Anybody Here tried TAP Fins?

[smltooner]

Bob, you really don't want to go there!!!!

[badmoonrising]

[BobG]

Oh hell bob what have u done Pop

Evidently, I've discovered this site's "Big Red Button"!

[HandymanHerb]

You wouldn't believe how many times we went over this topic over the last ten years, it was a big no no to say anything bad about them on the other forum because he was a paying for ads.

He just made claims for better fuel mileage, gain 10 mph, smoother ride, which all should have been easy to prove with before and after numbers, which is all we asked for and we never got.

Welding them on a toon voids the warranty, was a big thing they didn't want to cover with a good answer.

So no a red button issue, just a horse that been rode to death many times over

So just say NO to tap fins !!!

[BobG]

So just say NO to tap fins !!!

Hey, once I realized what I had started I would have deleted the thread, but see that it's not an option on this forum, so no HGTD for me!

[lakerunner]

Thanks for the memories Bob

[wrd1972]

I dont even see how these things are expected to work. I dont see how they can make the boat plane like the NV strakes do on my boat which net me big time gains. Are the tap fins supposed to "lift" the boat when they catch the spray from the logs plowing through the water?

[playcat]

Basically its a 6 inch wide aluminum angle attached too high up to actually do anything, except act as a big spray rail. Because they have very little design strength and are unsupported, the pieces have to be a much thicker and heavier stock than typical strakes, which takes away from capacity and performance. No great science here.
Can they be attached with epoxy? Sure, but I doubt they will stay on...would you lift your toon with a strap you put on with epoxy? Epoxy, especially WEST sytems stuff, is great, but some jobs are beyond its limitations. My pontoons are foam-filled, so welding is not a good option.
Another issue is adding 6 inches of metal flaps in the outside of an 8 foot 6 inch wide boat makes it 9 feet wide and now requires an oversize permit to legally trailer. And you can forget those nice trailer guides that made loading a lot easier, as they will fold up your flap tins.

[BobG]

And you can forget those nice trailer guides that made loading a lot easier, as they will fold up your flap tins.

Yeah, I saw THAT one coming! Sheesh!

[HandymanHerb]

Friends don't let friends do TAP

[ronb]

I tapped a Fin once... her Dad was not happy...

[Texoma Toon]

I tapped a Fin once... her Dad was not happy...

Now that kind of Fin would probably be smooth riding, handle well, but would still void my warranty with my better half.

[MacToon]

So I think the short answer to the original question is "No".

He shore does have hisself a purdy website, though - testimonials from world-class retired engineers and ever'thing!

[BobG]

testimonials from world-class retired engineers and ever'thing!

Yeah, but they're MOTOR engineers, not HULL engineers. It's easy to look at it and say, "wow, 37 years with Mercury Marine", but can he evaluate the relative hydrodynamics (I'm guessing that's a word, like aerodynamics) of a lifting strake, compared to a "ballerina skirt fin"? Just because I built part of the Hubble Space Telescope (and the piece I built is now in the Smithsonian!), does not make me an authority on extravehicular survivability in the tail of a comet!

[WILD MAN]

testimonials from world-class retired engineers and ever'thing!

Yeah, but they're MOTOR engineers, not HULL engineers. It's easy to look at it and say, "wow, 37 years with Mercury Marine", but can he evaluate the relative hydrodynamics (I'm guessing that's a word, like aerodynamics) of a lifting strake, compared to a "ballerina skirt fin"? Just because I built part of the Hubble Space Telescope (and the piece I built is now in the Smithsonian!), does not make me an authority on extravehicular survivability in the tail of a comet!

Yes hydrodynamics is a word, but I'm not sure about extravehicular survivability