Switching to 380 K-Planes
 

Anyone else have 380 K-Planes on a twin set up BT? I just completed the Tres Martin Performance Boat school and learned a lot about the hull. My 280 K-Planes are mounted too high so Tres and I agreed that the 380's may really help stabilize the boat in cross winds. Installing Saturday but was wondering if anyone else has done this? TH

I was thinking about doing the same to mine, let me know what happens. Thanks

We installed 380's on our 382, like them alot .:D

How high are they and do you have pictures. What did they say about them? Does it cause the tab to stick in the water with them too short?

Share info man!!

Thanks!

So far we really like the 380's. My 280's were mounted about 4" above the hull bottom which is at least 3" too high. The boat is now real stable in cross winds if you have the tabs just touching the water. Very happy with them.

Why in the heck would they mount them so high in the first place...?

Only advice that I have is make sure you have plenty of outdrive and prop clearance when you make the switch.

I switched from 280s to 380s on my 37AT, and several people told me not to worry about lopping off the inside corners; as such that I will never get the drives close enough.

Well, I had my tabs at neutral, (they stay there all the time) and drives up a bit due to being in a shallow harbor. I had someone cut in front of me, and had to back up and turn in a hurry. I clipped one of the 380s with the trailing edge (props were spinning in reverse) of the prop, and fortunately did not have any prop damage. I did take a nick out of the trim tab. Normally, at idle, I don't ever move the drives from straight; and just use the two sticks to maneuver. Hence, I never worried about the tabs being at neutral.

I have since lopped off the inner corners of my tabs via a machine shop. I learned the hard way, but fortunately not the expensive way.

But the difference is that mine were mounted 4" too high to begin with. So clearance is not an issue while under power. They will hit if the drive is ALL the way up and tabs are down quite a bit and wheel is turned all the way. Plus, I have a 9'6" beam so tabs are out there.

THLWL where did the 380s help. I had my props labbed. Now with full fuel load and 8 adults. Boat takes longer to plane now than before. Got me thinking about the 380s.
thanks Bob

My boat did not have a planning issue. So the 380's really helped me in steadying the boat when cruising at an efficient speed. Cross wind doesn't affect it as much now. Real steady at speeds. Stabilized the boat some what in lieu of tilting, etc. with the large steps.