# Whale Tail



## River Rider

I have been looking into the whale tail for my jet. I noticed some of you already have one and was seeing what your thoughts were on it. Can you see any change in performance with planing faster? How do they attached to the jet foot? Are there any downsides to them? Any insight is greatly appreciated.


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## fender66

I pretty much have to have a tail. It helps me control the plane a lot and the turns too. Less slide and faster plane with less front hopping when trim gets too high. This is all with a 225 Merc Jet. My older 40 hp didn't have enough power to need one.


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## Scottinva

Does anyone have a picture of one of these. I never heard of it and can't picture anything that would mount to the pump that wouldn't be completely out of the water when running. thanks.

Scott


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## fender66

Not much, but it's all I have here. By the way...it's not out of the water when running.

Whale tail in picture on the lower left and upper right of collage.


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## riverracer

I have one on my motor and they work great for getting ur boat on plane and to stop the front from bouncing, but they will slow u down about 2 to 3 mph.


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## River Rider

I am just thinking of something I can use to get my boat to plane out faster. Unlike most of you I have a semi vee and it seems to take a good while to plane it out. I thought about putting pods or trim tabs or using the whale tail. I just didn't know which would be my best option. I might ride it out for the rest of this season and just playing around with how I weigh the boat down with gear and where to position the wieght. Then this winter really start tearing into the boat changing things up and adding other items. Being new to jets I don't want to get carried away at first and end up not doing what I wanted. Thanks for the replies on the whale tail.


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## bulldog

I got a whales tail and it helped a little but did not "pop" me out of the water like I wanted. I welded a long piece of aluminum on the bottom rear lip of the boat that acts as both trim tabs and a cover for the water splashing off the foot. Now I get on plane with an empty boat in about 3 boat lengths. Loaded with gas, tackle and fuel in about 6 boat lengths.

My boat is at the shop right now so I can't get pics of what I am describing. I'll get a pic asap.


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## River Rider

Thanks Bulldog. I would like to see that.


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## bulldog

Here is the pics I told you about. It made a night and day difference. It approx 30" wide and 6" deep.


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## S&amp;MFISH

Here's a shot of our tail. It's a Troutt&Sons special, like Fender's. Since that is where I bought the boat ,I had them install one of their's. It keeps the porpoising to a minimun.


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## Seth

bulldog said:


> Here is the pics I told you about. It made a night and day difference. It approx 30" wide and 6" deep.



That's about how my Legend looks, but my jet grate actually sits under that lip and doesn't go up flush with it like yours. I wonder if that's hurting my performance? Might be something I should play with and adjust.


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## Lil' Blue Rude

> That's about how my Legend looks, but my jet grate actually sits under that lip and doesn't go up flush with it like yours. I wonder if that's hurting my performance? Might be something I should play with and adjust.



Any kind of a whale tail or scoop of any kind is going to hurt performance as far as top end speed goes. They're meant to help plane out faster but they have so much drag they slow you down on top.


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## River Rider

Thanks for all the input guys. I think I will sit on this for a while. After reading some other posts I found that my motor may not be pushing like it should. Lil' Blue Rude stated something about a 3 cylinder OMC being a dog if it was before the 86 model. Well I have a 78 model so that might be some of the planing issue. I mean the motor is still strong at 130 psi per cylinder but it just don't seem to push my little boat like it ought to. The boat I have is a 14' with a 70/49ish so you would think I would have no problem. I might just see if I can't come across a hell of a deal on a newer motor and re-rig my pump on it. Maybe a late 80s model is all I need. Thanks again.


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## bulldog

Seth said:


> bulldog said:
> 
> 
> 
> Here is the pics I told you about. It made a night and day difference. It approx 30" wide and 6" deep.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's about how my Legend looks, but my jet grate actually sits under that lip and doesn't go up flush with it like yours. I wonder if that's hurting my performance? Might be something I should play with and adjust.
Click to expand...


My foot sits under it as well. It looks flush but it probably goes 1.5" under it.


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## red450r

I put pods on my 1652 g3, it made a world of difference, when I first got it, it had a yamaha 30jet with my girl friend and I in the back it wouldn't plane at all, after the pods it would plane but slow. Now with the 40jet its a lot better, I was also thinking about a whale tail


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## River Rider

Yeah red, I made pods for my last boat and it made a night and day difference. I was thinking about it on this one as well, but wasn't sure how they would handle on a jet. But trust me I have not kicked those out as an option yet. I think what I am going to have to do is wait till this winter and then dive into some pods. Mainly because after consulting with Lil blue Rude, I found that my motor is not the beast it should be. I am trying to find the bigger block to replace what I have now then see if I will need the pods. The 70 horse motor I have is the older small block, so I am trying to find a later model that has the more cubic inches and see if that helps. Which if what I have been told is true then it should fix me right up. Now as for the girlfriend not getting on my butt about spending the extra money on a different motor when mine runs fine is a different story.


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## red450r

Where can I buy a whale tail online?


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## fender66

red450r said:


> Where can I buy a whale tail online?




https://www.trouttandsons.com/AquaBoss2/aq-show.php?listid=119039427568067&page=2&category=&make=&model=%20[%20All%20Models%20]&s=make%20ASC&p=25


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## korywithak

I understand the want for a whale tail and what they do, but I feel if a jet boat is set up and balanced well, the need is almost non existent. 

Try moving your weight around (fuel tank, batteries, driver position etc.)
I have never seen ANY boat plane faster than mine, a highly modified SeaArk 1660, with a 2 stroke 60/40.

Here is my layout.


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## fender66

In most cases, your solution would be correct. However...if your motor is a 225hp weighing 995lb, and your gas tank sits right in front of it holding 17 gallons....that's a LOT of weight to move to the front to even things out. Just can't be done in a practical manner.


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## korywithak

Yeah, I would guess you would be correct! A half a ton jet is a lot to offset. Whale Tail away!!!!


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## red450r

i plane pretty decent i think, i have 12 gal tank, two batterys and 268lb of motor all in the back, and really no option to move any if it around and still have floor space. I was thinking the tail would just help a little more. I dont think you can you ever plane too fast.


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## bulldog

fender66 said:


> In most cases, your solution would be correct. However...if your motor is a 225hp weighing 995lb, and your gas tank sits right in front of it holding 17 gallons....that's a LOT of weight to move to the front to even things out. Just can't be done in a practical manner.



Your motor weighs 995 freakin' pounds? Holy crap. That is a lot. Korywithak - the weight distribution of your boat looks almost too good to be true. I'm jealous and now I'm interested at what my stuff weighs. Fantastic job friend.


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## korywithak

Bulldog, to good to be true was actually a TON of work to get it that way.

My boat started life as an open hull SeaArk 1660... and was purposely designed to be the shallowest drafting, quickest plane boat I could come up with, using my knowledge and skills.

And I love everything about the boat... its simple and effective for my rivers. 

Thank you for the compliment.

Heres a decent shot of my rig, with my brothers 1542 and 25/20 sitting beside it in the driveway.


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