Finally Finished, 13 ft Skiff

[bobconnie]

Hoppy, I tried it all on my marsh red fish boat ! and the engine lower fins worked the best of all !! and was the cheapest of all the choices and the easiest to install ! just a thought

[HopCar]

That makes two votes for fins, one for a tiller extension.

[Steve Bean]

I don't have an outboard or a skiff anything like yours, but if I did I think I would first try to solve the problem by placing my weight forward. Does the Doel-fin have any effect on efficiency, creating turbulence like sailing with a lot of weather helm?

[minaret]

Originally Posted by HopCar

That makes two votes for fins, one for a tiller extension.

Add one for the smallest simplest wheel setup you can find.

[HopCar]

What do you guys have against trim tabs?

Nothing, I really like electric trim tabs, get a boat on plane quicker and keep the bow down when climbing on plane and you can back them out when less of them is needed.
Truthfully I don't have an answer why you see so many fins on small boats, but not tabs, I have no experieice with fixed tabs either, only electric ones.

[motion30]

I think it depends if you are loading this boat on and off the mothership. Tabs and a doelfin. Can be a real pain in that case. Tiller extension is just a trip to home depoit for a short section of pvc

[HopCar]

Motion it will be a trailer boat. I haven't got any boats big enough to carry it.

[a64pilot]

Hopcar,
I don't know how I edited your post, I didn't mean to, and I don't know how to undo that.
I apologize

OK figured out how I did it, I meant to quote, not edit, but I don't know how to undo it

[motion30]

HopCar. Then thats easy. You have doelfins in your store. Slap one on there

[a64pilot]

I'd think it interesting if you did both, and reported which worked better and if there were disadvantages of one over the other.
I would think the fin would generate more lift with less drag if it was a real airfoil, but as it's not adjustable are you getting more lift than needed?

[HopCar]

A64, that's weird, didn't think you could do that. I don't have any experience with fixed tabs either but I really like electric tabs as well. I had them on the bigger version of this boat and not only did it get on plane quicker but I could push the bow down in a chop and make the ride a little softer.

[SkiprJohn]

Nice skiff. Glen L has some really great designs. Much lighter boats than glass and pretty easy to make with their plans.

[Cheechako]

Trim tabs on a 13 ft boat? Do you really want all that crap in the boat? battery etc....

[Cadence]

Nice job! Tiller extensions have been around for a long time, just for that reason.

[HopCar]

Cheechako, I'm thinking fixed tabs or spring loaded tabs. You're right I want to keep it simple. There is a battery and alternator on the engine and I'm sure I could borrow power from that to run some Lenco tabs, but I'd rather not.