TrimSync Scoring Fans In Sport Cat World

Able to keep outboard and stern-drive lower units and trim tabs in perfectly synchronized trim, the TrimSync system from Chicago-based Marine Design Corporation is gaining serious traction—through aftermarket applications mainly—with sport catamaran owners. Mostly recently, Dale Rayzor of Discovery Bay, Calif., had Skater Powerboats install TrimSync in his Mercury Racing Verado 400R outboard engine-repowered 2005 Skater 30 Prototype catamaran.

The TrimSync system makes life easier for Dale Rayzor in his Skater 30 Prototype catamaran, which is equipped with a foot-throttle and foot-trim setup. Photo courtesy/copyright Pete Boden/Shoot 2 Thrill Pix.

“I love it,” said Rayzor, who had the system setup completed and fine-tuned by DCB Performance Boats of El Cajon, Calif. “It keeps the outboards equal and me off my foot-trim override. I never have to touch my individual switches—and I’m constantly running trim up and down on the boat.”

Just a 15-minute drive from Discovery Bay, Brentwood’s Peter Bilicki had the TrimSync system installed on his 2008 Eliminator 27’ Daytona catamaran powered by Mercury Racing 300XS outboards. Like Rayzor, he’s delighted with its performance.

“I absolutely love it,” he said. “Prior to installing the system, I would have to look back to see that the motors are at the exact same trim level. TrimSync makes the boat a lot more user friendly, especially at high speeds.”

Equally enthusiastic about TrimSync, Chicago’s Erik Breckenfelder had the system installed during a major retrofit and repower job on his 1999 Skater 28 catamaran, now powered by Mercury Racing 300XS outboards. Though Breckenfelder has been into high-performance boating for 30 years, the 28-footer is his first cat.

Marine Design Corporation owner and founder Mike Clesceri helped with the system installation.

“It brings a level of confidence when you’re running the boat at speed,” said Breckenfelder. “I have the TrimSync race version with two pre-sets—high, with the propshaft aligned with the last step in the sponsons, and low, which is one notch above being all the way trimmed in. I can control it with one switch I had installed on the throttles and I can override it with individual buttons. It’s freaking awesome.”

Peter Bilicki had the TrimSync system installed on his Eliminator 27’ Daytona catamaran powered by Mercury Racing 300XS outboards.

Among TrimSync’s biggest fans is Jeff Palmer, who has homes in Cape Coral, Fla., and on the shores of the Lake of the Ozarks in Central Missouri. In addition to his 1996 Skater 28 sport catamaran with a custom TrimSync Race Edition system, Palmer owns a Formula Boats 370SS, a 20-foot Cigarette, an 18-foot Charger and a Ranger bay boat.

Purchased by Palmer two years ago, the 28-footer, which is powered by Mercury Racing 300X outboards and is equipped with a tunnel tab, was extensively renovated and restored. Improvements included a new Lee Aerospace windshield and a “glass cockpit” featuring two Simrad monitors for engine functions and a 12-inch Garmin GPS for everything else including digital video cameras and the stereo system, as well as navigation.

“The boat is beautiful and runs like a scalded dog, but I did not feel in control,” he said. “In looking at it, the biggest reason was that I continually had to take my hand off the throttle to trim the engines and the center tab. Being trained as a private pilot, I always like to keep one hand on the throttles and one on the wheel. An added trim switch on the throttles solved the ‘hand-on-the throttles’ issue.

After he had his 28-foot Skater sport catamaran completely renovated, Palmer had a TrimSync system installed.

“A bigger problem—in my opinion—was that with ‘three things’ to keep trimmed and the fear of flipping over in the back of my head, I was constantly looking at the trim gauges on the Simrad screen,” he continued. “Was the tab up or down? Were both motors trimmed equally? Going back to my pilot training, I felt like the workload inside the cockpit, while at the same time keeping an eye on the busy Lake of the Ozarks water, was a bit overwhelming. I shared my concern with my mechanic and he immediately knew the answer was TrimSync.”

Palmer said he is certain that there are plenty of “experts” who think that they can manage their cockpit better than some new technology, but he believes TrimSync is the real deal.

“The TrimSync allows you to reduce work in the cockpit while allowing you to devote more time to keeping your eyes out on the water,” Palmer said. “How can that not be a great deal? There is no doubt in my mind that TrimSync has made me a better captain by reducing the workload to operate the boat in all conditions, while at the same time giving me better spatial orientation of what is around me by keeping my eyes looking out in front, rather than focusing the dash.”

TrimSync Scoring Fans In Sport Cat World

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