Haines, Atlantic, Westwood or Broom 38ft, trim and trimtabs info wanted.

[Cathy*]

We have a 38 ft semi displacement power boat with trimtabs fitted. I'm looking for someone with a similar size Haines, Atlantic, Westwood or Broom who can share their experiences of sea keeping and photo's of trim tabs please.

 

[Greg2]

Don't think the Broom 38cl was fitted with tabs IIRC. Hull rides well without them. Also think that many Atlantics are actually a planing hull so would be comparing apples and pears.

 

[Happiest Afloat]

My Atlantic 40 has Volvo QL 'interceptors', they work well. I don't have much to compare them to but when they are used to put the bow down, the speed increases from 23 to 26kn. They also work well in keeping the boat level when she is heeled by a beam wind.

 

[Cathy*]

Don't think the Broom 38cl was fitted with tabs IIRC. Hull rides well without them. All think that many Atlantics are actually a planing hull so would be comparing apples and pears.

I've had a reply from someone who used to own a Haines 38 which also did not have trim tabs. Ours has Bennett trim tabs which are big and it doesn't look as though they are in quite the right place looking at the fitting instructions. I think we're going to make a phone call to PH Marine tomorrow for advice but we are probably going to take them off.

 

[Cathy*]

View attachment 65963

My Atlantic 40 has Volvo QL 'interceptors', they work well. I don't have much to compare them to but when they are used to put the bow down, the speed increases from 23 to 26kn. They also work well in keeping the boat level when she is heeled by a beam wind.

Thank you. We had those trim tabs on our last boat which was a planing hull like yours. Our 38 is semi displacement and has big Bennett trimtabs on. We're thinking the boat was probably designed not to have them, they are not fitted in the right position and they are causing us problems now. They might be on eBay in a couple of weeks.

 

[n.herring]

What problems are they causing, I would have thought it would be better just to leave them in the up position, save a lot of hassle filling holes in gelcoat, Neil

 

[Cathy*]

What problems are they causing, I would have thought it would be better just to leave them in the up position, save a lot of hassle filling holes in gelcoat, Neil

They don't seem to have an up position. When fully retracted they are still slightly down. Also, Looking at the fitting instructions they should be 3 to 4 inches from the outside chine but they are right to the edge. The problem we're having is bow steering even in a slight following sea. The boat has spent nearly all of it's life on a river travelling at slow speed so I guess the trim tabs haven't had any effect before now. Hopefully a phone call tomorrow will tell us how critical the measurements are for fitting and we can decide what to do.

 

[n.herring]

Being on the edge of the Chine will not cause any issues, also a few degrees of tab should not be noticeable, i can see 20 or 30 degrees of tab could be a problem. What is the boat? are you sure your problems are the tabs.

 

[Greg2]

I've had a reply from someone who used to own a Haines 38 which also did not have trim tabs. Ours has Bennett trim tabs which are big and it doesn't look as though they are in quite the right place looking at the fitting instructions. I think we're going to make a phone call to PH Marine tomorrow for advice but we are probably going to take them off.

It depends on the hull I guess. Is yours a Haines? If so why not give the yard a call? Justin would probably be the guy to speak to or his Dad, Bob.

 

[Cathy*]

It depends on the hull I guess. Is yours a Haines? If so why not give the yard a call? Justin would probably be the guy to speak to or his Dad, Bob.

Thanks for that. It isn't a Haines but the hull is the same. A call to Justin confirmed that they don't normally fit trim tabs.