Yeah I agree I don't see the advantage of the RN pole,those break , a lot.I shortened mine up the same as yours SPEEDFREAK it was super simple,if I wanted to go more forward I would section the front piece and move the whole thing,the stock pole is way lighter than a stock RN pole also just remove the smc cover and run thin aluminum sheeting on the top of the pole like I did to mine.The 440 pump is pretty well maxed out with the 550 reed engine ,anything bigger and you need a bigger pump.Regardless of the impeller pitch it will cavitate like hell till it gets on plane with a big engine in front of it.