You guys need to check for binding because these boats should get up om plain after a couple feet of cavitating if you are using some good batterys. The out drive is slightly adjustable, just unloosen the screws and force it down a bit till the screws are at the top of the range. Then remove all the hardware and use silicone when reinstalling it, alond with taping the hatch you shouldn't get any water in the hull. Make sure the antenna has silicone around it to seal that up. I used some smc IB 1400 that worked great till I switched to lipo and a brushless system, a cable drive, and a x436 prop. I also water cooled everything in mine. Mine is extreme though, it's uncontrollable. I hit the throttle and ut jumps like 2 feet out of the water and fly's.