Seakeeper Ride

davidbrooks

It has been a while since i posted.  I keep track of activities her but since i sold my 342 i haven't really contributed much.  I am getting ready to pull the trigger and purchase a Seakeeper Ride system for my boat.  This is different than the normal Seakeeper system you may be familiar with.  Ride is a replacement for the trim tabs and it supposedly takes out 70% of the issues a smaller boat my have when riding in choppy water.  If anyone has ever been on the Chesapeake well that pretty much describes our normal.  It isnt cheap.  I am likely going to spend $9k just on parts and do the work myself.  Shops estimate the install to be 20 hrs.  My current boat is a 27ft Chris Craft Corsair and i love that boat but it is not as smooth a ride as i would like.  My wife had spine surgury and the pounding of the boat in anything other than glass conditions puts her out for at least a day after.  So this is an attempt at keeping the boat.  I have been telling folks i need a 30ft boat that rides like a 40 ft boat.  

Has anyone installed one yet?  I have viewed a bunch of install videos and it is going to be pretty involved but is doable.  

TonyG13

We've had the Lenco Auto Glide system on our 33' (I believe it was OEM from Rinker). And it's been great - up until last year. Started to get "glitchy" -- not turning on automatically as it's supposed to, so I also started looking at alternatives and/or upgrades.

Took a look at the Ride and other interceptor trim tabs like Zipwake and Humphree.

It appears that when Navico bought Lenco they sunset the Auto Glide system and have come out with their version of a fancier auto trim tab called Pro Control Auto. Not quite as elaborate (or expensive, about $3000) as the Ride, but supposedly similar roll and pitch control like the Ride, Zipwake and Humphree.

Please keep us posted on the project -- I know I'm interested in how it goes!

davidbrooks

@TonyG13 i will.  Likely not to do the install till the end of April.  I have to work outside and want warmer weather to help the epoxy setup.  One item with this install is that you have to grind off the gel coat to get to bare fiberglass.  Then there are a few screws set and you bond the exterior units to the hull with a stupid expensive epoxy.  Tighten the screws and repeat.  I looked at the Lenco system and it looked like a great upgrade to traditional trim tabs but wasnt designed for what i was looking for.  This boat jumps up on plane with no tabs whatsoever.  I just need help smoothing out the ride.  I also looked into zipwake. It is a little different in that it works by pushing a panel straight down.  It also works much slower with an order of magnitude fewer adjustments per second than the Ride system.  I hadn't heard of Humphree though.  I will have to look into it.  One thing that made the choice for me is that the Ride system is quickly becoming the default setup on newer versions of my boat.  It also seemed to be the one that everyone else compared themself to.  I know it is more expensive but it is a whole lot cheaper than a bigger boat.  Youtube is amazing.  I must of watched a dozen videos of both the install process as well as examples of people showing the effect it has underway.

captkevin

Never heard of these before. Very cool product. 

davidbrooks

The install went very smoothly.  I do have to give it to them.  They must have the best instructions i have ever come across.  I also installed a Smooth Moves seat Base for the passenger.  We tested them out watching the blue angels for the USNA graduation.  There are soo many boats out that the water gets pretty rough for a smaller boat like me.  When they finish up it is a bit like the cannon ball express with everyone trying to get out of there.  This year i pulled anchor and got out just before the crowd realized it was over but it was still rough.  Bottom line was that my wife didnt complain about neck and back pain that night or the next day.  Last year she would of been asking where the pills were.  i tried to take a video of it in action but you couldnt tell from the video how it was softening the ride. Absolutely no change in fuel consumption, speed or RPMs.