I have a2003 Nitro 288 that I re-powered with a 225 Evinrude Ficht with a 25" shaft. It works but I had to add a jack plate to hike it up. SO you should use a 20" motor if you have a choice. I'm unsure if the added height will affect the ski pilon yet as I have only had her on the water a few times for trials. Mine has taken 3-1/2 years so far with normal breaks for seasons and other life events and she even survived a car crash last year on my way to her speed trial at seasons' end! Prior to that, she turned 62 mph in the trial I took her out on. Back on land, I raised the prop height using the full jack plate adjustment to max out the height. Supposedly, she'll do a bit faster performance, I'm looking forward to the trial run upcoming soon! SO the bottom line is the rig was designed for a 20" shaft. My anti-ventilation plate is 1" higher than the keel and an approximate 3-3/4" between the c/l of prop and Pad of boat hull bottom. I hope this helps you out so that you don't struggle through like me, let me know if you need anything else.