How to Use Trim Tabs on Boats
Trim tabs allow your boat to operate in its optimum hull-to-water surface configuration. They allow you to adjust your boat's trim in changing weather or sea conditions, or when the weight distribution within the boat changes. They can be used to correct a list--when the boat leans to one side or the other--while under way. Because they act like adjustable wings, they allow your boat to get up on plane at slower speeds and keep the boat operating on an even keel.
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Instructions
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Make small adjustments to your boat's trim. Move the trim control in short bursts of about one-half second to prevent over-trimming.
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Find your boat's optimum attitude. If the steering begins to feel sluggish, press "bow up" until the steering improves--most boats are designed so that the bow down attitude self-corrects, in spite of trim tab position, one of the reasons that trim tabs can get you up on plane quickly.
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Push the throttle forward. As the boat's stern begins to squat, push the trim control into the "bow down" position in short bursts. As the bow comes down, the stern lifts and speed increases. If your boat begins to porpoise--where the speed rises the bow rises until gravity pulls the bow back down--then trim the boat down in short bursts until the porpoising ceases.
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Use your motor's power-trim function along with your trim tabs. Use your trim tabs to get up on plane. After you are on plane, use your power trim to trim your motor so that the propeller is positioned almost perpendicular to the water. Adjust your trim tabs again, if necessary, to trim the boat.
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Match your boat's trim to the sea conditions. Lower the bow when running to a choppy sea; this allows your hull to stabilize as it cleaves the water. In following seas, the trim tabs should be fully retracted because they will cause your boat to wallow. In a beam sea, trim tabs can be adjusted so that the windward side--the direction from which the sea is coming--is higher, for a drier ride.
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Tips & Warnings
Never make large adjustments to your trim tabs. Small adjustments have large effects.
In beam seas, you can adjust the boat with one side "high" to prevent spray from dowsing you or your passengers; however, this is not recommended, because it can lead to reduced lateral stability.
