hydrofoil sst

[fletcher]

hello,
i fitted one of these to my 60 hp merc,1996 ob.my boat is a 14ft speed boat which has a deep 'v' made by 'fletcher'.it seemed to get me on the plane quicker and enable me to stay on the plane at lower revs to.

however 3 days ago myself,work buddy and his missus went boating.me and buddy were sitting in the front and his missus sittin directly behind him.'now as you do ' i was showing off and doin figure of eights in the boat.when on a few occasions i noticed when i was turning hard left or right,it felt like the boat was actually goin to tip over.

could this be due to the unbalance in the boat caused by the 3rd person.or the trim to high or the hydrofoil.has anyone got any good or bad points for using these from experience.i also seemed to be losing top end speed.usually about 43mph down to 35mph.

i'm thinkin of taking it off and running the boat again to compare.thanks.

 

[achris]

Re: hydrofoil sst

These things should be ban/outlawed, and their manufacturers should be taken to court and shot!

THEY ARE DEADLY DANGEROUS.

They work by generating lift through the engine to the back of the boat. That might be nice to get onto the plane and at low speeds, but as the speed increases the lift increases (and the drag, hence the lower top speed). You are effectively putting the boat into a 'bow steer' situation. You have already felt the effects.

Now, take that obnoxious thing off, snap it in half and throw it in the trash!!! I rate these monstrosities as worst than clymer or seloc manual. These fins/hydrofoils kill people.

Chris...........