Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

[pbolden]

Hello Everyone,

Some of you guys have installed Smart Tabs on your Hurricanes and I was wondering about performance improvements particularly reduced porpoising in chop. These trim tabs have gotten very high reviews however some of the reviews suggests that they might not perform as well with our modified V hulls.

Thanks,
Paul Bolden

 

[ShadowB]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

I put Smart Tabs on my FD202GS I/O and love them. The boat gets on plane super quick, great low speed control, never have porpoising issues, trimming out the out drive is 10x easier and my top speed is maybe a hair higher. I'd put them on again in a second. Plus they are easy to install. I can't comment on trailering as my boat is in a boat house/lift and never leaves the lake. I don't have any negatives. Mine are the -80BL and work great.

ShadowB

 

[Ernest T]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

Put them on my SD 217. Very noticeable Improvement. I installed the Protroller bracket that lets me flip the tabs up, so I can experiment with them engaged or not. The boat rides very differently with them up. I did not have a problem with porpoising before I installed them, so I cannot comment on whether they would fix that, but I suspect they would. For me the tabs definitely do the following:
1. Reduce bow rise
2. Reduce planning speed
3. Smooth the ride in the chop

Very easy to install. I highly recommend them. If you trailer (and the bunks extend past the end of the boat), or if your boat is fork lifted for dry storage, you may want to get the Protroller brackets, so that they can be flipped up out of the way.

 

[pbolden]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

Thanks ShadowB and Ernest T.

Ernest T, you and I have the same boat. Which model did you install? Also, with the Protroller brackets can you access the five adjustment holes without pulling the boat out of the water?

Thanks,
Paul Bolden

 

[Ernest T]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

Thanks ShadowB and Ernest T.

Ernest T, you and I have the same boat. Which model did you install? Also, with the Protroller brackets can you access the five adjustment holes without pulling the boat out of the water?

I installed the 1290 series tabs which are stainless steel. I went with the 60 lb. actuators on the advice of another Hurricane owner. This setup seems to work great for the 217 SD. I know other guys with the same boat that went with the 80 lb. actuators and they seem to work also. I think that you might get some reduction of top speed with the 80 lb. actuators, but that is just a guess. The people at Nauticus are pretty good, so I don't think it would be a problem if you got one set and decided to swap them out.

The protroller bracket is easily accessible from the back of the boat if you have an outboard. You just have to reach down with your hand a few inches in the water to flip them up or down. If your boat has the extended swim platform then you may have a problem reaching the one on the starboard side. Now it is part of my routine: When the marina puts the boat in the water I flip them down into the active position, and when we return to the dock, I flip them up so that they don't get hit by the fork lift forks.

I think the different positions you are mentioning is the different positions that the smart tabs can be adjusted to. This adjustment increases or reduces the amount of pressure needed to push the tabs up. To make that adjustment you would need to have the boat out of the water, since it requires a wrench and would be difficult (but not impossible) to do in the water from the back of the boat. What I did was to set the tabs in the recommended middle position to start, then after a number of trial runs, I had the marina guys put the boat on a work rack, and adjusted them slightly to reduce the pressure, so that I could reach top speed.

In the first photo you can see the protroller bracket at the top, and the tab is in the down (active) position. In the second photo you can see the tabs retracted out of the way so that the boat can be fork lifted. That photo will give you an idea of how far you need to reach to get to the little handle on the protroller bracket to flip them up or down.

 

[pbolden]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

Hello Ernest T,

Thanks for the info and the pics. You stated that you started with the tabs in the third hole position. Which hole position did you finally settle on?

Thanks,
Paul Bolden

 

[Ernest T]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

With the brackets that I got with the Protroller system, there are not individual holes. Nauticus may have changed this since I bought my system. Instead, on my bracket there is a slot in the bracket, and you loosen the nut and can slide the actuator up or down in the slot to a different position. I started with the tabs in the center, and ended up moving them in which ever direction needed to reduce the pressure very slightly.

You want to do a test run or several runs with your boat before you install the tabs. You need to know your top speed and rpms without the tabs when the boat is trimmed up as far as possible without getting ventilation, etc.. It is also helpful to know your lowest planning speed. Once you install the tabs do another speed run. If you see a significant speed drop with the tabs you may need to reduce the pressure slightly by moving to the next hole. If you are not seeing a significant improvement in time to plane and a reduction in planning speed you may need to increase the actuator pressure by moving to a hole in the opposite direction.

 

[pbolden]

Re: Nauticus Smart Tabs performance question.

Thanks Ernest T, this has been very helpful.

Paul Bolden