I rigged up some Z-Wings with double 400# mono leaders 20' long with 800# snap swivels and attach them to my 16' Hawaiian out riggers on the first eye bolt on each side about 4' out approximately 16' spread on a 8' beam.
The out riggers are mounted on maximisers very strong with a lot of backing on the 24' fly bridge Skip jack.
I tossed them in at the same time in some pretty rough seas offshore at night.
I was drifting and slow trolling with the double Z-wings one on each side.
I already had a good idea of how much pressure they exert from using them all the time deep trolling.
Next trip i will hook the load cell to them and see exactly how much pressure they are exerting.
The small boat tends to roll a lot in rough conditions and prevents me from relaxing because if i get sideways if the current switches or wind shifts or the drift sock fail i could roll over and sink like a rock.
I looked at a lot of paravane systems but they required a lot of heavy hardware and light weight systems like flopper stoppers are made for drifting or at anchor.
Weight is an issue i'm over loaded as it is and have to cull before every trip just to pack on fuel three tanks on the little boat plus generator and many more 5 gallon cans.
When i was thinking about how they might perform before i tried them mainly because i already had them it seemed to me they should work but i did not expect them to work as well as they did.
About one third to half the rolling was gone sweet difference to my delight.
Talked to a severail guys including commercial guys in Morrow bay said i was crazy gonna die and all that lol.
I'll rig them up on the 31' Bertram and attach the digital load cell and push up the trolling speed a few knots and see what it reads and let you know.
The out riggers were not flexing at all while drifting and slow trolling up to 5 knots while leadering a fish.
I have had to go in because i could not drift with out rolling even with a drift sock and large parachute i could only keep it stable under power down swell but with the relatively inexpensive dampening system it's a game changer.
For anyone who is not familiar with paravane systems if you do not set it up right and one fails you then have a system that will greatly increase instability and can be life threatening so be careful with reward comes risk and a lot of responsibility.
Z-Wings are hydrodynamic made for trolling with weighted down force.
I have no affiliation with Z-Wing
Z-wing Downriggers
http://www.zwingdownrigger.com/images/Z250P2.JPG
Poor Mans Stabilisers
Linear Mode
