My driftboat is a Brigg's Rogue River Special and it was designed for a short shaft outboard. I have seen McKenzie style boats with the cutout transom with short shafts as well. If it looks like it will work, I can only say give it a shot and see how it goes. My Mercury 15 is considered a "short shaft" built for a 15 inch transum. The shaft length on the motor is actually 17 inches. The reason I am mentioning that is that I previously ran an old Force 15 hp on my boat and the shaft might have been slightly shorter. At any rate, I had to be careful that I did not have too much weight in the front of the boat when starting the Force. If I had two buddies in the front seats it was enough weight that the motor intake would come out of the water and suck air. Once I was underway, there were no issues. I have not had this problem with my Mercury, but out of habit I find myself leaning out over the transom when I start the motor, just to make sure the shaft is deep enough. I would suggest mounting a "doel-fin" or some other planing fin since it seems to help with bow rise. I would also buy a prop-protector so you don't mangle your prop on rocks.
