Water you see in the air behind boat will vary greatly pending on profile blades have and degree of slip that is happening.
Think of it this way .... more blades you have UNDER WATER with each doing the same amount of work make the prop generally quite efficient, but the ablity to move MORE water FASTER is limited to the horse power and rpm you have ..
savvy
Go to surface drive where load engine gets is only one blade at a time or tad more with 3/4 blades, the size and pitch of the prop can increase much more under the same horse power and rpm. Move more water faster you go faster so long as boats free's up from water drag and prop choice is correct for application.
Understand NOT all profiles and types of props will work in surface drive applications and those that will do an outstanding job of hooking up quite well.
You need to also understand some applications full size or model NEED prop to stay in the water hooked up so engine rpm is kept in check. Drag boats and Turbines are prime examples where you absolutely cannot afford to get run away rpm spikes from a hop while running WOT.
This just a snippet of the knowledge in prop tech, do some GOOGLE search's about Surface Piercing Propulsion, you can read for weeks
Actually here is a good one:
rds.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0oGdWde2OB....ca/surface.htm