Re: Which hydrofoil to get?
Bennett trim tabs fully adjustable at the push of a button for any possible conditions.
I agree, however they are expensive and I hate having to mess with 3 trim buttons, one on the throttle and 2 on the dash. I do alot of stop and go fishing, so it becomes tedious to always have to adjust them every time you come off plane or want to get out of the hole, or when a big wake comes by, or when you are cruising and then want to go WOT. Constant adjustment of the tabs and the trim is tedious.
What else was different between the motors? There might be something else other than lack of hydrofoil making your boat behave the way it is now...
There is a difference.....Then=1998 Evinrude 150+doel fins+19P aluminum prop, 405lbs..... Now=2001 Yamaha OX66 225 + V-Max 23P prop=500lbs. My boat has a 8.5' beam and weighs about 2500 lbs loaded up so the extra 100# in the back shouldnt make that much of a difference. Static water line difference at the transom is negligible. Since this prop is Yamaha's high performance, high rake, bow lifting prop, I wonder if the bow lifting attribute is causing my problem. I'll try a different prop this week and see if there is any difference.
In all seriousness, may I ask what your reasons are?
They are expensive and my other fins seemed to work well. I dont want smart tabs because I do not like how they are always plowing the bow down. I know that some boats can benefit from this, but not mine, Push the bow down and you lose speed. I still have to trim up to get above 45mph as is right now. Having Smart tabs would require me to have to trim even higher and aim my thrust cone more towards the surface of the water thereby changing my thrust angle to a less efficient one which means less top speed. There is a tradeoff to that depending on the boat, where the thrust angle is not optimal, but due to the constant stern lift created by the smart tabs and the engine trimmed way up, there is less hull in the water so the effect of less drag is greater which means higher top speed. Smart tabs move up and deflect as you go through chop and wake allowing the hull to pitch and yaw, whereas the HF will remain at the same angle, not flex and will therefore aid in keeping the boat at the same angle through the waves. The HF will provide addtional lift when taking off allowing the boat to plane at lower speeds. When at speed and trimmed down with the HF, it reall plows which is good for certain chop and wake conditions. When you trim the engine to neutral, the HF helps to hold the boat at the same angle which provides a smooth stable ride. HF is supposed to be at the surface or just out of the water at WOT, so top speed is not compromised. Something that neither smart tabs or actuated tabs can do is to actually lift the bow. When going through the Sebastian inlet here in FL, there are usually stationary 4-8ft white water rapids through there when the tide is going out with an onshore wind. Pretty exciting place, one of the most dangerous inlets in the US. Best way to get through these waves without taking a wave over the bow is to go slow on plane with the bow high and have enough balls to climb these waves when needed. With the HF you can keep a low planing speed and trim the motor up high so it forces the bow way up in the air so that the bow doesnt peirce through these steep faced waves. So I get smoother, more level ride through the chop, better holeshot, lower planing speed, more level accel and decel, ability to really plow the bow down AND the ability to raise it up high when needed, only one button controls all this (not 3).
Smart tabs cant do all of this. Actuated tabs can do most of this, but they are such a pain to always be adjusting and thay are literally 20x more expensive.
Are you using the Yamaha's trim properly (ie trim in on takeoff, trim out a bit when up on plane)?
I question your technique in using your PT&T.
Been boating my whole life, actually get paid to drive boats while testing outboards for a living. Pretty much got the hang of the trim button by now.
I dont like how smart tabs have a fixed amount of pressure on the tabs and you cant dynamically tune them on the go, actuated tabs are expensive and tedious to constantly tune for the perfect ride, especially in constantly varying water and speed conditions.
HFs have their disadvantages, but they do have their advantages for sure. They work for some boats, on some boats they are horrible. If a HF sucks on my boat, it is coming off, but my last one worked great. That is why I am trying to get some feedback as to what foil uses the best design that provides the best performance.
