Aluminum plate hydrofoil.

[Stumpalump]

I'm trying to decide on smart tabs or Bennett SLT as discussed in the general boat topic section but in the mean time I noticed my outboards cavitation plate was drilled by a previous owner for a hydro foil. For fun and to see what it will do I have a couple of 5x10" pieces of 3/16 thick aluminum Im going to bolt on to try out. Good idea or bad? 16' Valco Bayrunner with a really high bow I'm trying to keep down at slower speeds, Johnson 60.

 

[MikDee]

Try It! But, you'd be better off with a Doel fin, or knock-off, by design. all the other hydrofoils are too big!

 

[Stumpalump]

Try It! But, you'd be better off with a Doel fin, or knock-off, by design. all the other hydrofoils are too big!

I put one on a 1967 16' Glasstron with a Mercruiser 110hp 4 cly about 20 years ago. That was my last experiment with one and too big was an understatement. It would catch in a turn and rip the wheel right out of your hand. After trial and error with a sawzall it was wound up half it's original size. Actually trimmed down it worked well but I was always afraid of the extra stress it put on that old drive. What a great boat that was. I wonder if a flat plate will matter? I'm taking a break from digging up bolts as we speak so I'll let you know.

 

[midcarolina]

Years and years ago I had a traveler bass boat with a 40 mariner on it......got the boat for a steal cause it would never plane, anyway I made a jack plate out of 3X3 aluminum angle and made a hydro foil out of stainless steel plate think the plate was 16 ga. but cant remember for sure, that thing worked very well, I think cause it was thin it had little drag...........but when it was sitting in my shop I had to wrap a noodle around it cause it would slice you if you bumped into it......

 

[Stumpalump]

No Title

It's done except for the water test. It was thinner than I thought so I made it small. Cool thing was the shape. I only made one cut and drilled holes in the junk metal I had.

 

[Stumpalump]

Water test was great. Less bow rise, lower planing speeds, less pounding. Top speed was the same but trim needs to be dialed in just right to get it. You can tell it burns less gas from the get go because you don't need near as much throttle to get on plane. Cheap mod that really helped this boat.