OK. I put this in the category of failed experiments. I am sure trim tabs are great, but not on this dinghy. I think the problem is that they are too close to the tubes and outboard. Not enough room on the little transom.
Tag Archives: Install Bennett SLT6
Installing trim tabs on our dinghy
Trim tabs promise to (this is from the box) …
- Plane at lower speeds
- Improve fuel efficiency
- Reduce pounding
- Improve your hole shot
- Eliminate porpoising
- Reduce engine laboring
- Eliminate chine walking
All I am hoping is that I’ll get the stern up a bit at slower speeds. Much of the engine is in the water at slower speeds with just one in the boat, unless I sit as forward as I can. Getting up on plane easier would be helpful. With just one in the dinghy, the bow points up quite a bit. It takes some effort to get up on plane. Faster is always good too. ‘Cause that’s fun.
What I ended up with is Bennett SLT6 self leveling trim tabs. These are designed for boats 10′-14’. Ours is right in the middle at 12 feet. There may be other makers, but these are the only ones I could find that would fit our dinghy. These trim tabs came from Defender.com. I’d been holding off on this for a while due to cost. Defender lowered the price $50 recently (or at least since the last time I checked). It was close enough to what I thought was a reasonable price. I was also feeling kind hearted toward our little boat after the last blog post.
