Still trying to understand 'planing'

[gemajean]

Hi all, Still new to boating, and I'm learning as much as I can. I appreciate all your advice and expertise in advance...

I have a 26' Four Winns Vista and I'm still trying to learn how to get the boat on plane and adjust the tabs.

I had a captain help me out with taking the boat back from the dealer back to my marina and he taught me some things but I'm not sure if I really 'got it'.

From what I understand, once you get the boat up to a certain point (let's say up to 3000 rpm or 3500 rpm), you should bring up the drive slightly so that the boat can get on plane. When I try to do that, I don't think anything really happens.

I think I did it once where the boat got up to a certain speed and I played around with the trim where the boat seemed to glide on the water and the steering seemed easier. I would imagine this is what planing feels like but I'm finding it's very difficult for me to replicate this all the time. Sometimes I bring the drive up and nothing seems to happen (the bow still stays up, the rpms stay the same and the speed stays the same...).

I would have imagined that the rpms should go down and the speed increases along with the bow dropping slightly?

Does any of this seem right or am I doing it wrong?

Again, I appreciate all of your experience and advice!

 

[marine4003]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

Gem,
With the boat at a standstill..give it 3/4 throttle..while the trim tabs are set at "bow down"..as your speed increases and the bow is "digging in", press tab switch to "bow up" this will cause the trim tabs to retract under the hull...at this point you should be around 3500-3700 rpm.....now using the trim button trim the outdrive "up"....what will happen is the rpm's will INCREASE not decrease,and you should be "on plane" if it feels like the boat is moving thru the water somewhat effortlessly..steering is easy....Now, drop the speed to around 3200 rpm..if the bow begins to rise..give the trim button another shot..but be careful and do everything slow until you get used to it..as to much trim can cause the boat handling to be precarious and dangerous...dont worry you'll get the hang of it...remember..We All Had to Learn

 

[rrhodes]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

Try this download. It will help you understand how the trim tabs work.

http://www.bennetttrimtabs.com/simulator.htm

You may also look for people in your area to help you out. Where are you located?

 

[MikDee]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

I'm going to try and make this the least complicated for a newbie, so you can understand. Start off with your drive all the way in, and tabs fully up, then open the throttle slowly to get on plane (the boat will nose up, then level off, and pick up speed) that will be when you've reached planing speed, Try to remember the tach rpm readings it takes to get on plane, and when you fall off plane for future reference.

Once on plane you can throttle back a bit, and cruise. You will notice a "roostertail" wake, if you throttle back too much, the roostertail will dissappear, and you will fall off plane.

That is the basics!

Once you've mastered this then you can learn, & play with drive trim, & trim tabs.

Now, to use the trim tabs: Put them both fully down to start, then use the procedure I mentioned above, once the boat gets on plane (levels off) bring your trim tabs fully up. This should make it easier, & faster, to get on plane.

Next, to use the Drive trim, (usually only used for extra speed), When on plane, (tabs up), slowly bring the drive up until the boat seems to lift, and until you hear the prop starting to ventilate (overreve, and appear to slip), then drop the drive down, just A LITTLE till it grabs again, that is your maximum trim drive angle. Make a note of it, if you have a working trim angle gauge for future reference. Usually gains of up to 5mph are realized by this at WOT! But, once you come off plane, you must drop the Drive trim all the way down, for best steering control at low speeds, & Also, to get back on plane again, or it will be MUCH HARDER to begin to get on plane with the Drive trimmed out any AT ALL!

 

[marine4003]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

I'm going to try and make this the least complicated for a newbie, so you can understand. Start off with your drive all the way in, and tabs fully up, then open the throttle slowly to get on plane (the boat will nose up, then level off, and pick up speed) that will be when you've reached planing speed, Try to remember the tach rpm readings it takes to get on plane, and when you fall off plane for future reference.

Once on plane you can throttle back a bit, and cruise. You will notice a "roostertail" wake, if you throttle back too much, the roostertail will dissappear, and you will fall off plane.

That is the basics!

Once you've mastered this then you can learn, & play with drive trim, & trim tabs.

Now, to use the trim tabs: Put them both fully down to start, then use the procedure I mentioned above, once the boat gets on plane (levels off) bring your trim tabs fully up. This should make it easier, & faster, to get on plane.

Next, to use the Drive trim, (usually only used for extra speed), When on plane, (tabs up), slowly bring the drive up until the boat seems to lift, and until you hear the prop starting to ventilate (overreve, and appear to slip), then drop the drive down, just A LITTLE till it grabs again, that is your maximum trim drive angle. Make a note of it, if you have a working trim angle gauge for future reference. Usually gains of up to 5mph are realized by this at WOT! But, once you come off plane, you must drop the Drive trim all the way down, for best steering control at low speeds, & Also, to get back on plane again, or it will be MUCH HARDER to begin to get on plane with the Drive trimmed out any AT ALL!

Mike..the only concern is with a boat as heavy as his 26' Vista is due to it being borderline semi-displacement ( lol) from throttle-up, its quicker to start with the trim tabs deployed "down" at start , or she'll plow.....and it takes longer to achieve "bow down"......nice boat though....

 

[MikDee]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

marine, Yes, trim tabs down from the start will help, then tabs up once on plane, but it can be a bit overwhelming as a beginner having all these controls available (Drive trim, Trim tabs, & throttle control) to deal with. One more item is, his Drive trim should be fully down most of the time, (one less thing to deal with), he has no reason to move his Drive trim up, unless when once he's planing he wants to get the most speed, & efficency, at that particular point. It's especially handy at wide open throttle (WOT) to get the most out of your boat, but either way when you do this it affects your steering, and if you forget the Drive is up, once you come off plane, you would have one helluva time trying to get back on plane, maybe not at all! Until you drop it all the way down.

Another thing Trim tabs can be helpful leveling your boat if you happen to boat where wind, current, & good size waves, are an issue, but if you slow down, speed up, change position, or make a turn, and don't pay attention, they can be dangerous, and cause your boat to list to the wrong side, and they are sometimes a bit too slow to correct! I've been there, done that accidently, and it's no fun in those sea conditions.

 

[oops!]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

here goes my 2 cents.........

i think the op si still confused about what plaining is.......

so......

think of a water skier.....2 skis......when they take off out of the water....the skis are pushing the water away and around the skis......

(this is exactally the same as a displacement hull.....the hull displaces the water....it literllay pushes the water out of the way)

when the skier "stands up"....the skis are riding on top of the water....plaining across the water in stead of pushing the water out of the way....

(this is exactally the same with a plaining hull.....the hull or boat..."rides on top" of the water)

your trim tabs will help you ride on top of the water......as far as adjusting the trim tabs at a certain rpm.......that depends on a lot of factors....weight, prop size, pitch.

i would just hit it till you feel the boat come out of the water.....when its out of the water....("riding on top") then adjust your tabs till you feel the boat is going a wee bit faster....(the rpms will increase slightly).....as the rpms increase with out moving the throttle.......and the bow is not going up and down like a porpus......throttle back till you are still on plane but not running at full throttle.........

after you master this.....then just play with it till you understand the concept of what you are doing, and how it works......then you can experiment as how to get the boat on plane with your tabs better, and how to use them to your full advantage.

 

[MikDee]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

here goes my 2 cents.........

i think the op si still confused about what plaining is.......

so......

think of a water skier.....2 skis......when they take off out of the water....the skis are pushing the water away and around the skis......

(this is exactally the same as a displacement hull.....the hull displaces the water....it literllay pushes the water out of the way)

when the skier "stands up"....the skis are riding on top of the water....plaining across the water in stead of pushing the water out of the way....

(this is exactally the same with a plaining hull.....the hull or boat..."rides on top" of the water)

your trim tabs will help you ride on top of the water......as far as adjusting the trim tabs at a certain rpm.......that depends on a lot of factors....weight, prop size, pitch.

i would just hit it till you feel the boat come out of the water.....when its out of the water....("riding on top") then adjust your tabs till you feel the boat is going a wee bit faster....(the rpms will increase slightly).....as the rpms increase with out moving the throttle.......and the bow is not going up and down like a porpus......throttle back till you are still on plane but not running at full throttle.........

after you master this.....then just play with it till you understand the concept of what you are doing, and how it works......then you can experiment as how to get the boat on plane with your tabs better, and how to use them to your full advantage.

oops, trim tabs don't help you ride on top of the water, (they add drag) nor do they make your boat go faster, they help you get on plane, and IF NEED BE, help you stay on plane,,, that's it! They can be used to level the boat side to side also. More speed is dependant on the Drive trim angle. Please don't confuse the O.P. any more.

 

[Boatist]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

Gemajean
I will try to explain planing but this depends on two thing.
One your boat has enough power to Plane and Two it is some form of a planing hull.

This is just to let you understand planing.

Start with your trim tabs all the way up them lower each for about 2 seconds.
Put your outdrives in a netural postion.

Now this is just to help you understand Planing and not what you want to do after you understand. This need to be done in flat or calm conditions without a lot of people on the water.

With the boat adjusted as above advance the throttle a little at a time and see what the boat does. Start at maybe 1,500 RPMS
The boat will be moving slow and the bow will start to rise.
This is because the boat is pushing a bow wave.

advance the throttle to 2000 Rpms and the bow will rise more as the boat climes more up on the bow wave. Make sure you can see ahead even if you have to stand up.

again advance the throttle and see what the boat does. As you slowly advance the throttle the bow will go higher and higher. You should also be able to see the spray coming off the hull mover farther back each time your advance the throttle.

Keep advancing the throttle very slowly until the bow starts to come back down. At this point you are reaching planing speed. Without advancing the throttle more you will see the speed and RPM pick up.
What has happened is the boat has climed up on top of the wave your boat makes and over taken it . The stern is up on the wave your boat made and the bow is comming down the wave like a man on a surf board .

You have reached planing speed.

Your speed has picked up a lot with only a tiny increase in throttle so your get more speed at the same throttle so also getting more fuel mileage.

At this point give it just a little more throttle and then adjust your trim tabs for the ride you want. Last adjust the motor trim to get best speed without changing the throttle. This will be your best fuel mileage position.

Now your on plane, You have boat adjusted for the ride you want, and your motor is adjusted for the best fuel mileage.

Make a note of your SPEED, RPMS, and as best you can your TRIM TAB POSTION and MOTOR TRIM POSTION.

These numbers will change some based on Fuel, People, and Gear you have on board but not very that much.

Last thing to do is slowly reduce the throttle until you feel the bow start to rise and the boat start to be over taken by your wave and drop off of plane.

OK now how I run my boat to get on plane and everyone will have a different way.

First I set the trim tabs and motor trim as close as I can to the postion I had it when adjusted on plane.

Next I advance the throttle to full throttle and watch the RPMS clime.
When it get above my planing RPMS I start reducing the throttle as the boat comes up to speed. When the boat speed reaches my planing speed I then set the throttle for the speed I want.

Example My boat natural planing speed is between 18 to 20 Miles per hour and 2800 RPMS. This is with no trim tabs and motor in a netural trim.

So I come out into open water and well outside any speed zone or wake zone.
I advance the throttle to near full throttle when the RPMS Reach 3000 RPMS I reduce the throttle to keep Rpms at 3000 Rpms as the boat comes up to speed. When the boat reaches the Planing speed I want I adjust the throttle to hold it there then adjust trim tabs and motor trim.

This way my boat get up on plane very fast and we are on our way.

With time it will become natural to you and your will find your way and not even think about it.

Like with my boat if I come out of the harbor and see the Seas are 5 foot or more I will know I not going to be able to run 20 miles per hour on a natural plane. So I will adjust the trim tabs all the way down and advance the throttle until the boat reaches a forced Planing postion of about 11 miles per hour. What I am doing is forceing the stern up and bow down to a good angle to cut the waves at a much safer speed.

Hope this long post makes some sence.

 

[marine4003]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

marine, Yes, trim tabs down from the start will help, then tabs up once on plane, but it can be a bit overwhelming as a beginner having all these controls available (Drive trim, Trim tabs, & throttle control) to deal with. One more item is, his Drive trim should be fully down most of the time, (one less thing to deal with), he has no reason to move his Drive trim up, unless when once he's planing he wants to get the most speed, & efficency, at that particular point. It's especially handy at wide open throttle (WOT) to get the most out of your boat, but either way when you do this it affects your steering, and if you forget the Drive is up, once you come off plane, you would have one helluva time trying to get back on plane, maybe not at all! Until you drop it all the way down.

Another thing Trim tabs can be helpful leveling your boat if you happen to boat where wind, current, & good size waves, are an issue, but if you slow down, speed up, change position, or make a turn, and don't pay attention, they can be dangerous, and cause your boat to list to the wrong side, and they are sometimes a bit too slow to correct! I've been there, done that accidently, and it's no fun in those sea conditions.

Mike, sometimes i forget how long it took me to master trim tabs / outdrive trim / water conditions..but your right, plus his boat is one big wake machine, Practice....practice...practice.

 

[gemajean]

Re: Still trying to understand 'planing'

Hello all, Wow, thank you all for your input and advice. Truth is, when reading all of the comments, I actually was even more confused as I notice that everyone has their own way of getting on plane and adjusting their tabs.

From what I gather, there is no 'right way' or better way to get on plane and that there are more than one way to skin a cat?

But from your comments, I understand now what planing is all about and as you've all noted, it's more fine tuning and adjusting the trim tabs and drive to get it to that soft spot where the boat is optimized for speed, fuel efficiency and for comfort.

I'm actually going to print out these comments and take her out shortly (hopefully this weekend) and try all of the above comments and see which ones works well with this boat. I imagine all boats react differently and I'm sure one of your suggestions will be ideal.

Thank you all again for your input and advice!