Zipwake

Very Annoyed

Very Annoyed

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Has anybody had any experience with this system?

Zipwake, the world’s first inexpensive dynamic trim control system, incorporates a state of the art series of durable, fast-acting interceptors, eliminating the well-known trim problems of planing and semi-planing boats. The system is fully automatic and significantly enhances performance, fuel economy, comfort and safety when accelerating, turning or running in a seaway.


http://www.zipwake.com/
 
Very Annoyed said:
Has anybody had any experience with this system?

Zipwake, the world’s first inexpensive dynamic trim control system, incorporates a state of the art series of durable, fast-acting interceptors, eliminating the well-known trim problems of planing and semi-planing boats. The system is fully automatic and significantly enhances performance, fuel economy, comfort and safety when accelerating, turning or running in a seaway.

http://www.zipwake.com/
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No experience with that, but it looks very similar to what I have, but with the option of a curved or chine-shaped interceptor plate instead of a flat one.

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I hope the system works better than the website does on my computer.

It looks extremely similar to the Humphree / Volvo Penta vertical trim tab system that has been around for a while now.
 
The Humphree system is a much more refined version of this and has the benifits that all of the external parts are made from a non corrosive nylon type of material and the motors are mounted internally.

The Humphree system is not to be confused with the early QL / Volvo system that has not proved to be reliable.
 
I saw it working on a test setup during the last boat show in Goteburg Sweden, it seems to have a couple of advantages over classic trim tabs amongst which was faster deployment/response and no bulk fins sticking out to watch out for, however I have personally not been on any boat to try it out in real life. That said, if I am to install tabs on any boat in future, it is definitely doing to be the I will choose.
 
Forgive me for asking a stupid question, but won’t those flat plates dipped in at the back of a planing boat knock some speed off ?
Just seems counterintuitive, designers/ engineers going to great lengths to to get the under water stuff hydrodynamically right - think aerodynamic like a plane ,sticking a flat plate on a wing or fuselage ( ok with a slat for short periods around landing / take off ) but all the time !

Sounds to me it’s literally a bolt on to assist a badly designed hull, done after they have gone to the expense of the plug / mounds etc .

Happy to stand corrected .

I,am coming from the camp of if it’s the hulls designed properly in the first place taking into account the balance and weight distribution under water shape , etc it should run true with essentially zero trim in most conditions.
only needed to occasionally counter x winds or dip the bow in a head sea if there’s any useful fwd V to help the ride ?
Then standard tabs ,which normally are up and out of the way ,not dangling or dragging .

They will be designing kinda bicycle stabilisers to bolt on reliant Robins to prevent them tipping up on corners next .My point is this get the basics right first , ie 4 wheels in this case or in a boat the correct lift and stability in a boat hull along with weight distribution etc
 
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They are useful on some boats if you want to "plane more slowly", maybe because you are not in a rush, or conditions are less than ideal.
As the speed increases, you can back them off.
Also, there is the issue of lateral trim ... wind from the side or Aunt Bessie and her very heavy luggage on one side might need to be compensated for.
 
aquatom said:
The Humphree system is a much more refined version of this and has the benifits that all of the external parts are made from a non corrosive nylon type of material and the motors are mounted internally.

The Humphree system is not to be confused with the early QL / Volvo system that has not proved to be reliable.
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I honestly don't know whether Humphree had any input into the VP guillotine trim tab design, they work in a very similar way.

The Volvo Penta Tabs are very effective compared with traditional tabs.

I would hazard a guess that in the future the similarities between Humphree and VP tabs will be even closed as VP Has bought a majority shareholding in Humphree.
 
my last boat had a set of those VP trim tabs, all previous boats, sported pairs of stainless steel plates dragging in the water.
Neither appeared to much better than the other, apart from not having to A/F the VP version.
Most useful in getting the bow down, pretty marginal regards increasing speed, at best.
 
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oldgit said:
my last boat had a set of those VP trim tabs, previous boats, all others sported pairs of stainless steel plates dragging in the water.
Neither appeared to much better than the other, apart from not having to A/F the VP version.
Most useful in getting the bow down, pretty marginal regards increasing speed, at best.
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Ah, but you haven't compared like for like. On one boat I swapped traditional stainless plate tabs for the Volvo tabs and the difference was night and day. Much better at adjusting trim and much, much quicker to respond.
 
I installed Zipwake on my last boat (Bavaria Sport 37). I wanted them primarly to remove the roll and they did perfectly. I will during this winter install a set on my new boat as well (Bavaria Sport 43).
 
Brunan said:
I installed Zipwake on my last boat (Bavaria Sport 37). I wanted them primarly to remove the roll and they did perfectly. I will during this winter install a set on my new boat as well (Bavaria Sport 43).
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At what speed do they become effective?
Im searching for a size chart, there seems to be four different sizes available but I'm unable to find where it tells me what the correct size is for a 24ft boat with a 9ft beam?
 
So fed up with the performance of the ZIPWAKE I hope I can stop others from making the mistake of removing good old reliable trim tab for the junk ZIPWAKE is peddling. I have been fighting with the ZIPWAKE installed on my 36ft Pursuit for three years. Had a professional and competent yard install them. They never functioned correctly from day one. After several hauls during the install and dial-in period, they worked for a while. As "Murphy's Law" would have it, just before 3 long-haul planned cruises they FAILED! that was three times! Each time the dam things stuck (one side in each case) in the DOWN position. No way to run the boat under that circumstance. Each time the boat had to be hauled, the ZIPWAKE blade removed until we could get parts. Well, I was planning a cruise from Sarasota to the Keys beginning this weekend. Guess what? Yep, one side stuck again. You can't trust this equipment. You don't want to be out to sea, running an inlet, fighting bad conditions, and have this equipment fail. It's dangerous. I will make the trip to the Fl Keys, but only after I disable the dam things. Better to run without them than to chance an inceptor stuck down in the water. When I return, my good old trim tabs are going back on.
 
CaptTG said:
So fed up with the performance of the ZIPWAKE I hope I can stop others from making the mistake of removing good old reliable trim tab for the junk ZIPWAKE is peddling. I have been fighting with the ZIPWAKE installed on my 36ft Pursuit for three years. Had a professional and competent yard install them. They never functioned correctly from day one. After several hauls during the install and dial-in period, they worked for a while. As "Murphy's Law" would have it, just before 3 long-haul planned cruises they FAILED! that was three times! Each time the dam things stuck (one side in each case) in the DOWN position. No way to run the boat under that circumstance. Each time the boat had to be hauled, the ZIPWAKE blade removed until we could get parts. Well, I was planning a cruise from Sarasota to the Keys beginning this weekend. Guess what? Yep, one side stuck again. You can't trust this equipment. You don't want to be out to sea, running an inlet, fighting bad conditions, and have this equipment fail. It's dangerous. I will make the trip to the Fl Keys, but only after I disable the dam things. Better to run without them than to chance an inceptor stuck down in the water. When I return, my good old trim tabs are going back on.
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Why were they jamming? The motor installation looked pretty solid when I mounted mine, far more so than the VP QL tabs they replaced. I have mine set to auto clean every day whilst afloat so growth shouldn’t be an issue.
 
Jamie Dundee said:
Why were they jamming? The motor installation looked pretty solid when I mounted mine, far more so than the VP QL tabs they replaced. I have mine set to auto clean every day whilst afloat so growth shouldn’t be an issue.
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I have been considering an install of these to compensate for weight distribution issues when under way. By not having to tell people to move around a bit I mean. Didn’t realise they have self cleaning (that’s a bonus). Does that actually work automatically or do you have to just operate them up and down manually to clean debris? Also do you run the gyro system that automatically keeps the boat where you set it? Is it as good as it sounds?
 
ST840 said:
I have been considering an install of these to compensate for weight distribution issues when under way. By not having to tell people to move around a bit I mean. Didn’t realise they have self cleaning (that’s a bonus). Does that actually work automatically or do you have to just operate them up and down manually to clean debris? Also do you run the gyro system that automatically keeps the boat where you set it? Is it as good as it sounds?
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Providing the Zipwakes are wired directly to the battery the system is automatic, the blades advance and retract several times each cleaning cycle which can be set for every 24/48 hours. I found the auto settings to be poor. The lateral trim ends up overcompensating and rocking the boat from side to side even on the least sensitive setting. To make the fore/aft setting work I had to completely remap the system as the default is 100% tab from around 9kn which buries the bow and turns the boat into a submarine. The remapping worked but I’ve ended up using the whole system on manual, the display showing fore/aft and lateral trim is useful however and under normal conditions I’ve found that a bow up angle of 4.5* is about right.

Just to add, the NMEA connection is useful as I can display tab positions on my Simrads rather than looking down at the main display.07C1E550-DD70-4BF4-B4FE-3766D9EA6E1E.jpeg
 
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Jamie Dundee said:
Providing the Zipwakes are wired directly to the battery the system is automatic, the blades advance and retract several times each cleaning cycle which can be set for every 24/48 hours. I found the auto settings to be poor. The lateral trim ends up overcompensating and rocking the boat from side to side even on the least sensitive setting. To make the fore/aft setting work I had to completely remap the system as the default is 100% tab from around 9kn which buries the bow and turns the boat into a submarine. The remapping worked but I’ve ended up using the whole system on manual, the display showing fore/aft and lateral trim is useful however and under normal conditions I’ve found that a bow up angle of 4.5* is about right.

Just to add, the NMEA connection is useful as I can display tab positions on my Simrads rather than looking down at the main display.View attachment 116779
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But overall your happy with the system?
 
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