MBY: Lightning By Humphree moves the game on

“The new Humphree Lightning auto trim and stabiliser is claimed to be quicker and smarter than ever”. Motor Boat & Yachting Editor Hugo Andreae investigates…

Humphree may have invented the original interceptor trim tab and the first active trim stabilisation system, but with competitors like Zipwake and Seakeeper now offering similar alternatives, the Swedish manufacturer needed to move the game on.

The new Humphree Lightning series of automatic interceptors does exactly that. Aimed at the market for 20-45ft boats with top speeds of up to 60 knots, it is said to offer better stabilisation under way, as well as improved automatic trim, pitch and cornering control, plus a number of other new features.

The most visible of these is a row of underwater lights built into the interceptor blade’s housing. The 25W LEDs are moulded in as standard during the manufacturing process and are fully adjustable for colour, although Humphree charges an extra €870 to have them enabled.

By combining both trim and underwater lighting functions into a single integrated unit, it saves space on the increasingly busy transoms and dashboards of outboard-powered craft, and avoids having to drill two sets of holes for cabling runs.

This fits in very neatly with another of Lightning’s key new benefits – easy installation. Because the brushless motor for the interceptor blades is now built into the external housing, rather than being in a separate drive unit mounted on the inside of the transom with a drive shaft connecting the two, the only through-transom fitting is for the slender watertight cable supplying power and relaying signals to and from the control unit.

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LIGHTNING by Humphree – Web Page