Help me decide whether to reinstall (drill) my old, original fins

[4x15mph]

I broke a nozzle deflector and have a new one on the way. I have the older, original cobra fins currently and I have only driven the boat with the fins.

Help me decide, given experience with fins and finless, whether I should reinstall my fins on the new nozzle. Since these are the older fins, it means drilling my shiny, new $230 nozzle. Yes/No?

This is not to be confused with the fin vs. finless debate but instead takes into account:
1) these are the smaller, original fins. Fixed position only
2) these fins require drilling. My nozzle deflector is new... get over it and drill it for a good cause?
3) this is on a 2001 LS2000. Smaller boat

 

[Gym]

@4x15mph. I have a 3rd choice for you. 1st, I suggest not reinstalling your old fins. The new Cobra Ultimates are an amazing improvement over the origionals. I had the origionals and upgraded and was amazed as was my wife. If you are primarily operating on lakes it may be of little consequence but if you boat in the ocean or on rivers fins give you an advantage that finless can't. I'm not looking to debate here but I've gone from finless to origionals to Ultimates so I have a good basis for comparrison. Use a JB Weld to seal up the old holes weather you upgrade or go finless.

 

[jcyamaharider]

You have had your boat long enough, finless shouldn't be an issue and will bring a new fun factor to your boat.

 

[4x15mph]

@Gym , I should have been listed and I can't seem to change my voting options now.

If I do not reinstall the fins now, I will consider upgrading to the new style down the road but it will not be this season.

 

[Julian]

Depending on how much longer you plan to keep the boat my answers differ

1) If you are planning on selling soon, I'd drill her and put the new fins on that nozzle (I assume it is just one)-otherwise it will look strange only having fins on one side, and the new owner would make good use of them.

2) If you are going to keep the boat a few more years, I'd upgrade to the new larger fin offerings

 

[BigN8]

Finless baby! I am finless from day 1 of ownership and love it. My wife and my kid can both drive the boat. You just need to learn the nuances of driving them with no fins. Here is a huge trick that many are not aware of:

If you have kids or adults in the bow of the boat during no wake mode and very few people aft, the stern of the boat is raised quit a bit. This means the nozzles are breaking the surface of the water or partially out of the water====huge steering loss. The deeper the nozzles are in the water more accurate your steering will be. So if I am fighting the steering, sometimes I just ask a few folks to move to the stern until we are out of no wake areas. Huge difference.

 

[Ronnie]

I vote to reinstall the original fins. You may not need them but most other drivers/potential drivers probably do. They won't resell for much whereas replacing them with something newer will cost you plenty as you know. My current boat came with original fins, I replaced them with newer ones which resulted in a few of the original mounting holes being exposed. I was thinking about filling them but once I got everything back together I forgot they were there and decided it wasn't worth the effort to cover them up.

 

[Bruce]

Bigger fins are a hug improvement on bigger boats. The original Cobras worked great on my LX210. Upgrading to bigger fins on a LS2000may give you more steering than you want. I would reinstall the fins you have.

 

[Julian]

If you have kids or adults in the bow of the boat during no wake mode and very few people aft, the stern of the boat is raised quit a bit. This means the nozzles are breaking the surface of the water or partially out of the water====huge steering loss. The deeper the nozzles are in the water more accurate your steering will be. So if I am fighting the steering, sometimes I just ask a few folks to move to the stern until we are out of no wake areas. Huge difference.

I have to question the logic on this Nate....I'm not questioning the effect, but I think that having the nozzles out of the water has zero impact on their ability to help you turn as these boats turn by thrust vectoring not a rudder effect. The only caveat I can make to this is that PERHAPS the nozzles themselves provide some steering via a rudder effect if they are in the water. IF this is the case, then it supports an argument of putting fins on to further increase the rudder effect! Keep in mind that when our boat are planing, the nozzles are out of the water....and you turn just fine. I'll bet the effect you are experiencing has more to do with the bow being forced down, and the deadrise acting more like a keel vs the flat rear of the boat - thus making steering less responsive? (my theory)

 

[Glassman]

@4x15mph If you liked the way the boat handled before the nozzle was broken, I'd just go ahead and return the boat to the same state. If, on the other hand, you want to try something different go without for a bit and see how you like it. You can always put them back on.

 

[farrelltravis]

I didn't vote, because I have never had fins. So, I can't say what it is like with fins. That being said, I have always been finless and the boat operates just fine without fins. I love it and wouldn't trade it for anything. I say go finless!

 

[rkluck]

I would say you should put the old fins on for now to be consistent if you don't want to spend any more money. There is no cost but will improve re-sell and if you want to insure you keep the same steering capability you will need it. If you wanted to step up I would install the new Cobra Ultimate's (I just did this last weekend) and the hardest part was removing the old Cobra fins.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Here is my suggestion, remove the old set and run finless, if you like it that way use j b weld on those old style fin bolt holes.
Place some wax paper on both sides of the j b weld and press it between the wax paper, when it dries just peel off the wax paper and you are done.
On the other hand if you don't like the finless feel and you don't want to spend any more money just install the fins back on the nozzles and go on about boating like you have in the past.
Remember there are about 6000 Yamaha boats that put the old style fins on over the past decade, a large number of those are still in use.
Or you can go to the next level , the COBRA VENOM ULTIMATE sets people are using now, those have a wider stance, they are larger, they are spring loaded, and they are also very tunable with 6 different depth settings on each fin, plus they can be easily set to rise up at speed if that is your desired effect.
These do not require any drilling for installation . These fins are tempered 6061 aircraft aluminum they do not cause any spray behind the boat and they have the ability to steer the boat even if you pull the throttles back to neutral and then turn the wheel if you have them set in the full time steering mode.
That is a big safety factor because in an emergency most people pull back the throttle first to avoid a collision and then they counter steer.
A regular jet will just go into a spin.
Oh and if you take advantage of the sale I have currently going on you can save some money.
https://jetboaters.net/threads/cobr...ters-net-special-starting-august-1-2015.6953/

 

[farrelltravis]

Here is my suggestion, remove the old set and run finless, if you like it that way use j b weld on those old style fin bolt holes.
Place some wax paper on both sides of the j b weld and press it between the wax paper, when it dries just peel off the wax paper and you are done.

That is a very admirable thing to say, Jeff! Well said!

 

[PEARCE]

Like @farrelltravis I didn't vote and have been finless from day one. I learned to drive the boat before I learned of the fins and I never saw a need to change anything. I too like Travis love the way the boat handles as well. I say go finless at least for a while.

 

[davel501]

I'm with @Cobra Jet Steering LLC. Don't drill it. Try it without and if you are unhappy go with the new fins. The old mini fins helped a bit but nothing like the new ones.

 

[OCMD]

It's an LS2000. 19 footer. I called mine a Porsche on the water. There is zero need for fins on any boat, but especially not on an LS2000.

 

[4x15mph]

I appreciate the different views and this helped me decide not to install the older fins. I'll try finless since I have not ever seen what that is like on this boat. If I decide I miss the fins, I will get the newer, more Ultimate version.

Parts arrive today. I'll check out finless tomorrow

 

[Speedling]

Finless on that rocket!
play with it like a jet ski!

 

[Gym]

I vote to reinstall the original fins. You may not need them but most other drivers/potential drivers probably do. They won't resell for much whereas replacing them with something newer will cost you plenty as you know. My current boat came with original fins, I replaced them with newer ones which resulted in a few of the original mounting holes being exposed. I was thinking about filling them but once I got everything back together I forgot they were there and decided it wasn't worth the effort to cover them up.

@Ronnie I resold my old fins last season for $100 plus shiping so there a market for them. To fill holes left from the old fins just get some JB Weld from the automotive department of Wallmart. It even matches the color of the reverse bucket.