Hyrdofoil to get on plane?

ferchja · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 9:37 am

I had a 1988 FD 196 Hurricane deck boat with a GT150 Outboard. It had a Sport 300 whale tail on the lower unit. It would help get the boat on plane and I could trim that boat to get 5-8MPH faster on WOT.

My 2002 Funship 214 5.0L Volvo with Penta single prop, with just 5 people takes a ton longer to get on plane and with 9 people it is 30 seconds before on plane. Plus if I trim anything above completely down it begins to porpus.

Will a whale tail help? Is there another solution? The prop is a 3 blade 19 pitch. Do I need to go to a 4 blade or 17 pitch to get the hole shot?

ric · **Posted:** Thu Jul 05, 2012 10:16 am

Every prop is different, so you'd have to test different "test props" out at the local dealer to see what works good for you.

You might be a good candidate for smart tabs

dbrown6240 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 7:29 am

I dont have experience with the hydrafoils but something seems to be off. May just be a prop issue becaue my funship 214 only has the 220 hp 5.0 and I have no problem getting on plane. Just yesterday I had 8 on the boat and it takes me much less than 30 seconds.

Kvou812 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 07, 2012 1:41 pm

I basically have the same boat.. Funship 204 with 5.0 220hp VP. I too had trouble getting on plane when having 8-10 people on board... I did add a hydroplane which noticably helped, but I also went from a 3 bladed 19" prop to a SS 18" 4 bladed prop and now I never have trouble getting on plane no matter how many people I have on board or how many people I'm pulling. You will lose a little on the top end speed wise, but otherwise thats what I recommend.

dbrown6240 · **Posted:** Sun Jul 08, 2012 4:16 am

How much did you lose on top end? I was considering a four blade SS prop to help since I pull a lot of skiers/boarders, but I still want to be able to cruise down the lake at a decent speed if need be.

van · **Joined:** Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:29 pm **Posts:** 16

We have a 214 with a Merc/Alpha 5.0 260 hp. Mercruiser has 2 different 3 blade 19 pitch aluminum props for the Alpha, a standard and large blade model. We use the 14.5x19 large blade model. We have had 10 plus people on board and get on plane without incident. Light load top speed is 51 MPH. With this prop it is likely possible to over rev the engine (I never have tried to get past 5000 rpm which is max for our MPI engine) so some might consider our combo underpropped, but we normally never go that fast anyway.

ferchja · **Posted:** Mon Jul 09, 2012 10:13 am

Thanks for all the input. Last Friday called my local FW dealer and even called Four Winns. The local dealer said it was the hull and other than propping down you have to live with it. The FW customer service said he has recommended hydrofoils, and that he has not heard of that causing premature lower unit failure as previously sighted on the forum.

He did confirm that my 3 blade 14.5"x19 is the stock prop for my boat and engine configuration. He recommended a 4 blade 18 or 3 blade 17 pitch for a better hole shot. He also said that the Bennett M120 trim tabs were the ones they used from the factory. I may look at those, parts are <$500 and maybe $300-400 to install.

Another question, with 5 onboard at WOT I am getting no more than 41MPH at about 4200 RPMs. I see that a lot of others are getting nearer to 50MPH. Is something off as dbrown suggested? Engine just hit 175hrs, is it possible that the engine is only at 75%?

van · **Joined:** Sat Mar 17, 2007 9:29 pm **Posts:** 16

Your 5.0 fuel injected engine should be able to reach at least close to 5000 RPM with 5 on boad at wide open throttle. Something would appear to be wrong with the prop (was it ever repaired) or the engine. Your combo should work well with a 14.5x19 three blade or 14.5x18 four blade prop. There should be no need to have tabs or a fin on the drive. We had tabs on our last boat and they were great. The 214 does not need any, the initial slight sluggishness comes from the bow design and can not be helped by tabs or a fin (bow rise is never excessive). We normally run the boat at half trim from standstill to cruise. Odd that you have a porpoising issue. I can make our boat porpois, but only if the drive is trimmed out. The only time we keep the drive trimmed in is for water sports, and then only to keep the wake smooth and less turbulent.

ferchja · **Posted:** Wed Jul 11, 2012 1:20 pm

Thanks for the reply Van. I am still getting use to this boat. I will take some of your points and test them out and report back. The engine was just checked by the dealer in April. It sounds great, prop looks new, no cuts, bends, from just a visual review.

I know with 9 on board with 4 up front and 5 in the back, its a good 20-30 secs to get on plane. With the 5 on board 2 in back 3 up front its within 5-10 secs. But it is slow out of the water. Again I realize that this is a large boat and not a 18' nautique.

bobfacs · **Posted:** Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:08 pm

I glad to see I'm not the only one havnig this problem. My Funship 214 is a 2005 model year with a Volvo 5.0 Gxi. I don't have too much of a problem with getting on plane (unless fully loaded), but the boat will not maintain the speed. I'm always adjusting the trim or the speed. The boat runs great at 34 mph and 3500 rpm, but when I slow below 3500 pm, it's almost full trim and adjusting the speed to maintain speed. I have a SX drive. I don't beleive Volvo has a 4-bladed SS prop. Someone reported they had purchased a 4-bladed prop. Can you response, where you purchased your prop. I believe that is what I need to make my boat handle better.

Thanks,

Bob Mauti
Jacksonville, FL

Paul I. · **Posted:** Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:33 pm

Trim tabs work better!

Giffo · **Posted:** Thu Jul 19, 2012 4:04 am

I have used hydrofoils on all my boats and found them to be the cheap alternative to getting it on the plane quicker. Especially when loaded up. I also found out it helps to turn the boat easier when I did not have power steering. Mind you all my boats have not been bigger than 21 foot. With the right prop it all works well.

www.iFourWinns.com

Hyrdofoil to get on plane?

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