May 12, 2020

Boating Industry magazine has announced that it was honouring Dometic’s Next Generation Trim Tab System with a 2020 Top Products Award.  Hand-picked by the editorial staff of Boating Industry from among hundreds of product nominations, this coveted award is given annually to 50 products that stand out for their innovation, uniqueness, and benefits that they bring to boaters and the boat building industry.  

Dometic’s advanced trim tab system was engineered to give owners of outboard and I/O-powered boats a new level of precision control never before possible. 

With this new product, Dometic Marine has redefined what a trim tab system should be — robust, reliable, programmable, intuitive to operate and quick to respond with accurate positioning.  It also has the capability to connect with Dometic Optimus Electric Steering System, Joystick Control and Shift/Throttle Controls for a complete integrated system.
Among the many unique features this system provides is sophisticated Control Area Network (CAN) operation that allows for digital position commands instead of timed analogue duration. The intuitive dial control provides LEDs that accurately indicate tab position and programmable settings (Home/Favourite) that make it easy to obtain preferred vessel position. The Smart Dial can also be turned manually to intuitively level the boat quickly as conditions change.  

“The CAN-based, intelligent actuator at the heart of this system is a true-game changer for the industry,” said Eric Fetchko, President of Dometic Marine.  “Boat builders will be able to set modes like ‘Hole Shot’ that can deploy the tabs based on RPM and then slowly retract to a desired position to plane the boat.    We’ve replaced operator guesswork with technology and precision performance,” added Fetchko.

Additional high-tech features include Auto Retract when the operator selects Joystick Mode, turns the key off, or moves the shift controls to reverse.  This system’s Safe Mode will also auto retract the tabs if communication is lost.   

To ensure reliable performance in challenging conditions and on today’s larger, heavier boats, this system features a higher load carrying capacity in both push and pull applications, and superior actuator sealing to prevent common leaks.