New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

cecho

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Jan 29, 2013
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New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

I recently purchased a used 1979 20' Tiara 2000 cuddy cabin with a 198 HP 305 898 mercruiser. It had a whale tail on it but I had to remove it to service the out drive. Should I bother putting it back on? I've heard really bad things about them.
 

Frank Acampora

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Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Well, you have used the boat both ways. If you see no difference why bother putting it back. If it seemed to help then by all means put it back on. If you have forgotten, it only takes four bolts and ten minutes to install and remove. The holes are already there so try it both ways again and make your decision.

Is your avatar an RC model or a real aerobatic plane?
 

cecho

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Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Well, I have yet to have the boat in the water. I was considering not putting back on at all and just getting trim tabs or smart tabs if I feel there's a problem with porpoising, bow rise or getting on plane.


The avitar is someone torque rolling an RC 43% scale 210cc powered Carden Edge.

http://www.carden-aircraft.com/gallery/f-to-j/holt/Tom_40_edge3.jpg

I prefer much smaller planes and helicopters. 25% was as large as I went in RC and even that was too big for my taste.
 

WIMUSKY

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Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Cool plane.

Try the boat w/o the tail and see how it responds. Never been a fan of the whale tail.
 

rallyart

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Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

Re: New (to me) boat has a "whale tail," should I leave it off or put it back on?

I am a fan of whale tales and foils in situations where they help. I've never actually seen a problem with any. However, since it is off you should try the boat to see what the difference is. You might find the steering trim is not set right once you take it off but you will see what it does to stop bow lift and control the boat at lower speeds. Take it with you as I suspect you will want to put it back on, even if you decide to go with trim tabs it is easy to take back off if you put them on. The whale tail is a free fix for your and everything else costs money.
On a 20' cuddy I would rather have helm adjustable tabs than Smart Tabs but that ups the cost more.
 
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