Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

[ConroeBoater]

I have a 19 ft Galaxie ski boat with a '95 5.7 GM inboard, '93 Yamaha outdrive. This boat runs very strong (60 mph), but at cruising speeds (25-35), the boat "porpouses" even on flat conditions.
* Will a hydrofoil stabilizer fin be my best option to minimize this??
* Are any of them better than others?
Thank you

 

[nlain]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

I put a foil on my first boat and had problems with porpoising until I removed it, I have Smart Tabs on my current boat and they are great. My thoughts from my experience is no to the foil, use trim tabs, either adjustable or Smart Tabs, they will give you better results.

 

[Bifflefan]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

They have a place on some boats. My old boat had one and did very well.
From my experiance they are more for a stern heavy boat. they provide lift all the time, and the faster you go the more lift you get.
I think some kind of trim tab would suit you better in your situation. You may want an adjustable (Benett or something) tab instead of the smart tabs, as you can drive through your issue and run well.

 

[Snobike Mike]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

Forget the whale tail.

Either you need to make a trim adjustment or you need something like smart tabs.

Cheers.

 

[KermieB]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

Forget the whale tail.

Either you need to make a trim adjustment or you need something like smart tabs.

Cheers.

I totally disagree. I have a '90 Sea Ray 180 BR with a 4.3 Merc with a Alpha 1 and I have a hydrofoil. I can skip through waves by adjusting speed and trim and make my little 19 footer cruise. And, by the way, my boat is very similar to yours.

The type of hydrofoil you get makes a big difference, though. Mine is wide (yea, like a whale's tail) but a buddy has one that is long (points behind the boat) but I haven't talked to him about the performance.

 

[ConroeBoater]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

thank you guys...i went with the "whale tail" sting ray xp III and it jumps out of the hole faster and stays planed off at lower rpm's now...no effect at wot as it is out of the water at 60 mph.

 

[smokeonthewater]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

LOL

What was the effect on the 25-35 porpoising you complained about and bought it to solve? better worse or the same?

 

[ConroeBoater]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

it porpouses less with the sting ray on it...it really fixed my problem! next i will replace the plugs and go ahead n pay for the 21" ballistic prop. she'll run 62+ after this weekend

 

[LiFeStArTs@FoRtY]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

I don't like whale tales. They put undo stress on the outdrive casing. My current boat had one and it broke off a large piece of the casing. $300 weld job follwed.

 

[AZSenza]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

Those "Tails" are a temporary solution at best, as stated earlier, they add stress to an already stressed area. A more permenant solution is a trim tab. They are unaffected by drive trim and using this allows for some tailoring to different boating and water conditions. With adjustables on my last boat, I could pull a skier up with zero bow rise with them trimmed down, then trim the drive to suit the conditions and speed. Of course final cost is ALWAYS the issue as well as transom design, my current boat is HARD to fit an actuator on so I have yet to install any. My Bravo 3 really helps though.

 

[ConroeBoater]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

hey AZSenza, ive had the stingray xpIII on it for almost a year now, she performs great because my 19 footer isnt very heavy. Just curious, what is your rpms at w.o.t. running the 26p prop? im running 4500-4600 with a 19p ballistic ss prop. out of my 5.7L.

 

[JimS123]

Re: Is Hydrofoil recommended for I/O V8?

I don't like whale tales. They put undo stress on the outdrive casing. My current boat had one and it broke off a large piece of the casing. $300 weld job follwed.

Yup....classic problem. A torque wrench and following the directions would have mitigated the problem.