Hydrofoils

What do you guys think is the "best" hydrofoil for a I/O outdrive to improve staying on plane?

I know "best" is all subjective, but please give me some advice.

Kelly (weskel)

A couple more....

Kelly, I put a Stingray hydrofoil on my sterdrive several years ago and was immensely impressed with it from the first drive. It was on a 1980 Grew 185 with the 470 Mercruiser. The boat is narrow with a deep V and closed bow. It handled rough water well and cornered very well but the bow would rise a great deal on every start and at 2500 RPM you could not see in front of the boat if you had three people in it.
With it on I had the following changes:
-light spray vertically at the transom
-the boat could idle without bow rise to 1600 RPM (previously 1100)
-I could see over the bow while seated at any RPM
-I could run at any speed I wanted in a storm for the boat was never plowing with bow rise.
-skkiers were pulled up much faster
-I could let people sit in the rear seats when we were starting.

Having this on my boat let me keep it for several more years and allowed me to use it to start my son and daughter skiing and boarding.
I drove with a new Glastron 205 through a big storm and could run much faster and safer into the waves than he could because the boat was planing faster and straighter. I test drove a new 21 foot Rinker last summer and did not think it drove nearly as well as my ancient boat did. If they were smart they would have put one on at the factory.
My Grew had less likelyhood of cavitating too.
The others might be good but my I/O had severe bow rise problems and this completely fixed it for Cheap. The Standard model is what I have. It was the only one made by Stingray at the time.
Oh, and my wife and kids think it is a great step for getting into the boat.

When I purchased my boat it has the two little fin hydrofoil like the ones in the second picture of the first post and they seam real flimsy.

I have a chaparral 186SSI with a 5.0 Merc in it and I seam to start to fall off plane around 20-22 MPH, I was hoping some of the other shape of foils would allow me to stay on plane at a little slower speeds.

Thanks for the info.

Kelly

I have the Stingray Speed XP Senior. Bow stays down, I can see over the bow at all speeds while sitting, top speed increased, rough water is smoother.

I am surprised these don't come as standard equipment. My boat has the Merc 5.0 with a Bravo 3 (counter rotating props). I looked at all of them before buying the Stingray.

Echo Art's comment- immensely impressed.

(Message edited by sea_ray_dave on March 05, 2007)

It does not say what outdrives this one fits, do you think it would work on an Alpha I drive?

Kelly

http://www.overtons.com/modperl/product/details.cgi?r=view&i=76007

My old outboard came with a standard Stingray from the previous owner and the boat never had a problem with bow rise. I have annoyances but not major issues with my current I/O falling off plane and plan to get the Standard Stingray this year for the Alpha One. Any of the non-junior Stingrays should fit the Alpha 1 but keep in mind that you'll be drilling holes in your outdrive with any hydrofoil. This is a permanent modification.

Nice Profile pic Dave

The stingray hydrofoils fit on top of the cavitation plate. Yes, you will drill four 1/4 holes into that plate, but those holes could be tapped and a set screw put in or just plugged with jb weld if you took the hydrofoil off. I love mine so much, it is NOT coming off. I am sure it will fit the Alpha 1 drive. Just make sure you get one of the Speed XP seniors. The junior is for 45 hp and less. You can tell by the size of the fin. The Seniors have a bigger fin. You would think the manufacturer would list what drives they fit. The seniors are made to fit 5 inch or more wide cavitation plate. The only concerns I saw before buying were on Volvo outdrives (something to do with the way they exhaust through the cavitiation plate) But the Mercury outdrives don't do that. You will be surprised at how much a 50 buck add on does. I looked at the one you have linked and went with the cheaper one. I bought mine at West Marine for 49.99.

Thank Art--

Art
The Foil you bought at west Is it another brand that just looks like the StingRay XPII?
Have you ever heard of any negative effects to the I.O drive from the forces that the foil exherts?
To clean up our wake on our 19' SeaRay we have to tilt the drive up about 1/4, so I am thinking with the foil it might be less adjustment due to the foil area.
Thanks! Scott

The foil I bought is a Stingray. It's just one of their first. It's the same as the Standard black model. I have had it on for a couple hundred hours with no affect on the leg that has shown up. To get a bigger wake I tilt up slightly. With it on I can keep the speed constant when not on plane with the leg tilted a bit. Without it I could not keep a consistent speed between idle and plane. My Grew was on full plane at 2700 RPM with a 21 pitch prop.
You will probably have to adjust the steering trim on the back of the drive a bit after the installation.
It is pushing up with (my guess) a couple hundred pounds of force so make sure you check for leaks around the seal at the leg/transom. I never had a problem. (Well I did there once but that was a couple of years before the whale tail went on) (Anyway that's another story and resembled the Titanic as seen from a dock)