Fully Automated Planing Control Without Trim Tabs

Published: Thursday, April 4, 2019

If you’ve ever owned or operated a powerboat, you’re likely familiar with trim tabs, used to lift the transom of the boat up, and push the bow down to help the boat plane and ride comfortably. However, in the last decade, manufacturers – like Zipwake – have introduced interceptors, which help better control the trim and roll of powerboats.

An interceptor is a small vertical plate that’s set on the bottom edge of the boat’s transom. The plate creates additional lifting pressure beneath the boat and is extended and retracted as needed to increase or reduce the amount of lift, much like a trim tab would be angled up or down to create more or less lift.

What makes Zipwake interceptors superior to trim tabs is the speed and reaction time with which they operate. From fully retracted to fully extended, a Zipwake interceptor takes 1.5 seconds. By comparison, a conventional trim tab typically takes 6-8 seconds to fully extend. This speed means Zipwake will help the boat get on a plane and “out of the hole” significantly faster, and adjustments to the trim of the boat are immediate. Zipwake interceptors extend only 30 millimeters – roughly 1.1 inches – when fully deployed, creating significantly less drag than trim tabs, which are significantly larger.

Zipwake is also fully automated. With a GPS, accelerometer, and solid-state gyro sensor built into the control panel, the system knows how fast the boat is going, whether it is riding on a plane or at an angle, and, most importantly, whether the boat is rolling to one side or the other. With automatic roll control, the system will sense the boat leaning to one side, and automatically extend the interceptors to counteract that roll.

Whether it’s sea conditions, banking a turn, or passengers moving around on the boat causing it to roll, Zipwake is constantly sensing motion and reacting to keep the boat riding as level as possible while underway. Because the interceptors move so quickly and in half-millimeter increments, this auto-leveling feature works in real time on boats cruising at speeds anywhere from 10 to 60 knots.

While some trim tab systems are now available with auto-leveling features, they’re less effective given that the tabs move slowly. By the time they’ve extended to counteract roll, the boat may already be on the other side of a wave, rolling to the opposite way.

The auto-trim and roll functions of the Zipwake system also go beyond making the ride more comfortable. In testing on a wide range of powerboats, Zipwake found a 9-12% reduction in fuel consumption when the system is running. Because the boat gets on a plane quicker and rides level, less of the hull is in the water to create drag, resulting in fuel savings.

Installing a Zipwake system is straightforward and can replace existing trim tabs. As long as the mounting surface of the transom is flat, an install requires only a few bolt holes in the transom, mounting the control panel to the dash, and running cable to connect the interceptors and control panel through a distribution unit, which is mounted in the stern near the interceptors. Installing a Zipwake system will help your boat ride comfortably, bank tighter turns, and save fuel.

Visit www.bit.ly/Zipwake to find out more.