Its impossible to make factual blanket statements about any prop design. For the 40/50/60 hp motors, Quicksilver makes a 4 blade Trophy Sport that is within 1-2 mph of the best 3 blade props on the market for that size unit, which is the Black Painted Yamaha Stainless Steel prop in a semi-cleaver design. The Trophy Sport will actually run as high as the Yamaha prop will, just not as fast.
Keep in mind, I only raced circles boats, none of the straight line 1/4 mile stuff, we actually had to have a boat that handled well in calm and rough water on short and long courses with 20 other boats making waves. When I raced in the 90's, we ran 4 blade props only in very rough water for the handling of the boat and only on boats that were topping over 100 mph. None of the smaller classes ran 4 blade props. We gave up a bit of speed with the 4 bladers on the faster boats to gain that handling.
Not sure about all OPC classes, but everything I witnessed, Sport C, Formula 50, SST45, SST60, SST100, SST120, SST140, Mod U, all ran 3 blade props to set their KILO speed records. Very rarely would any of them run 4 blade props. At the KILO run in 1995, NONE of the boats were running 4 blade props.
Back in the late 90's when I had my center console, I ran a 200hp EFI Mariner with a Small hub Trophy 3 blade prop on a 19' ProCraft. It was the best all around prop I could get my hands on, and I had about every make and style of prop available. Of course with a boat running in the 60+ mph range, I didn't idle much either
Back then, a center console running in the 60's was the king of big lake. My how time flies and boats get faster.
Get your hands on a book titled "Everything You Need To Know About Propellers" written by the engineers at Mercury. The absolute best book written on prop technology for the layman to read. Read that short 55 page book and you will have answers to ANY propeller questions you might think of. The book explains all aspects of prop design and tells you how each aspect affects boat performance. They explain rake, angle of attack, pitch, blade area, number of blades, EVERYTHING. It is a very educational read. It is Mercury Part number 90-86144-92
I got a chance to study under some of the folks that wrote that book, they have forgotten more about propellers than most of us will ever know.
READ THE BOOK
D