Re: Smart Tabs
Of the hundreds of posts about Smart Tabs on this forum, the consensus seems to be: They really help getting up on plane and staying on plane at lower speeds. They also help with porposing in calm water and small waves. They are not as effective for larger waves, where you would need more force to keep the bow down. Fuel economy goes up and the boat rides better in general.
It seems you get almost all of the benefits of helm adjustable tabs with the Smart Tabs for a much lower cost, but you do lose the ability to tweak on the fly for a few specific conditions, mostly related to bad water conditions or leveling the boat from port to starboard. Ocean boaters seem to have more need for helm adjustable tabs. Helm adjustable tabs also require you to adjust them, so if you don't adjust them everytime you get on/off plane or conditions change they are not benefiting you as much as they could be. Smart Tabs just do their thing auto-magically.
Every one here who has them loves their Smart Tabs, as does everyone who has helm adjustable tabs. I have neither (yet), so I'm just posting what I've distilled from the many, many posts on the subject. I honestly still don't know which way I am going to go.
