Well im used to the power steering lol so yes even with hydraulics its a bit "stiff" but ill get used to it at low speeds its easy peasy, there was no way I was going to pay the price for the power assist at close to 4 grand thats way out of touch!
as for parking and such its basically the same, i have to go down a pitch size as it had 21 on it but going to 19.5 pitch props as I cant get to the top end of the Rpms the dealer wants me at, they want the range at 5700 to 6300 and I can get just to 5700. must admit the guys at Vector marina have been AWESOME. customer service has been great ...
As for the hull the pod and everything is perfect i didnt need to add any weight or move anything its balanced , ive played around with the trim etc running and it seems to like 18 to 24 % . So you running that 26 hourston id highly suggest coming to look at the dimensions etc if you plan on podding top speed so far for the whole 2 mins ive gone up there is 44 mph defiantly do not need twins with this set up.