Well finally got it all set up... brand new xpress bayou 18Vx50" with the new gtr 40hp and a stock 2 blade shop..
Picked it up Bayou 18vx50 (copy of extreme hull) from boats unlimited in baton rouge and was able to make it out the door for $11,200 total with tax, title, lifetime plate, alum trailer, spare tire and mount, mud grab bar, convenience tray, 6 gal gas tank,27 series cranking battery,running lights, and Life time warranty on hull...
link to the boat and specs
https://xpressboats.com/bayou/
I was gonna get a 17x54 gator tail extreme savage series mid deck that was pretty much identical to the bayou but a little diff in the storage in the rear ... Gator tail had 2 pod storages and xpress has a big storage in back, and up front gator tail had 2 storages up front and xpress had one. Gator tail also came with a plane jane galvanized trailer vs alum and the gator tail came with an additional $4000 price... just for hull was priced at $13800 not including ttl, ect. I couldn't see spending that much more for the same thickness boat and same set up.. I know you Gatortail fan boys gonna bash me for that but oh well lol
One of the 2 main reasons I went with the xpress was because of pervious experience with there warranty and cs, and to be honest the floatation....
I hunt a lot in south Venice... have to run through the jump and 17miles down pass a loutre... if you have ever done that than you know it can easily and quickly turn into 7ft+ waves . Also I have personally been apart of sinking 2 surface drives in those condition with a combination of low sides and crew boats/ ocean lining vessels.. wasn't a fun day. So the floatation and 24" sides was a big plus for me. So anyway back to it.. I took it out yesterday 6 gal gas, 1-24 series and 1-27 series battery, 50lbs of general crap in the front storage, 25qt grizzly loaded with typical stuff lol... Deep water I was able to keep 32mph no problem.. even bumped 32.9( only got pic of 32.5) and confirmed with my cell phone gps.. This thing jumped up on step and handled like a champ, way easier than my skiff... Was able to turn on a dime, and run around turns without skippin into the cypress trees. surprisingly only drafts about 4" of water!!! Overall I can say I am deff impressed!!! I haven't seen any reviews or speed reports on this so I figured I would be part of the solution and not the problem lol... Any questions feel free to ask, got a little long winded there but tried to lay it all down, thanks fellas
ITS MY MONEY I WANNA SPEND IT NOW 
I got over $800 in extras for free