Fall 2006 - Trim Tabs!

I wanted to try something to control speed and wake in the Searay SD 220.  A speed control like Perfect Pass, was too expensive, and I knew it would do nothing for my wake.  I saw the Volvo trim tabs (450 mm) and really liked them better than other designs.  And they were less expensive than Perfect Pass.
See: http://www.volvopenta.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/Penta/Parts%20brochures/QL%20-%20Boat%20Trim%20System%20-%20Eng.pdf

I had to take a few deep breaths before I drilled some big holes in the transom!  Measure twice, cut once.  You tape the template down, and mark the holes.

 

You can see the holes I drilled to mount the interceptors.   From the inside, I drilled the holes to run the wires to the interceptors. 

 I took off the spark arrestor and laid a piece of siding on top of the motor to lay on to reach the area I needed to. 

 Here's the hole...

 Here is the connector. filling the big hole.

 I had to move this a bit to get the hole drilled on the port side.

 I used a small hole at first and a sprinkler flag to make sure I was in the right spot. 

 Here you can see where I mounted the control up front.  Nice hole...

 Yes, that does look better. 

 Here is the finished product on the transom. 

And do they work?   Yes and no.   I can now hold a speed much better, but the wake is still frothy.  I love being able to drive slow and pull a tube at 12 mph, and have the bow flat as can be.  They also allow me to level the boat when a hefty passenger is making the boat list to one side. 

Having had these now for 6 years, I would be hard pressed to own a boat without them.  They are slim and elegant, and take up almost no space.  I absolutely love them.  But, I still have a frothy wake at slow speed, and some trouble holding speed at 19 mph. 

The only trouble I have had with them was once when a mechanic unplugged them to service the boat, and then plugged them back in wrong.  It took me a while to figure it out.