re: Jack plates, luxury or necessity?

It's not a must have but it is nice. I have a 12" atlas on my bay boat being I'm running a sho. I like the ability to adjust it for turns or getting up in a shallow area. It also helps the boat run on the pad easier some boats require a good amount of setback. It's does help with performance for sure.

Trims tabs are more important as he said. Without them it is a lot harder to control the boat in rough conditions or leveling out a load to get boat running right.