New fiberglass surf platform

[brian216]

I’m building a surf platform for my 06 Supra. The Supra group is kind of dead on older boats. I figured I would post some pics here, this site has way more activity.

A little about me, I owned a custom jet ski hull company for 5 years, designed and manufactured freestyle stand up jet ski hulls. Fiberglass and carbon fiber. I haven’t played with composites for a few years, I’m excited to be creating again.

I went for the look and shape of the newer platforms but put my own twist on it. I have built in risers on the bottom, the platform is two pieces that slip fit together and get glued and urethane foam filled. They also have 1” HDPE plastic bonded inside where the brackets screw in. Overall it’s just shy of 5 feet wide and 2’ long. I left the bracket mount risers a little wide to accommodate for variances in bracket placement on different models. Supra and Moomba should fit each other? (I need measurements to confirm)

Top half prototype before the mold was lifted:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200922/1814b3e9087fecb2b5c5a5e0ffbc59e6.jpg
Top half mold, I’m making a new one as I had some gelcoat issues with this one.
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200922/7db99972a4c655ed4a2022206df563a1.jpg
Bottom half prototype prior to mold being lifted
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200922/849b48c4ad1490377752e93d49ef3e9d.jpg
Bottom half mold before final polish job
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200922/06eb42e07ba204926a5ff193785a3a12.jpg

The lower half is 1/4” smaller all around the perimeter than the top. It will slip fit into the top half and be permanently bonded. Also these will be foam filled with closed cell marine urethane foam for extra strength. I can’t wait to see the final product myself. Smooth bottom, narrower, tapered angle and raised up, this will stay well out of my wave!


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[sandm]

interested to watch this. there's a market for this if you put it out there. have seen 3 or 4 posts this year from guys with older boats that have lost or broken swim platforms looking for new ones. bet you could create a univeral mold that could churn out a platform that would fit most boats if they are reusable.

[Branden967]

Tagged, love to see how this project goes. Cool ideas.

[brian216]

interested to watch this. there's a market for this if you put it out there. have seen 3 or 4 posts this year from guys with older boats that have lost or broken swim platforms looking for new ones. bet you could create a univeral mold that could churn out a platform that would fit most boats if they are reusable.

That was my whole intention. With these molds I made can produce a large number of pieces as long as they aren’t abused and properly waxed and prepped between each use. I’m just curious to see how many boats they will fit. One of these is going to Bryan at surf mode for testing. Once I have a finished product I’ll be launching a business page. I’d like to stick to Supra and Moomba only, but there is a guy at my lake with a centurion that wants one too. So we will see.


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[brian216]

Tagged, love to see how this project goes. Cool ideas.

Thanks!


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[sandm]

I know a few tige guys have been looking. the variables would be width of boat and width of brackets. beyond that the actual shape of the platform and depth are not that big of a deal.
if you made the bottom pieces large enough where the brackets need to bolt to as a universal fit and kept the width at 96" vs most boats today are 102, that would leave you a "generic" template that you could sell and others could then mount the brackets to fit their transom. spacing it back an extra inch for any curvature in the transom depending on your platform curve.

great idea and betting you will sell a dozen or so a year.

[brian216]

I know a few tige guys have been looking. the variables would be width of boat and width of brackets. beyond that the actual shape of the platform and depth are not that big of a deal.
if you made the bottom pieces large enough where the brackets need to bolt to as a universal fit and kept the width at 96" vs most boats today are 102, that would leave you a "generic" template that you could sell and others could then mount the brackets to fit their transom. spacing it back an extra inch for any curvature in the transom depending on your platform curve.

great idea and betting you will sell a dozen or so a year.

That seems a bit wide. This one is only 59” at the widest point.


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[Sharpie647]

Great Idea. I'd be interested in the final cost of something like this. I have a 2002 outback lsv and have always considered doing something like this myself. I know a surf platform would make a huge difference on my surf wave. I am gonna stay tuned on this project for sure. Great job man.

[Branden967]

Not to derail this because I already love the idea....but would it be possible to put a pocket in for a fold out ladder? The wife’s always wanted a ladder and I’ve never entertained the idea because of drag, mounting issues and the possibility of it messing up the wave. Just a thought...

[brian216]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200924/a368628adff92b128208e998a1c11c5c.jpg
First one out. Un trimmed and needs the green mold release washed off but I’m pretty happy! As far as a ladder, I have seen them where they mount under the platform and fold up under it. That could be possible. Final cost? 1300 to 1500 would be my guess.


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[rdlangston13]

Not to derail this because I already love the idea....but would it be possible to put a pocket in for a fold out ladder? The wife’s always wanted a ladder and I’ve never entertained the idea because of drag, mounting issues and the possibility of it messing up the wave. Just a thought...

We have a fold out ladder on the bottom of our platform and the drag at low speeds is negligible. Once on plain the whole thing is completely out of the water so drag is not a concern. While surfing it does contact the water but there is no negative side effects from what I can tell. Our surf platform digs into the wave already without the ladder so it is not much different.

[brian216]

Trying to find time to work on this and rebuild my boat. I’m almost done rebuilding the v drive, tore the trans down and I’m getting ready to dive into the engine. But otherwise here are some progress photoshttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200927/28570d8224d3808180ce8df50fda4ab0.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200927/d55c8cb700afd7fdb7f55c397b341681.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200927/098854b48693741987989d38ee5fb6ac.jpg


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[Isaguel]

I know a few tige guys have been looking. the variables would be width of boat and width of brackets.

I would add shape of the transom. As I recall, Tige's are more squared off whereas Supra's are more curved. But, yes, I agree this is a good idea with a market primed to be tapped.

[brian216]

I would add shape of the transom. As I recall, Tige's are more squared off whereas Supra's are more curved. But, yes, I agree this is a good idea with a market primed to be tapped.

As much as I’d like to become a millionaire off of this, I’m a one man show with a full time job. Supra and Moomba for now! The amount of work just to get a mold built is overwhelming compared to actually producing the parts. I’d rather not have 15 different molds here for different boats. But if someone asks I’ll do it. I just has to be a somewhat popular model.

You are correct, it’s a big market and there are lots of people using “wake board” boats to surf that were never intended to do so. Just look at when the manufacturers picked up on surfing and started to change things up on the boats to accommodate. I figure a solid 10 year span across all the big brands of wake boats.


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[sandm]

I think people with older boats won't be disappointed with a platform that isn't truly sculpted to the boat. something 15 years old your options are try to source used(good luck), build your own or go the teak route.
with what you have built, if it's "universal" enough, someone with an older boat can pop it on the boat and if there's a slightly larger gap between platform and boat it's not going to be a dealbreaker vs the alternatives above. mount to the brackets and who cares if the gap is 1/2" at the edges and 1.5" in the middle from the transom. no one will ever care. downside would be splash from water coming up but a stiff piece of rubber screwed to the bottom trimmed along the edge of the boat will stop any and clean up the gaps.

that was my original comment in keeping it a somewhat universal size AND making the bracket area on the underside wide enough to be used on a variety of different bracket widths from different manufacturers. even within the supra lines I would think that the 20ssv and 21v bracket spacing is different due to the boats being different widths.

the only downside would be shipping. cost will be quite a bit to ship it.

[brian216]

I think people with older boats won't be disappointed with a platform that isn't truly sculpted to the boat. something 15 years old your options are try to source used(good luck), build your own or go the teak route.
with what you have built, if it's "universal" enough, someone with an older boat can pop it on the boat and if there's a slightly larger gap between platform and boat it's not going to be a dealbreaker vs the alternatives above. mount to the brackets and who cares if the gap is 1/2" at the edges and 1.5" in the middle from the transom. no one will ever care. downside would be splash from water coming up but a stiff piece of rubber screwed to the bottom trimmed along the edge of the boat will stop any and clean up the gaps.

that was my original comment in keeping it a somewhat universal size AND making the bracket area on the underside wide enough to be used on a variety of different bracket widths from different manufacturers. even within the supra lines I would think that the 20ssv and 21v bracket spacing is different due to the boats being different widths.

the only downside would be shipping. cost will be quite a bit to ship it.

Shipping might be an issue, however you can ship a 75” flat screen tv! This should fit in a similar sized box.


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[brian216]

Well, here it is in all its glory. Weighs in around 45#. 24” X 59”. Hopefully it can ship for a reasonable fee. Just needs padding and it’s off to Brian at Surf Mode for testing and reviews.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200928/0b077b6de34809449d5cbd2ba20e300d.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200928/d9163ff3c0965848cd01042e90d9dea3.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200928/a6d8c9c0b4469431f1a63e1d839fe67c.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20200928/630eef6420e4d4c74cefb0135610ce86.jpg


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[bsharer]

Excellent fit on the top and bottom pieces! Looks great!

[brian216]

Excellent fit on the top and bottom pieces! Looks great!

Thank you! It still needs gel coat brushed along that edge to cover up the seam. But otherwise I’m pretty happy with the fit and finish.


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[Mxmark4]

Thank you! It still needs gel coat brushed along that edge to cover up the seam. But otherwise I’m pretty happy with the fit and finish.


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Hey Brian, no more ski hulls? Always wanted a brawler. I remember when you got those molds from Nick way back when! How did the platform ever turn out?