Trim tab or Hydrofoil or Permatrim?

L

louis

New member
I want to add one of these to my 16' angler to ease the ride in rougher water. Since it's only a 16'er I'm wondering if a trim tab would be an overkill and either the hydrofoil or permatrim is better suited.

Also, has anyone had experience with both hydrofoil and permatrim? I had a hydrofoil on my 18' bayrunner and it did make a difference but I'm reading in newsgroups that the permatrim has more dramatic effect. Not sure what the effects are on a small c-dory like mine. Thanks.
 
louis-

Welcome aboard!

I don't remember anyone having both trim tabs and a hydrofoil on a 16, but we'll wait and see.

What I do know is that the longer fore/aft design of the Permatrim gives much more bow up/down control than the other hydrofoils, and that Oldgrowth Dave made one for himself modeled directly after the Permatrim, and thinks it's the best thing he ever added to his boat (at least until the 2 foot hull extension).

"I use to have a 16 foot cruiser without trim tabs so I can only comment on the permatrin that I have. As an NRA member would say “you will only be able to take my permatrim away from me by prying my cold dead fingers off of it”.

-Dave

I personally doubt you need both of them on the 16, but how far off center do you load the boat, and do you seem to need a lot of lateral trim?

You can get a Permatrim for a little over $100, whereas the trim tabs will cost you $500 or more, depending on accessory trim indicators, automatic retractors, etc.

Joe.

hydrofoil1.jpg
 
Hey Joe,


Sounds like Permatrim may be enough. I'm trying to keep the bow down in 1' chops to increase speed and ease the ride. SF bay is just too windy for a smooth ride. I'll give Permatrim a try. Thanks.
 
Hello Louis and welcome!
Following the advice of those who own a 16, I installed a permatrim.
It will do what you want as far as holding the bow down. See the
C-Voyager photo album. I use my load ( fuel, ice chest, passenger ) to ballance side to side.
 
Go with the Permatrim!! Most 16'ers swear by them once installed. The best addition I've done to the boat so far. They work great out in the Bay :wink You plan on hitting the Halibuts soon?
 
louis-
A couple of other points:

Firstly, the hydrofoil helps the boat plane earlier, adding extra surface area to the rear of the boat and also working to provide "kite effect" lift to initiate planing.

Secondly, not only does the Permatrim give you a good trim job, it also acts as a lever to effectively extend the length of the hull, and in so doing, makes the boat behave as though it's a longer hull and helps bridge the short chop.

Would be interesting to see just how far the concept could be employed, making the hydrofoil longer and longer.

The load on the anti-ventilation plate would have to be eventually supported with a strut running back from the hydrofoil to the middle or upper drive leg of the engine.*

A split tail with up/down controls would add some trim tab lateral trim control.

Joe.

* If you could really extend this concept to the absurd, you could then

1) add handholds and a ladder, transforming the hydrofoil also into a swim step, then

2) add a big nasty fiberglass pole held horizontally out to the side for barefoot water skiing, then

3) expand the platform further, adding a big eyelet, tow rope, and parasail!

(No vodka involved here, just having some fun with ya'!)
 
howdy ya'll :)
joe, i tried a search for "permatrim" and got stuff for australia :o and a lot of stuff for "other than" the permatrim i am lookin' for. i think Gypsy could work a lot better with permatrim but now, where do i get the little devil :?: brother Byrdman, currently frolicing at the pensecola show, suggested the permatrim over the trim tabs he has on C-BYRD. i think the permatrim would get me over the "strain(?)" at around 27-2900 rpms which would net me 8-10 mph. bear in mind we keep Gypsy in the water here with full combat load...never know when we will have to endure a few nights on the cumberland river 8) any info would be helpfull :thup :beer
c u later
mike
 
Mike-

The permatrims are made in Australia, but the sole U.S. vendor is listed on The Hull Truth website HERE.

For anyone interested, a drawing of the one Oldgrowth made for himself is HERE.

Go HERE to see the various photos of the installation. Very nice work!!!

Keep us informed on your progress!

Joe.
 
Is there a "permatrim-like" addon other than permatrim? It seems to be a fairly simple concept with no special design except for the semi custom fitting of these trims.

I can see why these would give better trimming than hydrofoils as it extends past the prop so I would prefer to try one of these rather than the doel-fin/stingray hydrofoils.

If anyone knows of a similar design to these permatrims please let me know. Thanks.
 
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