I am considering the fin, I had one on the last boat with a 25hp.
I am hesitating on that as I found when riding the crest and backs of waves/wakes you have less steering control with the fin. So will wait until I have more experience with the set up.
Menzies
Nice dinghy!
When I went to a Caribe 10, to use some excess hp I had on my non-RIB inflatable Achilles 11, by replacing a dead Merc 15 with a new Yamaha 20, I had a few scary rides, as the prop wanted to get out in front of the dinghy, by trying to go skyward. My first attempt to solve that was by adding a "planing fin". That helped a lot, but the dinghy would still go to about 45° and toake far too long to level out, so on went a pair of "smart tabs". Performance after that was superb! Rather than the bow rising, the whole dinghy would rise, staying perfectly level, and speed was not reduced. I don't know if the STs without the fin would do the whole job for you, but If I was buying now, I would try them first.
I didn't notice any change in twitchy steering after adding the fin.
My present dinghy is a Caribe 12, with a console, total weight ~750#.
Power is a Honda 40. It has a planing fin on the outboard and it performs well without STs. With two people on the rear seat, the bow does rise about 20°, but not for long. With 1 or 2 in the bow, it takes longer getting up, but rises almost level. My steering is not at all twitchy.
Your 30 hp is almost enough power, so you should get it under control easily and enjoy it.
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