To hydrofoil or not ?

[Docdoc]

I wanted to get some comment from some of you old "salts" on here. I've got a 16 ft. bay skiff with a 50 hp force on it. This is my second motor of the same type (first one got fried, long story). My first motor had a hydrofoil(stingray, whale tail, etc.) mounted on it. I always heard they helped with hole shot, quicker planing, stability, etc, but you lost about 10% on the upper end. I haven't made up my mind if I want to put the hydofoil on my current motor. Are these add ons really worthwhile? If so, how come all the outboard companies don't just build them into the lower unit themselves?

 

[roscoe]

Re: To hydrofoil or not ?

If set up properly they can help overcome some handling problems.<br /><br />If set up wrong or used in the wrong situation, they will have little benefit and likely cause new problems.

 

[lmoore101]

Re: To hydrofoil or not ?

I put a stingray foil on my 18' bayliner cobra with a Force 125. It made a huge difference with helping the boat to plane faster. I didn't notice more than a 5% reduction in top end so in my book this was a very useful modification.

 

[JB]

Re: To hydrofoil or not ?

I got excellent results with a SE Sport300 foil, Docdoc. It worked a lot better than the StingRay my son had.<br /><br />I didn't lose top end either.<br /><br />After trying the Smart Tabs I recommend them, but for $30-40 the SE Sport 300 is a deal.

 

[JB]

Re: To hydrofoil or not ?

Moving to Outboard Non-repair.