Outboard Water Wing Thingies . . . They WORK !

[MarkJ]

Hi Folks,

I recently bought a new Li'l Dink and with the 9.9hp Mercury she planes at 16.5 knots!!

But last week I shoved a lard-ass in and Li'l Dink spat the dummy and plowed through the water the same speed as the ol dink with the 3.3hp

Had one girl in her and she planed beautifully (the dink did well too ), but then the other day had two girls in her and she sank like a stone back to full displacement.

So eyes buys these water wingy thingies thinking its another $44 dollars shoved in the boats Black Hole... But they WORK!!!

Lard-Ass was amazed when we got on the plane within 10 meters!! We did about 4 times the speed than before we could plane. No, he hasn't lost weight in the intervening week.

When I take off by myself the bow doesn't rise at all and she is on the plane 'instantly'. It really is an extraordinary difference.

It could well be the best $44 spent on Sea Life since the last $444444444 spent.

The wings also stabilize the boat, mine is very light so she bounced off waves, now she performs like a heavier built boat.

The max speed can not be more, and is probably slightly less, but not noticable.

So, my recommendation if you have dink you want to plane faster is to check out these type of fins.
http://www.islandwaterworld.com/browse.cfm/hydrofoil-ufx-black/4,5719.html


Mark

[Greg S]

Mark,

We have a small inflatable with an air-bed floor. Sometimes, when the wind/waves pipe up and we are motoring directly into them, we want the bow to ride high to deflect the waves. In those situations, with the hydrofoils, do you think the motor could be trimmed to accomplish that?

Greg

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Greg S

Mark,

We have a small inflatable with an air-bed floor. Sometimes, when the wind/waves pipe up and we are motoring directly into them, we want the bow to ride high to deflect the waves. In those situations, with the hydrofoils, do you think the motor could be trimmed to accomplish that?

Greg

I think in that situation going faster would be asking for a flip as you increase the wind force under the raised bow....

[Dustymc]

You ever really TRY to flip one of those things, Boatman? I'm sure it's possible, but I haven't figured out how yet.

The fin runs level in the water - period. You can trim it to do just about anything - stuff the bow down, or porpoise like crazy, or evenly lift the whole boat and drastically improve performance. My first one, on an old 9.5 Evinrude, was made from a retired road sign. It worked just as well as the plastic store-bought variety, but was slightly more likely to make you bleed. Fun times....

[Greg S]

So, set the outboard to the "shallow" setting, slow down and you're good to go motoring into the waves and a bit dryer too. Drop it to it's normal trim setting and you get better performance at low speed. Sounds good to me!

Thanks.

[Paul Elliott]

I was very pleased when I installed the wings on my outboard. The dink is a 12ft (West Marine) AVON with H.P. air floor, and we've got a 6HP 4-stroke outboard. Without the wings I had to accelerate very slowly or the prop would cavitate. With the wings I could get up to speed much faster. This is very helpful if I am trying to stay ahead of a breaking wave during a beach landing.

I'm a heavy guy, but with the wings we can get the dink on a plane as long as we aren't too heavily loaded. Me and my wife, OK, but with three people we are strictly in displacement mode..