Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

[87SeaSprite]

Guys, I recently installed a hydrofoil on my cavitation plate of my boat. I have a 1995 Sea Ray Signature 200 with a 5.0 Liter 305 V8. I have a WOT of 4600. I currently have a 14.5 x 19 aluminum prop on there. Before I installed the hydrofoil, I was getting a top speed of 42 mph. After installing it, I'm now only getting top speed of 38 mph. I'm hitting my WOT of 4600 either way.

My question is if I were to put a Stainless prop on there, would I get those 4 mph back that I lost by installing the hydrofoil? And, secondly, is this common to lose top end with the hydrofoil? It definately helps me to plane out much quicker, but I'm not sure that's going to be enough of a reason to keep it on there if I'm losing speed.

 

[Dhadley]

Re: Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

The fin is a tool and usually doesn't help much unless you can change the height of the motor (X dimension). In most cases it hurts an I/O since they are usually on the low side anyway.

 

[QC]

Re: Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

My question is if I were to put a Stainless prop on there, would I get those 4 mph back that I lost by installing the hydrofoil?

Might get 1 . . . but the prop is not the issue, it's the extra stuff in the wawa . . .

And, secondly, is this common to lose top end with the hydrofoil?

Yes, and you'll generally find the consensus here is they work best on very small and light OBs. I/Os not so much as the height of the hydrofoil cannot be adjusted. Most here are fans of some sort of trim tab to correct your issues. If installed and setup propelry, top speed can be maintained while improving planing time and minimum planing speed.

Do a search for Smart Tabs or Trim Tabs and Hydrofoils. This topic has been severely debated, desCUSSed and beaten . . .

 

[180shabah]

Re: Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

Ditch the foil and get the tabs, you will never look back.

 

[87SeaSprite]

Re: Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

Guys, thanks for your responses. The consensus seams to be that trim tabs are the way to go. I was just looking at some on Overton's, man, a LOT more expensive. Overton's only has the electric/hydraulic versions. So I'm looking at minimum $400. Are there cheaper options?

 

[87SeaSprite]

Re: Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

Nevermind, I found out what the Smart Tabs are. About $100. Looks like everyone loves them.

 

[180shabah]

Re: Hydrofoil and Stainless Prop Question

...and you can get them right here at iboats...