Which Hydrofoil?

[Robofish]

Hi all,

I want to fit a hydrofoil to my Formosa 550 which has a Mercury 115hp four stroke on the back - what should I look for? Does it just go on engine size??

Any advice appreciated

Dave

[Guest]

put trim tabs on and you wont regret it

[Juggs]

why does it need a foil ?

[chocolate]

Trim tabs are the go i have them on my boat awesome.

[Geoff]

If u decide on a foil the best one is a Permatrim

[BWV]

Hydrofoils just mask other problems. They are not needed if you are set up correctly. Eg engine hight, prop, weight distribution or under powered.

[Robofish]

I was told that a foil would stop some of the bouncing I have coming of waves and would get me on the plane quicker - not true?

[Busy-livin]

I had a permatrim fitted to a previous boat and it made the problem ten times worse. Cavitated heaps and the boat whilst under way would lay over violently out of nowhere. Reports of it happening to others aswell . Not just this brand though.

This was fitted at a dealer by professionals and the correct for the motor. If you can afford it spend the money on trim tabs I'd say

[Rud]

In the 70's I had a wooden ski boat front and rear bench seats with engine in between covered over.

It had a side valve Ford V8 which replaced the original 4 cylinder Vanguard engine and it porpoise uncontrollaby until I fitted a sheet of 1/4" aluminium about 4' wide by 15" out across the rear end with 4 turnbuckles for adjustment and it worked a miracle.

[antonywardle]

yes, will get you on the plane faster

after that there seems to be a few schools of thought. NO idea who is actually right.

So the permatrim will get you on the plane fasters but thenwill increase the fuel consumption

and potenitally will "dig in" and cause you more issues because the boat wasn't setup properly in

the first place.

Permatrims are a waste of time, if they were any good, then the manufactures would be making the,

Permatrims are the best things of all time

so pick the one you like ;-)

FWIW, I took mine off because two of the four bolts had fallen off and the new outboard didn't have one

[Juggs]

<sup>I think they are a bandaid and a dangerous one at times

It will plane quicker
It will lose top end speed</sup>

^{You will have 4 ugly holes in your cav plate
You will be more likely to snap the cav plate if someone stands on your new step/foil
You may have unexpected handling issues
If you boat is subject to broaching it may be magnified
It may dig in at speed and make you carp your daks}

<sup>in a following sea when the sea is travelling faster then you it can cause issues again crap your daks

Look at your setup first

Weight distribution
props
engine Height
Trim with wedges if necessary
Repower with correct horsepower
Repower with a lighter engine</sup>

^{All options id consider before fitting one in a boat used on the open sea}

Edited May 2, 2015 by Juggs

[antonywardle]

Hahahahah

that's brightened up my day!

priceless

^{in a following sea when the sea is travelling faster then you it can cause issues again crap your daks}

^{All options id consider before fitting one in a boat used on the open sea}