# Doel-Fin, hydrofoil questions? is it worth it?



## okchris (Sep 17, 2007)

I just picked up a used tohatsu 9.8 4-stroke for my 15-6 highsider and am not sure the advantages of investing in a hydrofoil. Im sure this topic has been beat to death on here, but any help or potential advantages (planing, draft, speed, porpoising) would be great. Anyone running something similar on their highsider? Thanks


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## Brett (Jul 16, 2008)

From a man who likes test rides too:

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1231434008

and another post:

http://www.microskiff.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1211163096


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## okchris (Sep 17, 2007)

thanks for the help. I was hoping that the 9.9 4stroke wouldnt be too heavy and cause issues. I'll definately run it first once the gheenoe is ready, and then see if I have issues with planing or porpoising. its a matter of personal preference i suppose


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

i have put the sting ray brand on every small boat (90 hp and less) and have noticed an improvement everytime


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## okchris (Sep 17, 2007)

are you guys actually seeing faster top-end speeds after adding your hydrofoils? I have read mixed reviews doing research, but most on here seem to actually gain 1-2mph with the smaller motors on their gheenoes and the such. i know that my 9.8 tohatsu aint gonna make my highsider fly, but the faster the better


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## rkmurphy (Nov 2, 2008)

Huh...I had considered this but after my first test run my motor gets right up on plane. But if I could gain a little more top end, I may look into purchasing one. Do they really get you an extra 1-2 mph? And do they make a big difference when there is some extra weight on the boat (i.e. - more people)?


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## mark_gardner (Mar 18, 2009)

like i said in my earlier post, i put them on all my samll outboards and notice an improvement in the planning and over all handling of the boat. do they neg. effect top speed? i cant really say as a lot of the boats i put them on were never clocked on a gps but i would say that if there was a loss of top end speed then it was minimal. i just installed one last night on my new tohatsu and will be making before and after comparrisons.


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## okchris (Sep 17, 2007)

sounds good, look forward to hearing from you. i'll probably invest in one. my friend has the same setup on his 15-4 highsider and it is SLLLOOOWWWW to plane and he's alway shifting gear around when he fishes alone to combat the porpoising and catwalking...although he probably never thought to mess with the trim pins


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## TomFL (Oct 2, 2007)

> sounds good, look forward to hearing from you.  i'll probably invest in one.  my friend has the same setup on his 15-4 highsider and it is SLLLOOOWWWW to plane and he's alway shifting gear around when he fishes alone to combat the porpoising and catwalking...although he probably never thought to mess with the trim pins


The doel-fin will stop the porpoising unless you run some crazy pin setting on the engine. 

Brett listed the tests I did, back to back within 1/2 hour of each other on the same motor/hull/etc. Backed up by suprising GPS #'s where the boat actually gained speed. I was not expecting that, and certainly would have been happy just keepig the same speed I had prior to the install. 

This was with the 5-horse on a 15'4" hi-sider. I have not tried it on anything but the 5-horse on a gheenoe, but I've run them on a lot of boats over the years and was always impressed. 

I just picked up a 13 footer and may run it on that this weekend as well, and possibly on an 8hp 2-stroke as well just to see and record the findings for others. 

Other than the speed aspect of it, the doel-fin settles the boat down and absolutely smoothes the ride out, as well as making the boat feel much, much more "attached" to the water. A lot more control over the boat. 

Try it and I know you'll like it. 

-T


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## okchris (Sep 17, 2007)

good stuff guys, thats why im turning to you. i look forward to your findings. my buddy's setup definitely had an unsettling feeling when running it full throttle and I know he always slows drastically for sharp turns (now I know why). sounds like a no brainer- you guys got me sold


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