Re: Smart Tabs Vs. Conventional trim tabs?
I installed SmartTabs on my 15 foot Bayliner Jazz jet boat this season. I am very pleased with them. The boat used to porpoise badly and fall off plane in a sharp turn. It now planes at a much slower speed and doesn't porpoise at all. <br /><br />The other benefit is a reduced deck angle when coming up on the step. Before the tabs, my dog used to slide down the foredeck and end up in my lap becaused the boat would pitch up so much coming out of the hole. Now it hardly pitches at all and gets on plane almost as soon as I open the throttle. I would not have believed that two little 9x12 inch plates could make such a difference. I may have lost a knot or two at top end, but it was well worth it. <br /><br />The company was also great to deal with. On my boat I had to mount the shock struts to the underside of the swim deck. The standard brackets used for mounting on the transom wouldn't work. They sent me some different brackets at no charge. <br /><br />I haven't tried the adujstable tabs to be able to give a comparison, but my opinion is that on a small boat like mine, these SmartTabs are probably about 90% as good as the adjustable ones at way less than half the cost and hassle.