Boat motor Hydrofoils

I was just wondering if anyone has a hydrofoil installed on their motor. I have a buddy who just bought a boat and motor and the motor has a hydrofoil installed on it. I was looking at some that cabelas sells and wondering if they would improve top speed performance and holeshot like it says on the advertisement. Thanks

Here’s a post where James Holst writes about the performance improvement he saw when he added them to his boat:

Skeeter Rigging

-J.

Thanks Jon, great info on the post. I think I may end up going to cabelas and pick one up this week and have my boat mechanic install it on my motor when he brings it out of winter hybernation next week. I am experiencing the same issues of as others have and think it may help. I am thinking of getting the sport clip so no holes have to be drilled. I am not sure if drilling holes will void the manufacturers warranty of the motor. Thanks again for the link, it was just the info I was looking for.

Before you buy the sport clip, check to make sure it fits your motor. It would not fit my merc 4 stroke 60.

I recently purchased a new 2007 Etec 150hp. I would think they would have a plate for a common motor like that. Thanks for the tip.

My info came straight from the lady at cabelas when I called to order it. I happened to mention what motor I had and was suprised when she told me to save my money and the hassel of shipping it back because they didn’t make a Sport Clip for my motor.
Bless her

I’ve run one on nearly every boat I’ve had. I don’t notice a great deal on the WOT issues but it certainly makes a difference on lower planing speeds. The best model I’ve found was the Edge from Cabela’s. They’ve since been discontinued but I’ve been making my own version for each different motor. It takes a little experimenting and trimming to get it just right but the final results are worth it. Wish I had some photos to include but if anybody’s interested I can get some for ya. jerr

The only question I would have is how much trouble would it give a guy if he is fishing in weeds all the time. I have thought that my boat would benefit from a hydrofoil but am worried it would just hang up more than its worth. Advice??

I seldom let my motor drag in the weeds. I tilt it up unless I want to use them as a brake on windy days.
Or were you talking about the motor ‘running’ while in the weeds?

I run a Se sport 300 on my 175 Johnson and absolutely love it. This is max HP for my boat @175. Once I hit 55 mph I don’t even want to go any faster, and I know she’ll do more as I’m not even max throttle yet.. I used to have a 17 alumacraft lunker with a 50 merc. I had put a ‘whale tail’ on it too, and it totally changed the way the boat would handle, even on rougher water. Get the right one for your rig, don’t pinch on the $$$, and you’ll never regret it.

I only meant while running in the weeds. I don’t know if many of you have heard about spring lake on pool 13 but i spend a lot of time in there. Its only 30 inches deep and full of pads. I think the hydrofoil would help b/c my boat porpoise a lot and think it would benefit everywhere else, but there.