Stagnation Point w/ trim tabs and outboard brackets

Went down the rabbit hole of stagnation points and the pressure curve recently. Had a couple questions and wondered the "real world" impact. I understand that pressure is highest at the stagnation point/line.

1. In a stepped hull, since there is a 2nd stagnation line does it reduce the pressure on the initial stagnation line in front of the step?

2. Trim tabs.. Trim tabs should be mounted above the bottom of hull. I always thought it was so that the water breaks free from the hull when retracted and it helped ventilate the tab surface to reduce drag. However, it seems, by principle, that allowing the tab to be ventilated when turned down, essentially creates a step and might make the trim tabs more efficient at creating lift since there would be a high pressure stagnation line hitting the down turned surface. If true, how much of a step, or how high above the bottom of the hull, would the tab need to be mounted in order for it to make any difference? Use a heavy 26' boat for reference.

3. Outboard bracket with a step. On my other post regarding an outboard bracket I was designing it was brought up to raise the bracket and ventilate it. I didn't understand why until recently. In theory, stepping the 30" extension bracket up from the bottom of the hull and ventilating it would create a step. However, in my research it's noted that the step really needs to be located after of the LCG. So i was curious a step bracket, given it's only 30" long and it located at the very after of the hull, would really gain any of the benefits of a step hull? It seems the steps often are 1.25" - 2.5" in height and have an angle of attack of 0.5° to 2°.

So in the actual application, 26' heavy boat, 30" extension, raised (stepped) 1" with an angle of roughly 2°. This would appear to be at the more drastic side of normal steps, but would it even make a noticeable difference given the boat? I would anticipate the step would have a tough time completely ventilating during the hump region of getting on plane and might increase my planing speed. Above planing speed, if ventilated, it may reduce running trim and keep the bow down more efficiently. (ultimate goal)

Thoughts?