I haven't thought this much about shaft length since I was in middle school lol... I'll be heading to catalina in a couple weeks and there is a good chance I'll be on motor often. ... I wanted to get a 20 hp motor just so I could keep it at lower RPM for a longer time without blowing my motor at full rev keeping hull speed but it's difficult to find them with the correct shaft length. Simple question is that 25 inch shaft length really that important????????? because i can only find it in a 10hp motor. which would be fine for my boat..... I just like to over do things lol... it's better to habe it then to want it lol