Hydrofoil broke my thing..

[Nucklez]

I have had a '96 Rinker Captiva 18' for a couple of years now. It has a Mercruiser 220hp 4.3L V6, with an Alpha One Gen 2 out drive. The previous owner had installed some hydrofoils, and said it helped the boat to plain faster and easier. So, being my first boat I didn't think twice about leaving them on there and not thinking about them again. On the way home from the lake, apparently this one decided to fall off. I really hope it didn't hit that tailgater pulling the pontoon behind me...

My question is, what would you guys do with this foot? Should I just remove the other hydrofoil and see how it plains/handles with this nasty broken metal? Should I get another hydrofoil that could possibly cover up this crack, one that slips on from the front? Should I have to replace the foot housing? I have a rebuild kit with all of the required seals, so I could use my internals. We have a few boat junk yards where I might be able to find a used one, it's all according to how much it costs vs a new one. Also the chances of getting one with a crack somewhere else from the junk yard. Thanks in advance, and happy boating!

 

[Scott Danforth]

find a local aluminum welder. get your anti-cav plate welded.

 

[Nucklez]

It actually broke some of the fin off above the prop. I had posted a couple of pictures, but I can't see them (Edit: Fixed the pics). An aluminum welder would have to fabricate about 1 to 2 inches of metal to fix it. I'll check around the local guys and see what I can get done. Thanks!

 

[Scott Danforth]

Your local radiator shop can probably do it for about $50.

that is a common repair for those that run the foils.

 

[Chris1956]

Buy a piece of sheet aluminum for both sides, cut it to shape and use some pop rivets to install it. It will be much cheaper.

 

[undone]

Try it as is and see if you notice a difference. What you may find is that the prop will suck air from the surface a little easier than it did before, this would most likely only happen at lower speeds or possibly when turning. But you may notice no difference at all. It's an easy fix if needed.

 

[Nucklez]

Thanks everyone. I hope to take the boat out later this week. I've never drove it without the hydrofoils, so I don't know how it should react without them. I'm very interested to see what the previous owner meant by saying it was hard to plane without them. I would hope a 220hp engine could plane an 18' boat fairly easy. It's been very easy with the hydrofoils. I would like to at least get it fixed over the winter, I'd rather not leave it all broken if I can help it. I'll check a couple of local welders, and not sure I can pull off the aluminum plate deal. I'd also need a rivet gun, and the plate has a small crack closer to the housing that I had originally been worried about. I'm not sure the plate could hold up to any more holes drilled in it. I personally wonder if these hydrofoils are worth all of this ever.

 

[Mi duckdown]

Take the rest of the hydro off the strarboard side. If hydros were a good idea, every motor manufacture would have anti vent plates the big.???

 

[Cap'nHandy]

Get rid of hydo - fix anti vent plate - add smart tabs and appreciate the difference.

Blaine

 

[undone]

] I personally wonder if these hydrofoils are worth all of this ever.

On I/O's there are typically some trade-offs involved in using one, to be used correctly it shouldn't be dragging in the water at speed, this is where most of the negative results come from, and on an I/O there is no way to adjust motor height, so you're stuck with the stock height.

Trim tabs do a much better job of solving the problems most boaters want to fix, and rarely have a down side.

 

[Chris1956]

Nuck, With your I/O propulsion, you have 1100 pounds or more, in the very rear of the boat. That is why it can be difficult for the motor to plane the boat. That is the nature of sterndrives. If your boat was an inboard, the motor would be just behind the front seat, allowing better boat balance.