Hydofoil attachments

Have a  2004, 16 ft smokercraft with a Mercury 60 hp 4 stroke efi motor. When I am in it alone (185#)it planes off ok. With me, and my 2 daughters (each about 115#) it takes longer to plane off. When I add my wife(130#) it never planes off or takes forever. Just got back from vacation and on one outing it never planed off and never got over 4200rpms and 12mph. It was very frustrating. Even had all 3 up front to get the weight forward to help. My question is has anyone used those hydrofoils you attach to the motor? Do they work, if so what brand works best? Need to get this fixed. Thanks for any feedback. 

I bought a used Alumacraft Navigator 165 CS with a 90 HP Optimax. It has plenty of power to get up on plane. But when I would start to make a turn the RPM's would drastically increase and cause prop washout. Also, at lower speeds It would fall off of plane. So, I put an SE 300 Hydrofoil on last year and it really did make a difference. The washout is almost non-existant unless I am in a very sharp turn. I am able to stay on plane at lower speeds. This helps when scouting around using my electronics. I can scan an area a lot quicker than putting around off-plane.

I like the SE branded hydrofoil. It seems more rigid than the Stingray and I think it just looks more "Sporty". Not that looks is the most important feature. I had a SE 200 on the 25 HP on my old 14 ft Sea Nymph. I had a hard time getting on plane with 2 people in that boat and the SE 200 really helped. But not when I had 3 or more people in the boat. Just not enough power for that much weight.

Good Luck in whatever you decide to do.     

To many recommendations without particulars here. op needs to post boat model max hp and current pitch. Smokercraft makes several 16’ models that are maxed at 60 hp. If hes running a prop with to much pitch a hydrofoil may just worsen the issue 

Id say it depends on what hes running now. but i had a similar smokercraft with a 50 horse and could run a 13 pitch all day long. My buddy has a similar sylvan with a fifty fourstroke hes running a 13 pitch normal load 2 guys. with a heavy load 12 would be better. Theres a coule of particulars missing. Model of boat and current pitch prop.

Poptop..Not to be argumentive, but I know from personal experience that his boat will operate much better with Mercury’s four blade aluminum prop in a 12 pitch and 10.6 diameter. A 14 pitch will be too much for his engine. He will still have problems getting up on, and holding the boat on plane. The prop that I am suggesting will turn his engine very close to the 6,000 rpm’s that it requires, plus it will run his boat mid 20mph loaded and 30mph with a light load. He will be able to troll at about 2.0mph.

Id agree fixing your problem would start with a different prop I would think with your rig you should be around a14 inch pitch.do you know what pitch your running now?

Do you have power trim... might try experimenting with trim settings 

The hydrofoil is just a band-aid for other problems. A Mercury Spitfire, or Quicksilver four blade prop will help your boat. I would try a 12 pitch x 10.06 diameter. Also look at the anti-cavitation plate position in relationship to your planing surface of your hull. It should be about 2” below the planing surface. If it is deeper than that, it will drop your rpm’s too much and really dog your hole shot down.

If your engine is running smooth while idling along, plus running smooth while just driving along not on plane and without smoke, my bet is that your problem is what I decribed above.

I have a stingray on my 25 horse ? V16 Alumacraft. It works very well and I can feel the back of the boat lit a lot and gets on plane a lot faster.  Take note though that my V16 is only 260 lbs  and I have gas and a battery in the back to boot. With everyone in the front and you still could not get on plane there is something else wrong with it. A 60 horse should be no problem at all.

Murdock,

Maybe not "required" but my prop was covered in carbon and it fixed my issue.

I'm sure it did smoke a ton, still should not be required on a 4 stroke. It's like fogging for skeeters!!

Murdock,

I have a 115 EFI 4 Stroke.

Decarbing worked for me. I could see it on the exhaust and it smoked a ton.

I have run Stingray hydrofoils on my boats for almost 30 yrs now.  They don't really help with planing all that much, but they help dramatically with handling, especially on a flat-bottom, and large boats.  I believe they might help improve fuel economy a bit, too.  I have seen and experienced other brands of hydrofoils, and believe them to be useless.  Stingray is the only one I would recommend.

What is the max hp your boat is rated for?  Most times planing issues are due to being under-powered, in relation to the weight of the boat.  In my experience, you should always try to get close to the max hp rating, or you will have difficulties planing with a load on board.

Reducing the pitch a couple of inches will help under load, but the prop may over-rev when it is just you in the boat.  If you have a tach, you can watch for that.  You may have to change props for how many people you will carry.  Prop pitch is measured in terms of forward thrust produced by one revolution of the blade.  Going to a 4-blade prop will not help much at all on a motor less than 150hp.

Good luck.  Drew

I had a 40hp Yamaha on a 16ft Lund and had the same issues. I installed a Se200 hydrofoil and all my issues went away boat Plaines easily with 4 people and still did 32mph. It does suck drilling holes in the cavitation plate but I was glad I did. There are a lot of different opinions on this, motor height, prop and so on, just letting you know what worked for me. As far as decarbing the engine that is for 2 stroke not 4 stroke engines.

Google "decarb outboard motor"

I had a similar issue and did the "decarb" and was back in action. Best if you can do it on the water, because it'll make a mess and not cool as well in the driveway. 

I didn't push it as hard as they said (too scared) but it worked.

I agree with slayer.

However, fully loaded (wife/kids/yourself) that's a lot of extra weight to push for a 60hp.