Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

[TahoeQ4Pilot]

Howdy, a newb skipper and a lurker, here goes my first post. I know some folks are not big fans of hydrofoils, but checking to see if anyone else has seen this.

I have a slow plane problem and porposing that I wanted to try to reduce a bit, but because of my transom design I didnt think tabs would be easy without moving some brackets and such. I thought I would give the Sport Marine SE Sport 300 Hydrofoil a whirl because of the new SE Sport clip that keeps you from drilling in to the cavitation plate.

Well, I mounted the first sport clip and between their instructions and my newbieness, the lower half ended up separating/breaking. I launched and didnt get very far where the porpoise was terrible. I ended up removing the hydrofoil minutes into the trip. There are some threaded screws that clamp against the edge of hte cav plate and apply pressure to the sport clip from the side.

So, instead of returning the $40+ dollar part I figured I screwed it up and went and bought a new one. THis time I was overly cautious. I knew what happened last time and wasnt gonna let that happen again. Well, after a few turns of the side screws, the &@#^& new one broke the same way as the last.

Anyone else have this problem? If that aint a design problem then there needs to be a better dummyproof way to keep dorks like me from messing it up.

 

[Friscoboater]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

I bought one of the se 300 before reading th boards and the package. It said on higher performance boats it tends to make the boat lean to the port slightlyon hard acceleration. Slightly my BUTT!!!!!! I thought the boat was going to take on water. I let off and went back to the dock and took it off. The bad thing is that I drilled the plate. Oh well. I have ordered some trim tabs.

 

[techwriter]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

I have a boat that trim tabs could not be attached too. I wrote an evaluation on the SE 300 hydrofoil called "Improved boat performance with a hydrofoil" on this forum. You should be able to search and locate it.

Your title refers to the Sport Clip. The Sport Clip is a device used with the SE Hydrofoil for installing the hydrofoil without having to drill holes in the cavitation plate on the motor. Sounds like a good idea so I also bought the clip. My personal opinion of it is that first it is a little expensive since it costs almost if not as much as the hydrofoil at the time that I bought them. When I looked to install the clip it did not look to me like it would be that substantial so I did not use it. I drilled the holes in my motor to install the hydrofoil and I am glad that I have the hydrofoil.

As you will learn by reading different threads on this forum. Hydrofoils that bolt onto the motor seem to work well with some boats and not so well with others. You just have to try it for yourself to find out.

I would suggest that you first do some things with your boat to accurately test performance before you install the foil so that you can make an honest comparison. I am referring to things like top speed or time to travel a specific distance without and with the foil. Accurately record the gallons per hour or miles per gallon if you have a way to check it that way. Get an actual time to get on plane without and with the foil.

I also suggest that you make certain that your motor and hydrofoil are installed correctly. By installed correctly I am referring to your cavitation plate being even with the bottom of your transom. If it is not even there may be a reason for it being installed that way. Try to find out what that reason is before changing it. Some users of hydrofoils claim better performance by setting the engine a little higher on the transom when a foil is installed on it.

From what I have read the hydrofoil is to be positioned on the cavitation plate with the foil at a height where the foil will run on top of the water and not down in the water it will increase drag and slow you down.

One other thing with the foil that I did not previously write about is that my boat is now running almost 50 MPH WOT with a setup that is only suppose to run just under 40 MPH. With the foil I am over revving my motor at a little more that 6,000 RPM. When this first happened I immediately throttled back to the recommended 5,500 RPM. If this continues I am now going to have to buy a new prop.

At higher speeds my boat is very stable and can handle high speed sharp turns without any problems with the foil installed.

If you buy a foil and once you have done all of these things. I for one would like to hear how you made out with the hydrofoil.

Have fun.

 

[rs1lollie]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

You say your a newbie to boating, so my question is when your out on the water running your boat you trim your outdrive right???

 

[TahoeQ4Pilot]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

I finally got a good test out of the SE hyrofoil mounted on the SE Sport Clip today. I had 3 problems, not getting on plane fast enough, porposing, and a bad drift at low speeds. All appeer to be inherent in my boat model, at least according to posts here in the Tahoe section.

Though the sport clip (my second) is damaged, my trip out on the lake today was a resounding success. All three problems, porposing being the biggest headache, were either eliminated, or reduced. I aslo have complained here that I cannot trim out without the boat porposing wvwn worse, so most of the time I end up having my out drive fully extended, even though it was not very efficient.

With the hydrofoil in place I was able to cruise nicely, even though it was a windy/choppy day. I had the boat up to 52 mph (according to the speedo), which is 3 mph than I ever have in the past. Also, the porposing was down, I was able to bring my trim up and reduce drag, and it jumped up on plane real nice. Of the three, drift at low speeds was better, but it had the least improvement. But, like I mentioned, today was a windy day, so maybe that contributed.

So, my intial report is that I am happy with the hydrofoil on my particular boat, but still a bit concerned about the clip. Everything still is tight, but will be keeping an eye on things.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

One of the compalints from the naysayers is that the foil will cause the cavitation plate to break. If it does, its most like due to the foil being loose. Do yourself a favor and drill holes and bolt the dumb thing in place. Sounds like you already found the benefits.

 

[CaliCash]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

I do not want to drill into anything and purchased the sport clip for this reason. Im not too sure on the instructions provided. Are there any better instructions on how to install this? Any help would be appreciated!

(sorry, I found this thread only after I posted a new one)

 

[JimS123]

Re: Hydrofoil SE Sport Clip

Drill or not to drill is your option. I advised you to drill for 2 reasons. First, I have installed 3 Doelfins over the past 25 years, drilled each one, and have had 100% sucess and no downsides. All 3 are still installed on the boats that i own.

Second, I have read many horror stories about the clip on model, sililar to what you report.

I have no personal experience with the SE. Doel, I believe, was the first to market the product, and based on test reports I read, theirs was the best for my application.