DHaun
Well-known member
My 18 ft G3 is Aluminum and has a 90HP Yamaha 4-stroke (369 lb) on the back with a stainless prop. I am very happy with everything about my boat, but there was just one issue...Everything was fine with the kids up front with all the weight evenly distributed, but you get 2 grown men sitting in the rear of the boat with a light hull and heavy motor on the stern and the bow would tend to bounce a bit - even at full trim after it got on plane. I also had to push it a bit if I wanted to plane quickly. I started doing some research on porpoising and planing and started to look at hydrofoils. There are many to choose from ranging from from $30 to $150 - mostly plastic, composite, or aluminum and they ALL required you to drill holes in the cavitation plate of the motor, which I was trying to avoid since it's a brand new motor. I saw several on Cabelas and Basspro. They all claim to help eliminate bow bounce and porpoising and to get you on plane quicker...with the potential sacrifice of a couple mph off top end, which I don't mind since my boat goes plenty fast for me.
I continued to research for an alternative where I did not have to spend a bunch of money installing bulky trim tabs on the transom or drilling holes all in my new motor. I also wanted a quick and easy solution where I did not have to take my boat to the shop. I finally discovered some references to something called a Turbo Lift on a Boston Whaler site. Apparently Boston Whaler recommended it to a couple of customers having similar problems, all of which gave positive testimonials about its benefits on their forum.
The Turbo Lift was custom made for my motor from stainless steel and best of all, it clamps tightly onto the cavitation plate with NO drilling. After about a week's worth of research I decided to order one. I called Grand Island Marine Design & Development in Merritt Island, FL 321-452-8126 and they took my order and sent me one out to the house. No credit cards - COD only. It took about 2 weeks since my motor was a 2005 and they had to create a new one for me. It took about 10 minutes to install.
I finally tried it on my last fishing trip and it worked perfectly... bow bounce was eliminated and I got on plane much quicker. Turns seems to carve better with no prop washout and I could not really tell any loss of speed, but I bet there it has to be a couple mph lower on top end. I even have more trim range to adjust whereas before it was more of an all or nothing thing. It's not bulky like trim tabs hanging off the back, easy to install, and I never had to drill any holes. It's very tough and should not break off like some of the cheaper drill-on composite hydrofoils. My cavitation plate has not been weakened by drilling any holes...I imagine it even strengthens the plate the way it clamps on as an extension. Although a bit pricey at $165, I am very happy with mine and in this case I really think you get what you pay for. I thought I would mention it here since someone else might be searching for a similar solution. Below is a pic of a Turbo Lift on another boat:
Link to more pics...
http://home.hiwaay.net/~sickler/enter/bostonwhalers/turbolift/
I continued to research for an alternative where I did not have to spend a bunch of money installing bulky trim tabs on the transom or drilling holes all in my new motor. I also wanted a quick and easy solution where I did not have to take my boat to the shop. I finally discovered some references to something called a Turbo Lift on a Boston Whaler site. Apparently Boston Whaler recommended it to a couple of customers having similar problems, all of which gave positive testimonials about its benefits on their forum.
The Turbo Lift was custom made for my motor from stainless steel and best of all, it clamps tightly onto the cavitation plate with NO drilling. After about a week's worth of research I decided to order one. I called Grand Island Marine Design & Development in Merritt Island, FL 321-452-8126 and they took my order and sent me one out to the house. No credit cards - COD only. It took about 2 weeks since my motor was a 2005 and they had to create a new one for me. It took about 10 minutes to install.
I finally tried it on my last fishing trip and it worked perfectly... bow bounce was eliminated and I got on plane much quicker. Turns seems to carve better with no prop washout and I could not really tell any loss of speed, but I bet there it has to be a couple mph lower on top end. I even have more trim range to adjust whereas before it was more of an all or nothing thing. It's not bulky like trim tabs hanging off the back, easy to install, and I never had to drill any holes. It's very tough and should not break off like some of the cheaper drill-on composite hydrofoils. My cavitation plate has not been weakened by drilling any holes...I imagine it even strengthens the plate the way it clamps on as an extension. Although a bit pricey at $165, I am very happy with mine and in this case I really think you get what you pay for. I thought I would mention it here since someone else might be searching for a similar solution. Below is a pic of a Turbo Lift on another boat:
Link to more pics...
http://home.hiwaay.net/~sickler/enter/bostonwhalers/turbolift/
