Hydrofoil

[Salmon Assassin]

I am looking to make the boat as fuel efficent as possible, not that I care about the ice caps I care more about the wallet. I have trim tabs on the boat and I was curious if a hydrofoil is worth the money. Will it help me get on plane at slower speeds, reduce the RPMs on a hole shot to get the boat up. I cannot trim the motor all the way up because of the EZ Steer and the swim platform. I never run WOT, so that's not an issue.

[HONDAM]

If you get caught in rough water with a hydrofoil it can break off the cavitation plate and then instead of saving you money it will cost you money. It doesnt happen very often but ive seen it done and it is a risk.

The biggest thing you can do to get the best economy is keep a clean bottom and the propeller in good condition.

Either that or get a boat with a 4 stroke outboard, but that will probably defeat the purpose of trying not to empty the wallet.

A good suggestion will be to get a fuel flow meter too, depending on what type of GPS/Fishfinder you have you might get need to buy a sensor and network it via NMEA 2000. This will help you dial in at what speed you get the best milage and you might be surprised. IF you buy a NMEA 2000 sensor it does not matter what manufacture makes the sensor because all NMEA 2000 equipment is universal and will work with any NMEA 2000 display.

Here is the one i have on my boat:

https://buy.garmin.com/shop/shop.do?cID=288&pID=11561

For example my ski boat as a 225hp V6 Honda and i will take it down the cal sag channel to downtown chicago from the obrien locks its about a 50 mile trip each way to where i was going. Before i get the sensor i would cruise about 30mph and use a little less then half a tank. Once i put the sensor on i found out that i was not saving any fuel going 30mph, that i could go 40mph(boat will do 70+) and still get close to 6mpg. Saved me a lot of time and didnt cost me anything. Also by looking at the numbers i was able to dial in the exact trim angle that got me the best economy. 100 miles on about 18 gallons and at that time about $50, wish my fishing boat would do that.