ORCA FIN USER REVIEW - CARL FROM TEXAS - 45M-ORCA

Sorry, this write up may be a little long but it is worth the read! I have a 2011 Cimarron 188si (made by Larson), which I purchased in Oct. 2011. This is a fish & ski style boat, with an all fiberglass hull so it is pretty light. Great boat, except this model had almost no control at lower speeds. It wandered from side to side really bad and in neutral it would drift uncontrollably. This made trying to dock the boat almost impossible; I was almost at the point of getting rid of the boat due to these issues. As a last resort I purchased the Uncle Norms Orca Fin.

INSTALLATION:
I purchased the Orca fin which I installed using the no-drill clam set. It installed easily in about 30 minutes. Although, I did have to adjust it later on to make sure that it was perfectly centered as I was a little off to start with. This fin makes control much more sensitive, so I recommend taking the time to get it perfectly straight the first time.

COMMENTS:
After installation, I did notice that the outdrive trim is much more sensitive and has more impact on the action of the boat, so depending on water conditions or what you are doing this may need to be adjusted more frequently than just set and forget. At top speed, you will need to adjust the trim to find the sweet spot for your boat. If not, the top speed will be significantly slower.

RESULTS:
1) No more wander at idle speeds at all and steering control of the boat even in neutral is now great. 2) Due to the length that it extends the cavitation plate on the outdrive, the boat has a smoother ride when going through waves. When the trim is all the way down, it pushes the boat through rougher water better and results in less bow rise. 3) Bringing the boat to plane is better. As my boat is light, there would always be bow rise before popping finally getting to plane. Now there is a grey area at slower speeds, where it will ride somewhere between bow rise and plane, making a more comfortable ride cruising at speeds below plane. 4) When trim is adjusted properly, my boat is now 2-4 MPH faster than before.

SUMMARY:
I have to say I am shocked, this product is great!!! I STRONGLY recommend this product to anyone that has control issues with their boat. Not only did it help, but it solved these issues completely for me and I also discovered some additional unexpected benefits. I love my boat again.