I saw the polyethylene tab on the CRC boat. It makes a lot of sense. My tab takes some big licks from waves occasionally. The poly one would flex and bend which would stop any potential adverse handling with the tab. I'm not sure it ranks up there in the looks dept. On mine prop makes a huge difference high rake, small diameter is huge.

When you say high rake, small dia makes a huge difference you are referring to what eliminating the hop?? Our boats are very different from a tunnel configuration. Could you give me an example of your best all around prop?

Mine have been a Hering 5 blade 37 x 16.5- 18deg SCL Excellent acceleration decent top speed, the same props in a 39 pitch light load will yield me like 5mph more (137) but the sacrifice is in acceleration w/ any passengers or fuel which primarily how I boat.

With regard to looks I'm into functional not fancy, not all show no go. Billet alum powder coated tabs are nice but they are also like $5k, I may be able to do this for 1/2 that. The poly is machineable & the edges will be router finished to clean up the look.

With regards to the prop, I was referring to elimination of hop as well as general performance. My hull has a deep tunnel much the same depth as your Skater. It is the only one by DCB with a deep tunnel. The tunnel entrance is not as large or efficient at packing air as yours. I have to use the tab from 70-100 then perfect attitude from there. I'm upgrading to the SCX and I'm going to wait til then to get top end dialed in. Safety reasons. The Maximus props without diffuser rings and reduced diameters are the best. Cleaver style and larger diameter would lift the transom more and hop was pronounced. I wonder if the Indy might be lifting a bit?

Great cover and article on your ride on the cover of Powerboat Mag. Beautiful ride!

How bout a full wrap around tunnel extension?
Seems to work alot better at trapping air.
I'm sure pete could whip you something up.
He fabbed up a fiberglass cored tab on my outboard
Race 32 that started 40" in the tunnel and extended 30"
Out(70" total).
I still like the wrap around tunnel extension though

I wasn't aware the 34 didn't have the pod like the other DCB's. My hop is from 60-90mph & no real way to dial it out w/o really binding it up w/ the drives tucked in & tabs down. Feels like I'm dragging a refrigerator.

I upgraded from bravo style drives which never really broke but the gear sets wore pretty quickly. I waited a year for the Ilmor Indy since they were originally only available as a package w/ the new Gen IV engines. My Hering 5 blade cleaver props do have alot of bite & I can feel them propelling the boat up out of the water. I honestly believe that the additional 200-300lbs that was added to the transom w/ the new package is the culprit b/c I didn't have barely any porpoising before.

JimKid is doing some testing w/ smaller diameter props to see if that reduces the hop in his Skater 30. Based on preliminary results the smaller props minimized his hop by 10mph on the top side. The props were 4 blades, 4-5 pitch sizes smaller & 1.25" smaller than what I run. If I went that route I'd probably loose 15mph or more so the tunnel tab seems to be my only option. Then I can fine tune w/ props since I've tested about 8 different sets earlier this year.

I asked the same question to both Peter & Ben, both said the adjustable tunnel extension (tunnel tab) was the way to go between the 2. There was no guarantee adding 30-40" to the rear for the tunnel was going to be able to provide the amount of lift required to minimize the porpoising that I'm hoping for. I was all about an extension that is integrated into the boat, nothing to have to constantly adjust & even more so worry about forgetting to raise etc.

While I won't have a true tunnel extension Ben said that he plans to fab up 2 alum tunnel side pieces so that when the tunnel tab is all the way up the air can't just escape upwards & around the sides of the tab. No it won't have the perfect seal a tunnel extension has but it will be more efficient than just having a horizontal tab by itself.

I know that it should be the goal of manufacturers to eliminate the need for a tunnel tab, but I enjoy having the extra option of changing the lift of the boat. With it comes responsibility as a captain with regards to safety. My boat's tunnel tab has a foot pedal adjustment and a dash switch. If the tab ends up being a keeper the foot pedal is nice. I don't need mine to plane but it makes it very easy. I think if you can plane easier it may expand prop choices.

Sounds like a plan!
I think smaller diameter props will help as well!
Good luck!

Foot pedal sounds like a neat option, can you post a pic?? How does it work, is it a rocker type switch where neutral is in the middle.

Unfortunately for me I probably wouldn't have room for that since my boat has a foot throttle in addition to the sticks. What I like about your setup is the ability to keep your hands on the wheel / throttles and not have to look or reach for a button / switch. As I posted previously I have Livorsi's wireless trim & tab but I didn't like the way it functioned. Quite a delay which threw me off b/c I was accustomed to just bumping the trim & tab switches to obtain slight increments & I would end up w/ any movement. Ultimamtely it required holding each button trim or tab up or down at least a second before they would even move. Upon removing my steering wheel I noticed that there was actually a bettery on the backside of my wheel between the wheel & hub where all the circuitry is located. A weak battery may have been a contributing factor.