fishgo208 said:
I will have 10X12s on my 208 this year. Catch22 mentioned to large could be dangerous in certian situations. Can they give you a problem in a following sea?? Could anyone say what to be careful of? Average Joe, how did you like your new ones last year?
Yea, a following sea is one example. You really shouldn't be using the tabs at all in following seas, but it kind of depends on the boat itself, and how bad the seas are. In swells, or even when your overtaking another boat, and cut throught it's wake at a fine angle.... too much tab and the boat will over-plow when you accelerate down the back side, causing radical steering.
The main use of tabs, besides helping to get on plane is, lowering the bow, so it cuts smoothly through rough head seas, and reduces pounding.
The more you use them, the more you'll become familiar and comfortable with them. You will definitely be glad you got them. Once you've had a boat with tabs, you'll never want a boat without them. Imo, they should be standard on every boat.
The 10 x 12 M120's should be ok, but I certainly wouldn't go any bigger, on a 20 footer. Like I said, the standard 9 x 12's work just fine on the 20 footers and even up to a 24 footer. I installed a pair on a friends 22 Seafarer last year, and he's completely satisfied.
One advantage to installing the Sport tabs is, the tubing gets connected directly to the actuator, from outside the boat. Then you simply attach the actuator to the transom. With the standard tabs, you have to use a long nipple, (4 or 5 inch's) which will pass through the transom. Then you attach an elbow and the tubing from inside the boat. Doing that inside a confined space is usually a big pain in the arse. The only draw back to the sport tab set up is, if that tubing connection is poor, or develops a leak later on, it's burried inside the transom, and covered with sealent, lol. With the standard set up, the fitting is exposed, and may only need a tweak.
