Re: Trim Tabs 101....
The purpose of tabs is to correct a boats running attitude by having the ability to make small adjustments to correct the hulls position while underway, such as boat is listing due to load or wind and water conditions. Example would be boat is listing port (right side down) while underway , you can adjust the port tab down until boat levels out. Example 2 boat is travelling head on into wave's causing bow to rise and fall hard, both tabs down until boat smooths out and bow is cutting waves without heavy pounding, or boat is difficult to plane, again tabs down until boat begins to plane then tab up. The trick to tab operation is to first make any adjusments in small increments, tap the switch don't hold them in one position while underway you could place the boat in a dangerous position and lose control very fast. Take the time to play with the tabs at slower speeds and get a feel of there operation and how short adjustments affect your boat and think about what you want the boat to do before hitting the tab controls, the higher the boat speed the quicker the hull is going to react to any tab input from the helm. Just a final tip, if you find your caught in rough following seas ( this is a condition when high seas are coming from behind the boat faster than you can safely travel, be sure to keep tabs in the full up position) Once you get a feel for trim tabs you'll find then very useful, I myself did not have tabs on my Wellcraft until last year, I wish I had installed them years ago I found a world of differance on how well my boat now behave's and also noticed better fuel economy since I can keep the boat on plane at slower speeds without digging a large hole and plowing the bow.
