Bob Smith wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
Bob Smith wrote:
"Josh Assing" wrote in message
...
So, a buddy and I were talking -- he said I wasted my money on trim
tabs. I
said I did not.

The conversation revolved around the use of whale tails (foils on the
cavitation plate).

I said that they could help; but would add stress to the outdrive, and
if
something that simple really helped, manufactures would make their
cavitation
plates larger.

What's the general opinion on them?
Our 19 ft CC with 125hp I/O (no power trim) has a Stingray hydrofoil, and
without it, the prop cavitates very easily in a high power turn. A bit
lower planing speed and less bow rise with it, but the reason I keep it
on is mainly cavitation prevention.
I would suspect that the angle of your drive in the turn and prop
selection has more to do with the cavitation problem than the plate.

Angle is not adjustable, since our outdrive (VP 270) needs to be locked in
the "down" position when operating. All three of our props (14x19SS, 14x17
aluminum, 15x15 aluminum) exhibit the same cavitiation upon cornering w/o
the fin. I'm not pro-fin or anti-fin, I just know that this one needs to
stay on our boat.

Interesting.

That's the great thing about boats - every single one of them is
different in some way.

I'm a small boat guy and I get to play and test a lot of small boats -
in the 16 to 22 foot range - mostly fishing boats on pre-delivery runups
for some local dealers.

You can test two identical boats except for color and each of them will
handle differently by comparison. Some will turn a little tighter, plane
a little faster, higher top end, etc.

It's definetly a curiosity.

"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
m...
Bob Smith wrote:
"Short Wave Sportfishing" wrote in message
...
Bob Smith wrote:
"Josh Assing" wrote in message
...
So, a buddy and I were talking -- he said I wasted my money on trim
tabs. I
said I did not.

The conversation revolved around the use of whale tails (foils on the
cavitation plate).

I said that they could help; but would add stress to the outdrive, and
if
something that simple really helped, manufactures would make their
cavitation
plates larger.

What's the general opinion on them?
Our 19 ft CC with 125hp I/O (no power trim) has a Stingray hydrofoil,
and without it, the prop cavitates very easily in a high power turn. A
bit lower planing speed and less bow rise with it, but the reason I
keep it on is mainly cavitation prevention.
I would suspect that the angle of your drive in the turn and prop
selection has more to do with the cavitation problem than the plate.

Angle is not adjustable, since our outdrive (VP 270) needs to be locked
in the "down" position when operating. All three of our props (14x19SS,
14x17 aluminum, 15x15 aluminum) exhibit the same cavitiation upon
cornering w/o the fin. I'm not pro-fin or anti-fin, I just know that this
one needs to stay on our boat.

Interesting.

That's the great thing about boats - every single one of them is different
in some way.

I'm a small boat guy and I get to play and test a lot of small boats - in
the 16 to 22 foot range - mostly fishing boats on pre-delivery runups for
some local dealers.

You can test two identical boats except for color and each of them will
handle differently by comparison. Some will turn a little tighter, plane a
little faster, higher top end, etc.

It's definetly a curiosity.

Isn't a good deal of that weight variation in fiberglass hulls?

On Feb 19, 10:48 am, Josh Assing wrote:
So, a buddy and I were talking -- he said I wasted my money on trim tabs. I
said I did not.

The conversation revolved around the use of whale tails (foils on the
cavitation plate).

I said that they could help; but would add stress to the outdrive, and if
something that simple really helped, manufactures would make their cavitation
plates larger.

What's the general opinion on them?


A number of years ago, I added one to a 17' bass boat with a 75hp
motor. The hole shot was noticiably better, lost maybe 1 mph on the
top end, The best part was remarkably lower planing speed. Didn't
notice any difference in turn performance.

"Josh Assing" wrote in message
...
So, a buddy and I were talking -- he said I wasted my money on trim tabs.
I
said I did not.

The conversation revolved around the use of whale tails (foils on the
cavitation plate).

I said that they could help; but would add stress to the outdrive, and if
something that simple really helped, manufactures would make their
cavitation
plates larger.

What's the general opinion on them?

-j



I had a 18 foot century with a 140 mercruiser i/o. The boat was not much
good for salom skiing because it took so long for the front end to come down
and get on plane. With a plate shaped like a wing, sorry don't remember
brand, it would plane slightly faster, making the boat a tiny bit more
tolerable. With the the out drive trimmed up, the boat also turned better.
They are deffinately NOT a solution, but may help your particular boat.