Re: Suggestions for more speed?
Ok qc, please do explain to me how my boats stern being 6 inches deeper would not cause more drag? I think this is where you are messing up.
We both know tabs increase lift at the stern, this puts the boat in a much better attitude for the thrust to be applied forward instead of thrusting the bow upward. yes, once the boat is at full lift, lifting the bow a little with engine trim will gain you a couple mph, more on very fast boats.
Without tabs,you are using thrust to propell the boat forward in a non-horizontal way in relation to the waters surface, you are not getting the most forward thrust potential from your motor when the boat is possitioned in that way. If instead you lift the boat more with tabs installed and the boat is at a better horizontal position in relation to the water, the thrust is going to be directed closer to where it should be,horizontal with surface of the water.
I don't understand why it is hard for people to understand that a boat is on an axis! The closer and more steady you can keep that axis to be level with the waters surface the better off you will be. That means from stern to bow and starboard to port.
Qc, let me ask you this, when is the boat most efficient? In my veiw it is when the boat is getting the most forward thrust with the very least resistance it can acheive. You don't acheive the most effecientcy by having to use the thrust of the motor to acheive the proper running attitude of the boat. Thats what the tabs are for, they help the boat get in a better running position so that the thrust applied is for forward propulsion instead of angled propulsion. The more the boat is out of the water and the more the boat is pushed forward instead of at a weird angle to the waters surface the better.
Now. comparing a car to a boat does work when you are talking about resistance. The car hitting bumps in the road is just like a boat hitting waves. Its the same thing. It is resistance. Those pot holes will be different depths and different sizes just like every wave out there. Though the process of acheiving the best ride forward is different, the comparison can be used. The tighter a suspension on a car, the more performance based it is. The sloppier the suspension is, the sloppier and less performance you will get out of it.
A boat is basically the same with self adjusting tabs. Remember waves are those pot holes. Without tabs a boat basically has no suspension, which means the boat is left to absorb the roll, tilt, pitch, crunch, drift, ect when it hits a wave. The wave transfers its energy to the boat causing the boat to react violently. Does the bow of the boat help knock down some of the hurt from the waves,sure it does. But the boat is still constantly on an axis so it is constantly being thrown around from starboard to port to bow to stern, etc.
With tabs deployed that self adjust, when the boat hits waves, the boat reacts much faster to the energy that has been transfered to the boat from the waves. The tabs push back,making the ride smoother and adjusting the boat reaction time as to make it more effecient. The boat will not continue to rock back and forth releasing the energy from what was transferred from the wave. Instead, the boat fights back, the tabs steady the boat faster when the boat is hit with resistance/forces from a wave.
This is why you here me say sometimes that smart tabs will indeed do things that regular tabs will not, because the tabs adjust the boat constantly to the changing conditions to absorb energy that is transfered from the waves to the boat. Potholes/waves! Regular tabs will help if the operator has adjusted the tabs to the correct position, but you may lose efficientcy compared to a self adjusting tab.
Here is another way to look at it, say you have a boat in a bath tub. When you push that boat with one finger what would it do? The boat would rock from side to side until the energy from your push of the finger is absorbed. Now, put that same boat in the tub in motion! While in motion, hit the boat on one side or ride over a wave, the boat is going to do the same thing, it is going to rock until the boat has absorbed and displaced all that energy.
The boat with automatic tabs installed has something to fight back against that push/energy/resistance. The tabs become the shock absorber to absorb that energy. When the boat is pushed from one side causing it to rock, the automatic tabs will push back, limiting the effects of the push. When the boat goes over waves, it is solidified alot faster after the boat has hit that wave with a automatic trim tab.
Ok, what does this all relate to, faster response time from the boat to adjust to the changing conditions of waves! What does that translate into, more effecient running which in turn can cause a gain in speed!
