My Review of the Lucas Oil / Motley Crew AirFoil by Hug Racing

Like many others, I have had a problem with my Aquacraft Lucas Oil Catamaran “catching air” from the front of the sponsons and flipping over.

The salt water pond where we run was originally designed for sail boaters and does have a good amount of current and wind which exasperates the tendency of catamaran hull designs to blow over at speed.

After my speed upgrades to the boat, such as a UL-1 2030kv motor and Octura X642 prop, the top speed of the boat jumped from about 41 mph to 52 mph. This increase in speed also increased the likelihood of flipping over and damaging the hull as a result.

However, even with a good amount of negative strut adjustment to force the front of the hull down, the boat would still occasionally catch air and flip over. This is very hard on the hull, which unfortunately cannot be reinforced without cutting open the tub and changing the whole configuration of the boat.

One day after a very hard flip, the left side seam of the boat cracked open from tip to tail. It had to be repaired externally, which wasn’t ideal and left the boat vulnerable to further damage if it continued to flip over at speed. It got to the point that I couldn’t reliably run the boat without fear of damaging further and left me with only two choices.

Either leave the boat on the shelf and don’t run it or drop the speed capabilities of the boat to prevent further blow overs and damage. Neither of which I wanted to do.

Luckily I was made aware of the Hug Racing Airfoil. It allowed me to adjust forward downforce on the hull without having to overly drop the rear strut. This not only allowed the boat to plane better and run more efficient, but also to increase both speed and runtime while maintaining stability.

With the Hug Racing Airfoil, I was able to adjust my rear strut back to neutral while at the same time greatly lowering the boat’s tendency to catch air and flip over at speed. It’s also very light weight and taped on for easy installation and removal.

I have been very pleased with the Hug Racing Airfoil, it has allowed me to enjoy my Lucas Oil again, I highly recommend this product!



Below are some pics of installation and positioning of the Airfoil:

Attachment 141649


What you need to install, the airfoil, tape and scissors.
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Orientation of airfoil - Top Side
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Airfoil in High Downforce Setting
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Airfoil in Low Downforce Setting
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Bottom of Airfoil with High Downforce Setting
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Bottom of Airfoil Front
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Top of Airfoil Front
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Awesome, thanks for the pics. The pics really cleared things up.

FYI, these hulls can easily be re-enforced with low expansion foam and a few holes drilled in the main tub area.

Thanks for sharing the results!! I will be adding this to the product info.

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Originally Posted by Doby

FYI, these hulls can easily be re-enforced with low expansion foam and a few holes drilled in the main tub area.

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Which foam did you use? My buddy tried that with his, and the weight increase messed up the balance of the boat and caused the front to bow and expand out.

I was going to eventually cut out the top tub and redo the whole inside of the boat, It will allow me to put a 40mm can lower for better center of gravity. But I think good foam reinforcement will be nice for now.

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Originally Posted by stangguy73

Awesome, thanks for the pics. The pics really cleared things up.

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Your welcome, I think you will enjoy it. Just make sure to tape it up good or you could lose it.

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Originally Posted by Steven Vaccaro

Thanks for sharing the results!! I will be adding this to the product info.

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Anytime, thanks for offering good products on your site, we couldn't do this hobby without people like yourself.

i cut the bath-tube out
so it was easy to redo the inside and reinforcements
not a big fan of that foam

cool write up. thanks for posting the info and pics. Going to install my foil to test this weekend. I don't have too much confidence with installing the foil with tape. going to try and make a few tiny brackets to help hold it in + the hatch tape so I have a fighting chance when it flips...

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Originally Posted by JJ1TRXSAton

cool write up. thanks for posting the info and pics. Going to install my foil to test this weekend. I don't have too much confidence with installing the foil with tape. going to try and make a few tiny brackets to help hold it in + the hatch tape so I have a fighting chance when it flips...

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No worries, happy to help. The idea of using small brackets to install seems a bit complicated for a such a simply system.

Trust me, hockey tape will be plenty secure, just double up on the amount you use front and back. You can put some on the sides as well, mine never came close to coming loose, even after a 60 mph flips and sitting in the water all day.

However, if you are worried, use the hockey tape temporarily to find the best position of the foil for your boat. Then use double sided outdoor tape for a more secure application along with a couple of strips of hockey tape on the main sections top and bottom.

When I run in saltwater, I usually retape the foil after every weekend. However, if I run in freshwater, I don't bother retaping, I think my foil has been out to the lake 3-4 times on the same tape.

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Originally Posted by SD Eracer

No worries, happy to help. The idea of using small brackets to install seems a bit complicated for a such a simply system.

Trust me, hockey tape will be plenty secure, just double up on the amount you use front and back. You can put some on the sides as well, mine never came close to coming loose, even after a 60 mph flips and sitting in the water all day.

However, if you are worried, use the hockey tape temporarily to find the best position of the foil for your boat. Then use double sided outdoor tape for a more secure application along with a couple of strips of hockey tape on the main sections top and bottom.

When I run in saltwater, I usually retape the foil after every weekend. However, if I run in freshwater, I don't bother retaping, I think my foil has been out to the lake 3-4 times on the same tape.

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Ok thanks for the tip on mounting the air foil with the tape only. I'll take some WOT runs closer in and see how the tape is holding up. Didn't want to put on brackets but some of the flips are pretty spectacular so didn't think tape would be strong enough.

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Originally Posted by JJ1TRXSAton

Ok thanks for the tip on mounting the air foil with the tape only. I'll take some WOT runs closer in and see how the tape is holding up. Didn't want to put on brackets but some of the flips are pretty spectacular so didn't think tape would be strong enough.

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If the tape is strong enough to hold the hatch in those flips, it should be fine for the foil, especially since it is attached on both sides of the hull which really helps hold it in place.

Watch out though, flips hard enough to make you worry about it coming lose with hockey tape could easily damage the hull on the Lucas Oil or Motley Crew. From personal experience, it does seem like the Motley Crew has a bit more stronger hull. I've seen Lucas Oils blow seams at flips barely above 50 mph.

Also, make sure there is no oils or waxes in the locations you plan on taping up with. I like to wipe down my boats with Lemon Pledge after running them, before putting them away on the shelf. But before I use them again on that next weekend, I make sure to clean the areas around the hatch with remove any residual polish residue that could effect the tape adhesive.

As for me, I only use hockey tape on the foil, I do not use hockey tape for taping the hatch. I find it's too strong and has a tendency to remove paint and decals after continuous tapings. I like to use Harbor Freight Electrical Tape, which comes in a $5 10-pack. It has just the right amount of adhesive to hold the hatch well, but not enough to hurt the paint or decals. Just make sure to double up on the tape application, especially if you do not have hatch locks on your boat.

Ok I see. Well for the most part the hatch tape does work fine even with the flips, but I have seen 4 boaters lose their canopy. But their boats rip on the lake. I'm not at their speeds so I think I'll be fine. cool tip about the e tape. Much cheaper too so I'll definitely get my rolls from HF. Thanks again for the info. appreciate it...

No worries, anytime.

Yup, I highly recommend using Harbor Freight tape, it' perfect for most boat applications and you get so much for so little.

Would that be legal in organized racing.

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I don't know actually, probably Steve would know. I know the one for the UL-1 was approved, maybe this once could be as well?

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Originally Posted by JimClark

Would that be legal in organized racing.

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No reason why it wouldn't be.