[Cal Coon]

IMHO it all depends on how your boat is handling the water you are in at the time. There are a lot of variables to take into consideration. Wind and current, size of boat, weight of boat, hull design, and the direction you are going in all play a role. My rule of thumb is if you can trim down and get up on plane and get up and over the chop without beating yourself, (and the boat!) up, then do it. If it's just to rough and the boat is taking a beating and/or water is coming over the bow, then I slow down, trim up, (get the bow up in the air), and "plow" through it. People's "opinions" vary, (needless to say). One guy's way of getting up on plane and flying over the chop while the boat takes a pounding may be his way of doing things, while another guy would never do that to his boat. Money always plays a factor too. If money is no object, then you can "beat" on the boat all you want, where other's will treat it like a baby and try to be conserveative. All kinds of "factors" that play into people's behavior, and how they "run" their boats.