Foils

[horitira]

Hello Everybody

I have a Signature 1550F with a 75 Merc.
At the moment it does not have a foil on it,.
Does anyone know the pro's and con's of putting one on ?
It has a Quicksilver prop .

[Blackened]

G'day

Why do you think it needs one?

Dave

[snelly1971]

I personally think that by fitting a foil there are more negatives than positives for them....Trim Tabs...if needed are the way to go...

Mick

[Roughasguts]

A foil when properly trimmed will help get the hull out the hole quicker, and plane at a slower speed.
But then they can adversley effect the boats handling in certain conditions Eg: make the boat roll violently on to it's chine when you apply full power. But if you know it can happen then be prepared for it, that's a good thing.

I don't have one, and will never have one, but that's just my opinion.

[horitira]

Thanks Guys,
I dont think the boat needs one,just trying to get views on the effect whether it be pos or neg.
Regards-Hori:)

[1975fflh]

Hi

I have a Rumrunner with a 90hp and fitted an SE300 sports, easu to do and handles a lot better down low up plane faster but lost about 4klm/h top speed.

[mik01]

hey 1975,

a bit o/t I know, but how do you find the rumrunner as a fishing boat?
ie how much room in the back for a couple of people to fish out of?

any negatives that you see that you wish you could change?
am looking at one atm and would like any positives/negatives pls mate.

cheers
mik

[Chimo]

Hi Hori

As this is only a 15.5 ft boat IMHO whether or not you see a benefit from foils will depend on the amount of weight at the rear of the boat and also how you intend to use it.

If you carry people at the rear of the boat as well as some gear you may find at low to mid speeds, the boat rides low at the back and presents the middle rather than the bow to waves which makes for a rougher ride and less visibility for the driver.

If you drive it fast it should ride flatter even with the weight but that may not be very safe and probably will not please the family as you will have a lot less time to react if you need to and you know "Murphy" is alive and well!

A friend of mine had a similar craft and as well as the above issues it's steering was also hard almost stiff with the motor torque until it was travelling quite fast, also not great.

From my own experience on a number of boats I feel foils have a place if the motor height is correct and there is a need to assist to get the boat rear end up and planing easier at lower speeds.

If the motor height is correct but not too high there wont be cavitation when running with the motor trimmed out and at that point the foil should be on the surface or clear of the water and boat speed is then not greatly affected.

If your towing skiers you wouldn't have the motor right out unless you too go in for ski racing (but thats another story from a while ago) and you need to be conscious and test how the boat reacts in tight turns with foils and at various motor trim settings.

So all in all there may be benefit to you from foils to let you plane at slower speeds and run level which makes for a softer ride.

I think I'd make sure the motor height is correct and use it a little before changing things too much though. Also its probably beneficial to make small changes and check the results before for example lifting the motor and fitting foils all at once, neither may be needed.

Good luck and play slowly!

Cheers
Chimo

[BM]

Foils are typically a bandaid solution to the real problem.

[royboy]

Hi,
Don't fit one, nearly killed myself and 12 year old son, with boat tipping on its side at almost 40 mph, with no warning on a calm day, i had an se300 fitted, would never fit one again.
Regards Roy
p.s. it was a signature about the same length as yours with a 75hp mercury

[mamu]

Hi,
Don't fit one, nearly killed myself and 12 year old son, with boat tipping on its side at almost 40 mph, with no warning on a calm day, i had an se300 fitted, would never fit one again.
Regards Roy
p.s. it was a signature about the same length as yours with a 75hp mercury
I did the same thing in a 4.2 tinnie buit it threw me out. Lucky Phill actually pointed out to me that it was the foil that would have caused the issue so I ripped the damn thing off. If they were so good they would come as standard from the manufacturer
Mamu

[aqua rat]

I have found foils to be very good i fitted all 6 boats i used while guiding up north and found the only problem was tight turns up creeks doing 40 knots with cavataion but other than that all good.The foil is good in the fact it will increase your trim affect so what some people have explained that the boat lent to one side is they had the boats nose trimed down to far forward pushing nose in making it lean to one side.The first one i fitted was 12 years ago and every boat weather 8m or in between i will fit one as being out in big seas and able to plane at lower speeds is reason on its own to fit one.