EP3F - Zipwake's vs Trim Tabs Comparison Review 

Did you get them? Did they help?

@@MarcGKiwi yep I sure did and love them! I've been chasing the crays this season and the weather has been quite bad but out in 17kt winds and 1.5m - 2m swell + waves - no worries, the going is slow but at no stage it feels like I'm in danger. My boat is only a 5m centreconsole about 1.3t so not really big.

Yeah probably not hey! Ill take it off now

I actually deliberately put it on that side. There is a bit of hoax that starboard is better due to prop rotation, but since the bubbles go behind the motor when going forward it doesn't matter. When it does matter is when the bubbles are going the other way (in reverse), and since the prop spins the other way the bubbles end up going to the starboard side making your transducer unreadable when using reverse to slow your drift. So port is better. And yep reads perfect at 30kn, and spray guard is a must because you have to burry it to get a good reading at speed!

Good questions! Yes, you can have the Zips maintain an autolevelling roll, and bias your pitch to a constant +/- number. You will be surprised how well they automatically keep your nose down without adjusting anything - the gyros can sense when you are not flat and will dig the interceptors down to bring you onto plane, then lift them up once on plane. If you wanted it to force the nose further down you can do that too by rolling the pitch wheel.

And I had Chivers fit them. Although I was not happy with the service as my request for creating the wiring hole above the waterline was not followed!

@@dhubitetackleandoutdoors3781 Awesome! Thank you very much for the reply. I think I will have a crack installing them myself and have a marine electrician wire them to the main board! I looked at the price of them and for $3300 without installation, they are not cheap!!

Good question, I think from memory about 5.5m but will need to check

I don't know the answer but it's not critical - the auto setup is only meant to be a starting point. It presets the curve and you can easily adjust it from there. Just set it to minimum preset length and finesse the curve from there depending on how your boat responds. That's something I noticed in the vid ... no need to turn off the Zipwake when you stop; just adjust the bottom of the curve so the Zipwakes stay fully retracted until (say) 4 knots. You'd have to be drifting pretty quick before they annoyed you at rest, and they'd still help keep the bow down in 5 knot zones.

Good question. You set your room to how you like your ride then let the zippies do their work. Can still trim up to bring the bow up etc.

why would normal trim tabs have an effect at rest?

Great to hear!

The gyro is sensitive enough so as soon as slight roll is sensed, it extends slightly into the water to lift that side up

@@dhubitetackleandoutdoors3781 ah !!! these hydrotabs are only good at speed going forwards?? they aint so good when stationary or low speed?

@@dhubitetackleandoutdoors3781 At what depth and speed are they useful??? would it help a trawler with a fat butt and 1.5m draft??? hehehe

I have lenco tabs on mine, yeah they are a lot cheaper for sure. But having owning my vessel both prior and after having them (Lenco's) fitted, I can honestly say that my tabs do ever so slightly increase the stability at rest when deep dropping. Also, hole shot is a lot better, since my boat is very arse heavy with a 23deg dead rise I would think zip wakes would create drag on that first initial throttle response trying to get out of the hole. Could zip wakes offer these 2 advantages? Like you said both tabs or zip wake stop roll whilst under way but in my case I think tabs were the best option because of those two advantages.. IMO anyway. Next thing I'm getting is the auto controller, like you said constantly fiddling about with them and by the time is set right either the wind direction has changed or one of your passengers has moved. Anyway great honest review, thanks for the info, cheers 🍻

Please explain. Your reply is no good without an explanation.

Kidz cost more than 4.5k 😄

Great idea. Might have a reason to create a couple now.

I do mate, notice it straight away when I have them off

My boat is 19.5ft, fitted Zip wakes and it transformed the boat ride, I agree 100% with this review and would put them on every boat I may have in the future !

@@joshsmith7999 Thanks mate.

@@joshsmith7999 Could you install them on a 16.45 foot boat?

@@Ponyony I have Zipwake 300S on a 15' boat. Works so well and I will never have another boat without Zipwake.