hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

[yourkiddin]

was wondering if any of the aluminum boat owners have tried a hydrofoil on ur motor? now im talking about the 17 to 18 footers. mine is a 1860 smokercraft, its 7 ft wide and it semi v. my other boat, a runabout had one and i experimented with it on and off. i liked it on. this is my first alum boat so maybe its just going to ride different. im used to very little of the *** end of boat in water. just as info its a 75 merc.

 

[5150abf]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

I would run it first and see if there si even a problem, you may be okay.

If you do need something I would go with tabs not a foil, foils are pretty old tech, kind of like a DVD vs a VHS tape, you can watch a movie on either of them but the DVD is alot better.

Having said that I do run a foil on my 16 aluminum and it does what I want it too, I may switch to tabs someday but the foil works fine for now.

 

[proshadetree]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

I dropped a foil on my baylinner and wish I had done it sooner. I don't have the adjust ability like some tabs do but it works great. It is a fiberglass boat but all should act about the same.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

I've never heard anything but positive reviews of Smart Tabs as opposed to foils.

 

[Bondo]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

Ayuh,.... Whale-tails are usually a rather poor Band-aid, for poorly balanced, or just plain ole Overloaded boats.....

They put way too much load on the motor, rather than on the hull, where it should be...

 

[109jb]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

The smart tabs are probably a better choice from what I have heard (no personal experience with them), but I have had 2 aluminum boats that I had foils on. One was a 16 foot Starcraft Supersport and the other was a 16 foot Smokercraft single console boat. The hydrofoils did what I wanted them to do which was to tame the bow lift from a hole shot. I will say that both boats were probably between 1 and 2 mph slower on top speed with the foils than without, but got up on plane quicker with the foils on.

 

[QC]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

but all should act about the same.

According to many conflicting posts on this topic, this is not accurate. I don't mean to beat you up as I can see why one would think that, but there are many reports of very different results on not so different setups. I've read a whole lot of posts on this topic and after years I have conceded that maybe some very small OB powered boats (12 - 14 ft.) do well with hydrofoils. Yes, there are exceptions to that as well, and some boats do perform "better" with foils that are outside of this range. HOWEVER, I don't recall ever hearing about someone who tried tabs and decided to take them off, but there are lots of Hydrofoils in the dumpster.

 

[ondarvr]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

Here we go again, foils, like tabs are just a tool, if you don't need one or the other don't use it.

They don't do the same thing, although some of the results can over lap. People seem to think they're designed to do the same thing in the same way and just bolt it on and head to the water.

Few boats need a foil (fin), but on some it can work well.

Most opinions are based on misuse of the product, this results in negative outcomes and opinions.


Tabs are more useful and do more of what the owners desire as a cure, or help, with a particular problem.

Do a search and you'll find a great deal of reading, some from as recent as last week.

 

[yourkiddin]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

i am really just wanting to know if it would help the aluminum boat get set out of the water more on plain. my fiberglass boat maybe has a foot of the boat on the water. now it may not possile to do that with the 1860 john sc with a 75 merc. im just curious you know.

 

[mikeroche]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

i had a foil on my 17ft starcraft cc the best thing i ever bought,i went to the boston boat show there were brand new boats with the se 300 mounted on them two of the several boats were whalers,i bought it for my gradywhite i know it works just my 2 cents worth,buy it try it thats all you can do,i had it on my cc for 6 years without a problem

 

[ondarvr]

Re: hydrofoil or not to hydrofoill

i am really just wanting to know if it would help the aluminum boat get set out of the water more on plain. my fiberglass boat maybe has a foot of the boat on the water. now it may not possile to do that with the 1860 john sc with a 75 merc. im just curious you know.

Yes...but no.

Flat bottom aluminum jon boats are a totally different beast that F/G deep V hull, so the ride and performance will be totally different.

If you want to plane at lower speeds then tabs will do more for you. Used incorrectly a fin will sort of do it, but possibly create other issues.