With the range of hydrofoils on the market is it hard to know which one is the best choice?
I am wanting to fit one to my 60 Honda on the 4.49 Assault Pro....(Stacer's equivalent to the Hornet)
What brands to avoid and what brands you really like please.
Jack.
I'll also watch this with interest. I've got one on our little boat, 40 Suzuki on a 4m Hornet, can't for the life of me remember the brand, and I'm not near the boat, but I'm also going to put one on our bigger boat, 115 ProXS on a 5m Top Ender.
My next door neighbour has the same boat but a Yammy 115 with a hydrofoil and makes a world of difference.
Cheers
Corry
Why do you think you need a foil? Do not fit a foil trying to cover a bad setup issue, don't fit a foil thinking you are going to go faster or something like that.
Ive toyed the idea of them for my cat to get a little more lift however during my due diligence reading I cant find enough positives to outweigh the negatives.
So , for the moment I am hydrofoil free
I had a se300 on my df50 and took it out it dose lift but also creates drag so for me it was a win lose situation.Originally Posted by Brettoh
I haven't heard anyone suggest they will make a boat go faster. They can be very effective if the boat is stern heavy or a bit underpowered. I suppose that would be classed as a 'bad setup', but it's not always easy or cheap to rectify by other methods. They can often make a boat plane and hold it at lower speeds which is a desirable trait.
I found it helped when there is not enough weight over the front. Take my little boat (4m Hornet), I replaced the 30 2 stroke with a 40 4 stroke, this added extra weight to the rear. As it has thwart seats, I've fitted two pedestal seats to the rear as well (I don't like my passenger having to face backwards). To counterweight it somewhat, I've relocated the fuel tank to the front, also have the electric and it's battery up the front. Still have the start battery down the back, and the foil helps with keeping the nose down when coming out of the hole, and I found that it corners so much better at half speed and when not perfectly up on the plane.
Our bigger boat (5m Top Ender) is also rear heavy. 115 4 stroke, side console is in the rear half, fuel tank (100l) is under the console, both seats are normally at the rear, both batteries are rear mounted. Up the front is the 3rd battery for the elec, fridge is on the floor just short of the cast deck, the cast deck normally has the esky strapped down on it, and the Elec is up front... pretty much all weighted to the rear.
I find when outside in a bit of weather, it's difficult to push the nose down when holding 1/3rd throttle. My neighbours boat, which is the same boat, same set up, runs a foil on his and it manages to hold the nose down a touch better than ours will, which allows the hull to hit the waves/chop with the front, not underneath where it's flatter, the ride is so much better. When we're heading out wide, his missus sits on the seat beside his at the rear, and his teenage kids actually sit on the transom behind their seats, I could not do that with ours, I've got to have our adult kids up the front if they are with us.
Not saying that the foil is the sole reason, but we've compared motor heights, boat set up etc, and everything is the same except we've got a new ProXS and his is an older Yammy, which weighs a bit more than ours. Both boats were built within a year of each other, so no difference there.
I'm going to fit a foil to the TE in the near future, I'll do some water tests and give feedback on what I find. I'd never had them on a boat before the little one and only put it on as it was recommended as I was changing to a much heavier outboard and as it was mainly beached launched, I struggled to get the nose down at slow speed when pushing through the waves getting out from the beach, previously I was almost against them.
Time will tell.
Cheers
Corry
I was unsure whether a foil would achieve the effect that I wanted on my boat, i.e. to lower the bow into that horrible short sharp chop. So, I bought a drill less hydro foil and fitted that. This did what I wanted it to do. Two issues were that I didn't think it would be a very permanent fitting and it was quite thick, thus generating drag. I then sold it online and purchased an "Oz hydrofoil". Little if any loss in top speed and aids in lowering the bow. My boat is an aluminum 4.5 m side console. Cheers Winston.
From everything I've read the hornets and the assault pros benefit with a foil added.
The shape of the hull is the main reason why they are not particularly fast getting out of the water even with max horsepower fitted.
2 guys plus gear in mine takes about 30-35 metres to flatten out on the plane and they do point upwards quickly.
Solo run I have no problem with.
I reach max revs with no problem with the stainless steel oversized prop...same pitch and 3/8" larger in diameter.
Std alloy prop behaved similarly but down on top end about 8kph.
Currently will pull 56 kph was 48 with the max with the std alloy prop.
Jack.
Can’t say I have any experience with that particular model, but in my experience I’d side with Noel, the foil was just a bandaid for a bigger issue. I know a lot of people have positive experiences and I’m sure they might be useful in some scenarios, but I’ve never seen one have a positive effect on a boat yet, I’d play with motor height first personally
Foils can be good but often are just masking a larger setup issue.
Check the boat isnt underpowered or overweight on the transom. Then look at overall weight distribution and how you can alter it.
If you can't resolve the bogging down, slow planing etc issues then a foil may well cover up the problem.
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