran the Prather exhaust throttle with a Irwin o/b pipe. All of my engines were modded by me. Mainly just a little port matching and raise the exhaust a little. Nothing major or trick.
Hope this helps,
David