Re: Smart Tabs for Me?
Ok, I work for Bennett and I am biased, but I also own a boat and run it darn near every weekend with my family. It is a 20 ft walkaround, and we pull tubes, run up and down the intra-coastal here in Florida, go offshore, etc. the basic kind of use most boats of this type will get. Yesterday was a great example of why remotely adjustable Trim Tabs will give you the maximum results on a boat like yours. <br /><br />My wife, two daughters and I launched the boat and it was raining a little bit. So I put up on side of the enclosure since the rain would be coming in from the port as we rain South (the radar on the internet showed that it would clear from the South first). The oldest daughter climbed into the cuddy with a book and snuggled up on the starboard berth, my youngest daughter (the lightest of all three of us sat in the port captains chair, I (and I am a large fellow) sat in the Starboard Captains chair, and my wife stood beside me. We were all dry and comfortable, but if I did not have Tabs the boat would have listed quite a bit to Starboard. I would have had to tell the girls to move (and I really would rather have them happy). But of course my boat has Tabs, so I tapped the control for them got the boat running level and off we went. When we got down to Lake Boca the sun came out and we puttered around. Then we ran North in the sun, of course now that the sun was out the girls came out from under cover and wanted sit up on the bow seat. This again changed the balance of the boat (the other way and down by the bow) again I simply tapped the controls a few times and set up the boat. The reason I tell this long story is to point out the remotely adjustable Tabs are capable of changing on the fly, and correcting for changes in weight distribution as they happen. Something that non adjustable Tabs cannot do. You dont have to fiddle with the controls all the time as some folks would have you believe, and the results are that the boats attitude is tailored to all conditions. My boating is stop and go here on the waterway, and often people change locations depending on the conditions. When I take the boat offshore, my passengers are never in the same position twice. So for both these reasons remotely adjustable Tabs are far better for me. <br /><br />I run inlets here in Florida, and while I use my Tabs to hold the bow down into a chop so that the boat runs smoother, it is also very important that I can raise the Tabs and run with the bow up when I running the inlets (and in a larger following sea) for full control. <br /><br />Another little known trick that you can do with remotely adjustable tabs is to lean the boat away from the spray. Often times when some spray is coming into the boat over the bow, raising that side of the boat a little bit with the Tabs will block the spray. It looks a little funny but it works. <br /><br />Remotely adjustable Tabs will free up the power trim from trimming the boat, which will let the prop do its work more effectively.<br /><br />Remotley adjustable Trim Tabs will eliminate porposing too.<br /><br />Yes they do cost a fair amount more then the 'self adjusting types"<br /><br />We feel that the smaller the boat the more important remotely adjustable Tabs are since the effect of passengers moving around the boat will be greater than on a larger boat.<br /><br />I guess between Nauti-John and myself we have given you some things to think about! We both belive in our products, and are more then happy to share what we feel are the benefits of them.<br /><br />Tom McGow<br />Bennett Marine
