If the boat has trim tabs a good way to start is have the outdrive tucked under, all the way down. Open the throttle to your cruising speed, then lift the trim tabs until the bow rises and the boat is on plane. No more tab trimming is useful after that point. Now, look at your tach. Start to trim the outdrive up and you will see a rise in RPM. The speedometer will probably go up a little too. Usually the drive will be trimmed between the first mark and the halfway mark on the trim gauge. Don't raise so far that the prop cuts the water. That is WAY too much. You should be able to tell by the way the boat handles and the way the engine sounds.
This idea is based on trimming the hull first and then trimming the drive. A boat without trim tabs is done almost the same way. Start with the drive tucked under and then throttle up to your cruising speed. Then trim the drive up a little and you will feel the hull rise and the engine speed pick up a little. Not rocket science, just a little practice. Get into the habit of tucking under and dropping the tabs down whenever you slow way down or stop. That way, you won't go bow high when you get back on the throttle.
The only other thing I will mention is that boat speed needs to be fast enough to plane the hull, or trimming will not be effective. Getting the boat up "on the step" properly is speed related.
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