Helpful tip. Before drilling any hole, make sure that you have enough room for the top bracket to be installed flat on the same surface as the bottom bracket. It might seem obvious that it would fit, but in boats, with a swim platform, the distance from the bottom to the top of the transom decreases as you get close to the end of the transom (port or starboard). Before drilling holes, assembly the entire tab mechanism (Tab, sockets, shock), place the low bracket in the intended position and then make sure the top bracket sits flush on the transom (also check the other tab can be installed on the opposite side exactly in the same position). I learned the hard way.
Your video convinced me to install these on my Crowline 190LS. WOW ... everything you described about how they worked, is true .. I loved the difference in how my boat handled. I got mine on sale at Overton's for just under $100 .. worth every penny!!! Thanks for your review!!!
MANY thanks for you great review! I was looking for extra information before installing those on our Cap Camarat 750 CC and you made my day. I'll go for it without hesitation. Thumbs up! Bruno
My pleasure, Bruno! I'm sure that different styles/hulls/lengths/HP will have varying results, but I saw enough benefit to recommend them with confidence.
My experience was similar to yours, I'm very happy with the purchase. My boat is a older ski boat, around 16.5" long with a fairly wide beam(over 7") and unloaded with it's outboard it weighs around 1500lbs. The tabs dropped my planning speed from around 21mph to 16mph which is perfect for young kids tubing. All the other benefits you noted were the same for my boat as well. It's probably the 2nd best improvement I've ever made on the boat in terms of price, the best overall was a 4 blade stainless ski/tube low pitch prop, but the tabs were the best improvement per dollar.
just got back from the lake. I put them on yesterday and went out yesterday evening. I need to do a little adjusting. but as he said no bow rise at all. Our 19 bow rider WAS horrible. chine walk was really cut back. and the waves were cut down and made the ride better. My wife said she enjoyed the boat more.
After watching your review of the Nauticus Smart Tabs, I bought some for my 2006 Crownline 190LS ... and installed them last month. I put the boat in Lake George, NY today, and WOW .... was like a whole different boat. We can get some pretty nasty chop on windy days and also with alot of boat traffic. It came up on plane very quickly, and the bow wander was significantly reduced ... as you stated. Also, going into the waves, the boat handled much better and no where near as much "slamming" as last year. I love the difference .. thanks for your review ... it was the one that made me buy them. Cliff
Nice review...I added these to my boat and had to make a jig to set the 25 degree angle for my transom as mine was not flat. If you have a flat transom like yours letting them hang gives you the 25 degree angle. I have a short review of my boat on my channel talking about it and the tabs. When I sold my boat I heard people commenting about the tabs saying things like I needed tabs to get up out of the water due to low power of my boat (according to the boat dealer who heard some of the complaints). If you have never tried these tabs before and are on the fence.YOU WILL BE A BELIEVER after installing them.
Excellent review Nick! Gave you a like and a sub. Looking at tabs for exact reasons (and order of importance) as you. What percentage of improvement is there in rough water?
Honestly, I saw little improvement in rough water, and I DID have them in it a few times. The problem with THIS boat is that the hull is NOT a good rough water hull all by any means. The tabs did help to change the angle I hit waves, but the 16 degree dead rise, practically flat bottom and an 8.5' beam basically made the boat a flat triangle. Was a hard ride regardless of what the tabs offered.
Are you planning on posting a video when you are on the water. I own a reinell 200 lse. It seem to be a similar boat shape as yours. Its also a 20’ by 8’ wide. Im trying to decide between this and a hydrofoil. I have too much bow-rise when pulling someone when wake boarding. Any advise. Thanks
Being that they are in a fixed position until you manually move the setting at the tabs themselves, these are not necessarily going to help with weight transfer. However, if you normally do list on that heavy side, you could always start off with the tab adjusted more aggressively.
Thank you for this review. I have a 2005 Crownline 220ex with lots of bow wander. Did you find any issues in reverse? I will probably buy them due to your review.
No issues in reverse, but then again, I never went much past trolling speed reverse. With or without the tabs, I just never liked plowing that transom against the water too hard. I'm sure it didn't matter. More of my own issues I guess LOL.
why did you go with the tabs? not planning quick enough? I have a crownline 230ex with the 5.0 MPI merc with the Bravo 3 and it takes longer than I expect to get on plane. Debating on putting tabs on
The boat being 20 feet long and a relatively flat hull made for a horrible ride in the chop. Our lake gets very sloppy with 3+ footers common. My first reason for the tabs were to try to hold the bow down into the wave instead of slapping it. The bow wander was reason #2. And #3, I had no complaints on planing, but I didn't mind the thought of improvement. Of the three main reasons, the bow wander was 100% satisfied. The planing was a surprise to me. I didn't expect that kind of improvement, so it was a bonus. The ride in the chop was improved, but I was still hindered by the overall design of the hull for that kind of ride. The boat was bought for a smaller lake, but we ended up on the big lake more than we thought.
Dan Schmidlin slow enough to be very easy pulling a tube with a small child. More than trolling speed, but certainly not fast at all. Disclaimer: I have since sold the boat, so I am going on memory 😀
@@josht3880 That's what I thought, on my Aluminum boat the wood sandwich part of the transom doesn't go all the way to the bottom of the boat, so I'd have to drill right through to the inside, which I'm reluctant to do.
@@fiveowaf454 I know it's labour but you could weld an aluminum plate at the bottom of your transom and attach the tabs there. That way you don't mess with the transom and the tab will stick out a bit more....better results :)
@@josht3880 I'm just reluctant to do anything that permanent to what was a new boat last year. I have adjustable tabs on my 25' "pocket cruiser" and they are absolutely incredible, you wouldn't believe such a small area of stainless steel could provide so much lift, so I'm sure they'd improve my stern heavy 14' boat, I'll just have to talk myself into drilling the hull, I guess worst case if I did ever remove them, some stainless bolts in the holes with 5200 would have it as "good as new"
@@fiveowaf454 yep 5200 will do it. If it helps I drilled the first 2 holes at the wrong spot. I didn't account for the swimming platform was so close on that area. Filled them up with 5200 and once fully dried I covered them with a marine grade vinyl sticker. Fingers crossed.
In theory, I understand why you would be concerned abut following seas. I can only say that it was never an issue for me and I have yet to see where it was for anyone else. I have long since sold this boat, but, if I were you, I would get on come boating FB pages and/or internet forums and start asking those questions.
Not really. Boat was always a 50+ MPH boat before and after. Top speed on this boat was more affected by lake conditions. It hit hard and we could not often open it up.
I am not trying be a smartass, but the video clearly shows that your port and starboard tabs are not mounted at the same angle... Do you feel this in any situation?
Per Bjerre Jespersen I sold this boat long ago and just noticed this comment. Just to respond, however, the tabs were absolutely symmetrically opposite in their mounting positions and orientations. Maybe the video translates different, but they were spot on.
Those are adjusted only manually. They are really for those who are good with the one overall position that works best for them. You still have the option of trimming the outdrive up/down which will still affect bow rise. That said, I’m trying to picture a scenario where you would cross a sandbar high enough to drag the hull. Wouldn’t the outdrive be the bigger concern there? If you are going fast enough for the tabs to raise the bow, the outdrive/prop could see some damage. And if you raise the outdrive enough to minimize the drag on it, you are straining the U joints by running it beyond idle in that position.
I wouldn't say they do, nor would I consider that part of their intent. I think that, if the weight distribution on a boat had it leaning, equally set tabs would cancel out any solution for that. You would have to set them different from each other.
5200 is not the product to use for this need. 5200 is more for things you don't need to replace, fix or upgrade. A 4200 or similar would be way better for the need even below the water line, just FYI for others finding your helpful video. Any concern with having the tabs so far inboard?...I have todo the same thing although others say you should be out as far as possible.
robert feller I would have preferred to have them further out, but the transom design didn't allow for it. Still, they were well beyond whatever the recommended minimum distance from the outdrive was. I forget what was suggested.
Thanks Nick. I seem to recall it was 8" minimum from drive. I did talk to one of the techs at Nauticus yesterday and he said that is fine where you got them because that's basically where I had to put mine too...hand he was fine with it when I shared the photo.
