Hydrofoils good or bad?

sandiegosteve

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
40
Re: Hydrofoils good or bad?

I've got one on my 18' aluminum bayrunner. It is great. I recently repowered and had the chance to test the new rig both with and without.

For my lite right with a relatively small (40hp) motor, the hydrofoil is great. I think tabs would have been nice, but I don't want any additional electronics in the water with an aluminum hull. Plus, I am getting benefits very cheap.


When I researched them, the one type of boat that really sung their praise was the aluminum boats. I will echo that. Performance oriented boats don't seem to like them so much. You may want to think more based on your type of boat.
 

Jdeagro

iboats.com Partner
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Messages
1,682
Re: Hydrofoils good or bad?

Sandiegosteve;

Good deal, you got what you wanted. You just don't know how much better it could be with Smart Tabs SX. There is a huge difference for the extra $60.00 to $70.00. (SX retail at $129.)
 

sandiegosteve

Seaman Apprentice
Joined
Sep 6, 2007
Messages
40
Re: Hydrofoils good or bad?

Sandiegosteve;

Good deal, you got what you wanted. You just don't know how much better it could be with Smart Tabs SX. There is a huge difference for the extra $60.00 to $70.00. (SX retail at $129.)

I hadn't heard of the smart tabs, but I may look into them. I am a little concerned about their setup as I fish in the kelp a lot. It is easy to clear it off the foil by tilting the engine up... I don't know about the tabs.

So, I don't know if I should say thanks or not. Now I have something else to think about...
 

ship5182

Cadet
Joined
Sep 18, 2007
Messages
26
Re: Hydrofoils good or bad?

After reading several post on this subject I took off the hdrofoil on my 1989 19.5' fish n ski with a 150 Force. I bought it already installed on the motor. I took it it out for a day of fishing. I did notice a better top speed but it did not handle as well at slower speeds with the bow way up in the air and it was harder to keep it on plane. I put the hydrofoil back on and I am happy with the old boats performance. I will look into trim tabs when I replace this boat with a newer one but I can't see spending the extra $$ on this one.
 
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