Could someone explain in simple terms the advantage of using tabs instead of drives to set the attitude of the boat in rough choppy water? I usually run my tabs at neutral or just slighly down during the rough stuff. Then I use my drives to adjust the nose of the boat but I noticed Im either flying or plowing the nose. Would more tab and neutral drive be better? Anthony

I always find I am more In control with my tabs neutral I very rarely even touch them unless the boat is leaning to one side or the other. In rough stuff you do need some tabs occasionally but tabs will cause a little more plowing effect since it's taking your vertical angle ofthe boat out.

I used the drives 95% of the time, but my last boat was very responsive to trim. I used the tabs to level out the ride in cross winds, once in a while when getting on plane, and if it was super snotty out.

I find that the Fountain responds to tabs more than any other boat I've driven. I have lots of friends say that they never touch the tabs, but I have to use mine and use them often. In the rough stuff, a little bit of tab goes a lot further than some drive...for me anyway. With a step bottom, I prefer to keep the drive closer to nutral and hang the tabs just a bit to keep her running level. I'm no expert by any means, this is just what works for me and my boat.

Their not called trim tabs for nothing !!!!!!!

so if I understand correctly in rough sea's
try to keep the drives close to neutral and use a little more tab to control the bow of the boat to crash through the waves and not skyrocket?

It really depends on what kind of water I'm running in and how hard I'm running. Generally I don't mess with the tabs much and run them +/- 1 number from neutral. Maybe just some small tweaking here and there. It is much easier to use the trim switch on the throttle and my boa responds very well to trim.

Does anyone else use tabs to get on plane? I run a 35' Sonic which is known to need some tab to stop porpoising at low speeds on plane.... I have become acustomed to dropping the tabs right before I hit the throttles. Boat comes right up on plane without much bow rise at all..... I always thought this was common practice to take strain off the drive..... Am I wrong or am I correct in my thinking. Sorry to hi-jack the thread but at least I am sticking with the subject.....

I use a combination of drives and tab to control the boat, not one or the other or one more than the other. It depends on the conditions...

For instance, if you use too much negative drive trim in choppy water you'll bark the drives pretty hard so a little less negative trim and some extra tab go a long way. In a head on sea you may need a little more negative drive trim and negative tab to keep the boat in check and flying level. On the other hand, same size seas in a following sea I'll use slighly more positive trim on the drives and then use the tab to keep the bow from popping up... Too much negative trim in a following see and you'll be sorry and probably wet from nosing in all the time.

In the end I go by feel, it all makes the ride smoother and in turn faster/more consistent...

I do, I run them almost all the way down. Helps get this heavy beast up on plane quicker!