StingRay Hydrofoil Stabilizer question

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in message
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"johnval1" wrote in message
. net...

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers"
If all else fails, then I'd add a foil only as a last resort. It does
add stress to the cavitation plate of the outboard and I've seen them
crack on other's boats.

I do not believe I have seen this mentioned in the adverts. I think I
will fool around with the boat a little this spring before I resort to
this. Thanks Steve.

Well of course they wouldn't mention that in the advertisements! If you
were selling the product, would you?
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com


Steve is right that in some circumstances it can contribute to problems with
little help, but there are many circumstances where it helps a lot. Under
powered or marginally powered boats will come up on pad faster and hold on
pad easier. Also, with hull designs that are not best suited for high speed
(high relative speed) like flat bottom jon boats it can reduce or eliminate
porpoising allowing you to trim higher and run faster.

I have experienced all of the above.

The arguement many use is that you should get a bigger motor. Well for many
of us that simpley is not an option. We have what we have and if we took
the loss to get rid of what we have then we would have nothing.

For some aplications it would require a whole new boat. A whale tail is
relatively cheap to try. Having talked to several local guys who set up
boats including Waco, Ranger, Skeeter, and G3 dealers as well as a few
others I have heard that the plain old aluminum plate Whale Tail

http://www.opentip.com/images/full/DAV/DAV-448.jpg

as sold here

http://tinyurl.com/29rt67

and lots of other places on the web for about $50 works as well as any of
them and better than most for those applications where it will help.

A quick on Froogle.com for whale tail outboard showed three sellers listing
it for less than $50 and an Ebay searched showed a cheap one for 9.95
starting price and 10.50 shipping.

http://tinyurl.com/29vhz3

I have had them on five different boats and I had noticeable improvement on
3 of them. On the other two there was absolutely no difference in lowest
planing speed, propoising, or time to plane. On the two were it did not
help I simpley took it off and set it on the shelf for future applications.

Steve is also right in that weight distribution can also help with some
problems. On my flatbottom I moved my trolling motor batteries from the
back to the front and it helped reduce propoising dramatically. The Whale
Tail helped a lot more.

Anyway, its cheap to try, and if it does not help simpley remove it. You
can always sell it to a buddy or save it for a future boat or even move it
on Ebay.

Bolt strength is not critical to my experience, but there are some obvious
or maybe not so obvious things you can do. I always use stainless bolts and
screws for everything on a boat if I can. There are 1/4" X 20 Pitch bolts
available in stainless with a rounded head. (pan head?) I'll put the bolts
in from the bottom and put stainless nylock nuts on from the top. I have no
definitive proof, but I think the rounded bolt heads reduce drag. I know I
have heard boat setup guys say a minor chip or gouge on the hull can have
seasurable affect on boat performance. By using a round head bolt I believe
(with no proof lol) that I am reducig the likelihood of the bolt heads
creating any significant drag. Being somewhat anal about the techincal
stuff I also align the screw driver slot straight from front to back. LOL.


--
Bob La Londe
Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River
Fishing Forums & Contests
http://www.YumaBassMan.com







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