Re: Which Hydrofoil is best for Johnson 9.9 ??
I have an '82 Johnson 9.9 on a DuraNautic 12 foot aluminum v-hull and am having problems getting the boat to plane with my kid in the boat. We've tried different trim settings, weight distribution and things like that and it's slightly improved but not much. I was thinking of bumping up to a 15hp outboard but that would exceed my boats max per the rating label.
So...was thinking of adding a hydrofoil to the outboard...get a little hull lift, maybe a little better thrust, plane sooner/easier.
I've been looking at (and am practically sold on) the StingRay Junior but I saw an SE Sport 200 that might fit as well. Was wondering which one would work better. Doel-Fin seemed kinda cheesy.
Anyone have any experience with 9.9hp's with hydrofoils ??
I have the same boat and motor, my motor is a 1981 and my boat is a Duranautic 12' V hull from 1989. It does great with the 9.9, with me, at about 290lbs, a buddy at about 250 lbs, plus tackle, a battery, 3 gallon fuel tank, and tackle. It planes out just fine and runs along at about 21 mph. I did hang a 15hp on it once but even though its basically the same motor, it was too much for the boat, the bow would rise up on any hard acceleration. Mine is the heavier of the Duranautic 12' hulls, the type used for rental service.
I run it most of the time with just oars, it moves along so nice with just two oars and oar locks, I rarely take the motor unless heading to a larger lake or river.
Adding a Doelfin or other hydrofoil will knock off some speed too, it may ad some lift at the rear but it will create a lot of drag.
How are you loading the boat? Mine needs to have a good bit of weight forward to plane out correctly, usually just putting the passenger all the way up front does it, but I have my battery and tank sitting mid ship as well.
Keeping the stern light helps a lot. I did try several other motors on this boat, one was a Honda 4 stroke but the added weight was more than I felt worth the benefits of it being a 4 stroke. I also tried an older 25hp on it, just to see what it would do and that was just insane, even though it was an older motor, it ran way too fast and way too uncontrollable. It would ride with the bow about 6' in the air and wouldn't come back down without having some serious weight up front.
I've owned a half dozen other aluminum V hulls, my Duranautic is one of the best I've had for handling and getting on plane. I've also run mine with an older 6hp Johnson and it does just fine, almost just as good as with the 9.9 since its so much lighter. My favorite motor to run on this is my 1973 9.5 Evinrude.
