KEN-
That 300 ft of 1/4" G-4 High Test chain at 0.75 lbs/ft = 225 lbs!
Plus the anchor's 10-20 lbs, and right on the bow, and you probably have a windlass, too, with all that chain, right?
250-275 lbs or so in the bow, plus an extra 120 for the two extra batteries....
Well, up front, it sounds like you're a bit heavy to begin with, and especially "up front".
Now lets play with the props:
Start with the 10 inch pitch and figure theoretical speed at 5000 rpm_
10" x 5000 rpm x 1/2.09 gear ratio = 23,923 inches per minute
23,923 inches/12 inches per ft =1993.6 ft/ minute
1993.6 ft/minute divided by 5280 ft/mile = 0.377579 miles/ minute
0.377579 miles/minute x 60 minutes/hr = 22.65 miles/hr
This is for the 10 inch prop at 5000 rpm. You're getting 22-24 on the pitot tube, or 19-20 on the GPS, but at 4500 rpm and we haven't even allowed for the 10-15% slip between the prop speed and the boat speed through the water.
If you assume the pitot tube speedometer is off, and the GPS on, 22.65 mph calculated minus 10% for the prop slippage would give you 20.4 mph, and the 19-20 GPS reading is about right. The only question would be the indicated low 4500 rpm (?)
For the 11 inch prop, we can just take the 22.65 and add 11.1% to it for the change from 10 to 11.1 inches of pitch, which would yield 25.2 mph. You're getting 21-22 mph on the GPS, which would seem right on the money after we take the 25 mph and subtract about 10% for prop slippage.
So what can we conclude?
I'd guess that the 4500 rpm reading was in error, somehow.
I'd also guess the pitot tube speedometer, which measures water pressure in a small nylon tube under water, was overly optomistic, and we would trust the GPS speed more.
If you trust your tachometers, you might try to go down to a 9 inch pitch set of props if your maximum rpms are under 5000, which should raise the max by 550 rpm or so, depending on other variables.
Another thought for experimentation-
dump the 300 ft of chain and anchor (can't easily remove the windlass, if so equipped) and any other heavy stuff, and see how fast she goes w/o all the heavy duty equipment-??? Might just gain 3-5 or more mph w/o new props.
Holding the nose down is definitely good in chop, but takes a lot of extra energy to make the larger waves from the bow plowing deeper through the water.
Hope this helps!
Lots o' fun!
Let us know what you find out.
Joe.