SEASICKNESS SOLUTION

Gilbert Park tackles a wallowing boat with a set of Humphree Lightning trim tabs

Seasickness has tainted my wife’s enjoyment of boating. We addressed this on our previous boat by fitting Humphree Interceptors. These replace trim tabs and work like a guillotine, coming down parallel to the transom. The blades are short and wide so they don’t need to travel more than a few cms, meaning they are able to adjust quickly, on a wave-to-wave basis. On my current boat (a Mitchell 28 with a semi-displacement hull), I was getting quite a bit of roll in a beam sea, so I needed to help mitigate that. But Interceptors were expensive to buy and I couldn’t fit them myself. And then the new Humphree Lightning system arrived. The motor was contained in the Interceptor itself, there were no big holes to cut in the transom, the setup was said to be straightforward and critically, it was an affordable option for small boats.

THE INITIAL PREP

I bought a Lightning package with all the functions you would expect (auto trim, pitch, roll, list and coordinated turn) plus the underwater lights option. When the box arrived, I downloaded the instructions and spent a few days planning the installation. I had to decide if I was going to drill the 18mm transom hole for the wiring above the waterline or below it. Covers are provided for the wire if you go high, but as the wire outlet is not in the centre, I avoided asymmetry and went for the below-waterline fitting.