The Dark Side

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smltooner
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The Dark Side

#1 Post by smltooner » Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:37 pm

I strayed to the Dark Side to see what was going on and guess what I found.
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TAP FINS vs. LIFTING STRAKES
PDB takes the performance challenge


Brady L. Kay


For years we’ve been trying to find the right situation to compare the TAP Fins by Conrad Marine to manufacturer lifting strakes. Our biggest challenge? Finding two identical pontoon boats with identical engines so these two performance options could truly be tested, compared and evaluated.



Thanks to Evan Davis, the owner of Boat Club of Lake Norman in North Carolina, we finally found the right testing situation. The Boat Club offers a wide variety of boats to its members so that the cost of ownership, maintenance and storage is taken out of the equation. Members reserve a boat and then simply show up and enjoy a hassle-free day of boating every time. And because of the popularity of pontoon boats on Lake Norman, Evan decided to add two 2010 Sweetwater 2386 pontoons boats to his fleet this past summer, both rigged with Yamaha 115hp four-strokes.


The only difference in the nearly identical pontoon boats—one has TAP Fins and the other has lifting strakes.


“We have the exact same options and configurations between these boats that are nearly identical,” explained Evan when he first contacted PDB magazine. “The only other difference is that one is blue and the other is tan. I’d be very interested to see how the boats perform head-to-head.”


And just like that we were finally in business. The boats are launched and retrieved at the Ramsey Creek Park in Cornelius on Lake Norman and that’s where we met to conduct our test.


Nearly Identical

Evan was as anxious as we were to see which performance option improved the most and that made our job a lot easier. He had already lowered both bimini tops, topped off the gas in the boats and installed brand new propellers by the time we arrived. He wanted everything to be as fair and as equal as possible for our evaluation.


These boats were identical in almost every way possible, but we were a little disappointed to find out that the blue Sweetwater has lifting strakes on the inside and outside of the pontoons, while the tan version only has TAP Fins on the inside. Plus another advantage is the full aluminum underskin on the blue pontoon that is not on the other one. Still, we were working with two very similar pontoons for our test so we weren’t about to complain.


Timed Run

To make it more official, we recruited a local family that just happened to be near the dock when we first arrived. Dave and Charline Magnone along with their daughter had never been on a pontoon boat before, which made our situation even better. Anytime you can introduce a young family to pontooning it’s a good thing.


Both Sweetwater 2386 pontoons were powered with Yamaha 115 four-strokes with a 13.5 diameter prop and a 15 pitch. An obstacle course was set up and we had Evan drive both boats for consistency. We ran the course twice with each boat and then average the times. The blue Sweetwater with lifting strakes completed the course with an average time of 2:22, while the tan version with TAP Fins had an average time of 2:10. We did note that the TAP Fin boat turned a little sharper going to the right, which could have been the difference.


“I felt like the blue boat was faster for some reason,” said Evan. “But as for cornering, I definitely noticed that the tan boat cornered a lot better. It was smoother running through the course where I felt the blue boat had to work harder.”


Just for fun we decided to let Dave, who had never been on a pontoon let alone driven one, take a turn behind the wheel. Unofficially we thought this might give us a better perspective on which performance option might be better for the novice driver. Turns out it didn’t make that much of a difference. Dave was only three seconds faster in the blue pontoon versus the tan one.


“On the blue boat I thought it handled well. It bogged down in the turns, but that was probably my fault,” said Dave after the test. “On the tan one I felt the accuracy in turning was better and it didn’t rock as much when I turned. It was easier in effort and maybe a little flatter in the turns.”


Take Off

Next we wanted to see if there was a difference in the 0-20 mph time between the lifting strakes and the TAP Fins. We did the full throttle test from idle to 20 miles per hour three times going in one direction, then three times in the opposite direction and then averaged all the times. The blue Sweetwater with lifting strakes had an average 0-20 mph time of 9.72 seconds, while the tan Sweetwater with TAP fins had more than a second quicker time of 8.05 seconds. This was the most dramatic difference between all the tests that we conducted on this day.


“The boat is fast. For a dual tube pontoon with a 115 hp motor, it’s faster than I expected,” said Evan. “The cornering is tight and flat and the ride is super quiet because there is no spray deflecting up onto the sub-floor.”


Wide Open

All that was left now was to put the throttle down and see which boat went faster. We kept the Magnone family onboard for each testing phase so everything would be as accurate as possible. At the cruising RPM of 3000, both pontoons were near the 9.5 mph mark, but it was the top speed where we noticed the real difference.


The blue lifting strake version reached 6100 RPMs at a top speed of 23.5 miles per hour. The tan TAP Fin Sweetwater topped out at 5800 RPMs, reaching a full mile and a half faster at 25.0 mph.


Success

After a solid round of testing, the TAP Fins out-performed the lifting strakes in all the different phases of our test. So the final question to ask would be the difference in cost.


“Personally if I ordered another boat it would probably come down to price,” says Evan. “For performance and handling I really like the tan boat with TAP Fins on it. It would be interesting to see what it would be like with Fins on the inside and outside. From an economic standpoint the TAP Fins would be the way to go because I believe they are less expensive than the strakes.”


For clarification we went to Malcolm Sohm of Conrad Marine who invented the TAP Fin system.


"On average when compared to lifting strakes installed by a manufacturer, the TAP Fins are around 20 percent less expensive and that includes inside and outside Fins,” explains Sohm. “And unlike most manufacturers who increase their prices each year, I have maintained my prices for the past several years.”


As we walked away from the Ramsey Creek dock it felt good to finally have the data and information that we’ve been in search of for so long. We’ve been as curious as anyone to see which performance option would be better and we found out that on this day and on these two particular pontoons, the TAP Fins performed better.



BOATS TESTED


Blue Sweetwater 2386
Option: Lifting Strakes Inside & Out
Engine: Yamaha 115 four-stroke
Propeller: 13.5 x 15
0-20 mph: 9.72 secs
Obstacle Course: 2:22 avg



RPM vs. SPEED

800 2.1 mph
1000 3.1 mph
1500 4.4 mph
2000 5.2 mph
2500 6.7 mph
3000 9.6 mph
3500 12.2 mph
4000 16.4 mph
4500 17.9 mph
5000 19.2 mph
5500 20.5 mph
6100 23.5 mph



Tan Sweetwater 2386

Option: TAP Fins Inside Only
Engine: Yamaha 115 four-stroke
Propeller: 13.5 x 15
0-20 mph: 8.05 secs
Obstacle Course: 2:10 avg



RPM vs. SPEED

800 2.2 mph
1000 2.8 mph
1500 3.8 mph
2000 6.0 mph
2500 7.2 mph
3000 9.5 mph
3500 13.5 mph
4000 16.3 mph
4500 19.1 mph
5000 22.0 mph
5500 24.7 mph
5800 25.0 mph




For More Information



Boat Club of Lake Norman

980-875-1245

www.boatcluboflkn.com



Conrad Marine

828-478-9585

www.conradmarine.com



Sweetwater

574-522-8381

www.GodfreyPontoonBoats.com



Yamaha Marine

866-894-1626

www.yamaha-motor.com
SMLTOONER
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Re: The Dark Side

#2 Post by curtiscapk » Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:44 pm

OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 :scared :scared :scared :scared
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Re: The Dark Side

#3 Post by lakerunner696 » Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:05 pm

curtiscapk wrote:OH SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!11 :scared :scared :scared :scared
BULL
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Re: The Dark Side

#4 Post by Ron Burgundy » Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:14 pm

:paranoid
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Re: The Dark Side

#5 Post by Pontoon Really? » Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:22 pm

I thought for aminute you bought a sail bote

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Re: The Dark Side

#6 Post by badmoonrising » Tue Apr 26, 2011 5:22 pm

Yeah I say bullshit since:

Malcolm pays Brady and crew for advertising thus he's kicking his own ass if he gives them a bad review. Malcolm would never let any of us test them in real world conditions (i.e. Lake Norman on a flat calm days vs lake Norman with a nice chop going..

And those sloppy welds voiding the hull warranty .... :fyou

Does anyone think that even of Taps were scored lower in every test that Brady would make it public ? :fyou :nobrady
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Re: The Dark Side

#7 Post by oldmn19 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:15 am

Just a question for all you nay sayers, quite a few boat manufactures PAY for advertizing in the magazine, so are they all bull shit too? I know, all about your being unhappy with Malcom and his attitude, but really, what kind of test would you accept, only one you personally performed? What axe did the boat club have to grind? That's all I have to say and it's the end of discussion about it for me. :donno
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Re: The Dark Side

#8 Post by lakerunner696 » Wed Apr 27, 2011 6:34 am

The turning I believe but not the speed. Fins only on the inside against strakes in and outside. No way it will go faster than a lifting strake toon.

I never had an issue with Malcom till he said fins made boating easier for handicapped.
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Re: The Dark Side

#9 Post by badmoonrising » Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:46 am

Malcolm is buddies with Brady in real life. He belongs to the boating club that did the test. He's never allowed anyone without a stake in his company or a buddy of his to do independent testing even though he promised repeatedly to do so (even offered a free set to a former forum member only to renege on the deal). Remember my "Chesapeake Challenge" ?? :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl He failed to show for that even though he said he would.

Once again, Brady gets paid by advertisers to give positive feedback for their products. How many times was I threatened with banning if I called into question anything his advertisers claimed ? Even the shittiest product gets rave reviews in their mag.

Hell, I simply made a suggestion about improving the magazine and his blood pressure skyrocketed and he sent me a nasty e-mail saying how hard they work to put out the forum/mag. Cutting and pasting from manufacturer's brochures isn't all that hard...the website probably costs a couple of hundred per year, and the ads pay for that.
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Re: The Dark Side

#10 Post by WaltF » Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:54 pm

BULL$HIT!!

Common Sense here....
Think of it like an airplane wing...

Strakes run UNDER the water line. When ya punch it, the toon comes UP ON THE STRAKES, thus LIFTING the toon up out of the water... WAAAAAY less drag PLUS true Planing...

Tap-Fuc-Fins run ABOVE the water line.
How the heck does it EVER get up on PLANE if they arnt even in the Fuc'n Water?

GoofyBouy would have you believe its the water splashing up and hitting the fin...
No Way that lifts a toon out of the water better then a true underwater strake. Thats why they offer em in bigger sizes... ie 6 inch strakes will create more lift then 4 inch strakes.

Harder to turn with inside and outside strakes? Sure. The toon banks less into the turn, creating a flatter turn.
Once again common sense....

Last, but not least....
How many companies offer something that looks like a strake vs a tap fin?
...yaaaaaa

That story just doesnt make logical sense.

NOW, Brady being PAID to LIE makes sense.... :happy :happy

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Last edited by WaltF on Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:02 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Re: The Dark Side

#11 Post by rrhodes » Wed Apr 27, 2011 12:56 pm

Anyone notice you can't get TapFins as an option from the manufacturer?
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Re: The Dark Side

#12 Post by Heatman » Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:37 pm

Ok this toon is 1' longer than mine with 25 more hp and gets a whopping 2 mph more than mine. Where do I signup? $1,000 per mph sounds great!
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Re: The Dark Side

#13 Post by WaltF » Wed Apr 27, 2011 2:07 pm

yup.. 'they' say ya need at least 90hp to make getting strakes worth it, otherwise ya dont have the hp to get up on plane very well...
Personally, id say 115+...
If you have a toon with 150, 200, 250.... its a no brainer to have strakes. :nana

In 2007 when we got ours, i/o 135hp, they didnt offer strakes. But the following year they did and the speed increase was ALOT... like 10+ mph.
I would have got them if they offered em....

..and i would expect that kind of increase. It makes sense.
Being able to get the toons up out of the water = MUCH less drag.

That kind of lifting is something tapCrapfin's would just not be able to accomplish... :fyou
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Re: The Dark Side

#14 Post by badmoonrising » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:13 pm

rrhodes wrote:Anyone notice you can't get TapFins as an option from the manufacturer?
He had a few manufacturers install them on a FEW new 'toons. Not surprisingly, a seller on eBay, Great Lakes Skipper who sells used logs had a bunch with Tap Fins installed for sale. I assume the customers hated them or the welds were so sloppy that no one wanted the 'toons with them installed. I've personally never seen a manufacturer offer them. The only pics Malcolm had were Taps installed on older, crappy pontoons. :rofl :rofl :rofl :rofl
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Re: The Dark Side

#15 Post by rrhodes » Thu Apr 28, 2011 9:06 am

I thought about strakes because they started offering them in 2009 from JC. After talking to JC they said not to get them on a 25' without at least a 150hp....

I still think they would work but now willing to have them welded on only to find out they were right.
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