I am in town today. I'll fight the rain to be a third if you want to water test today. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by trayson
Can't wait to see the results.
I am in town today. I'll fight the rain to be a third if you want to water test today. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by trayson
Can't wait to see the results.
While I'd love to have you along for a run on the Stormtrooper, I'm not going out on the boat today. I just hate fighting the wet.Quote:
Originally Posted by Boonejeepin
I am certainly excited to see how it works. But not excited enough that I can't put it off until around Wed!
cant wait to see
Probably going out on Thurday after work. Wednesday could work but I don't really have a crew aside from my 8 year old. :-)Quote:
Originally Posted by motosno963
I am off work all next week, so I'm sure I'll be getting some time in then.
Okay, went out for the first night of testing. Bottom line is that it works with some minor concessions. I can most certainly get a totally surfable wave with even weighting and my surf blades. The concessions so far is that it seems like I'm lacking a little bit of push. it's not a deal breaker, as I can certainly surf it. But it seemed noticeable to me.
BUT, the driveability of the boat is vastly improved. I was able to drop the speed at which the boat needed to go by a full MPH. The boat at rest is comfortable and we could have lunch on the boat without it being a listed PITA. We can sit at rest and have a barge go by and not get water over the trunk with the rollers. And we can switch from regular to goofy in 10 seconds flat.
Sorry for all the shots with the sun in your eyes. We tried to run upstream with all of them to be consistent.
Pretty much all these were done with the perfect pass set at 9.7 mph. we filled the 370 tube sack in the trunk. Then we pretty much filled a 750 and put it on the surf side on the floor beside the doghouse to start a bit listed and closer to "normal" (minus another 500 or so that we usually double stack with). So EVERYTHING has the 370 under the rear seat. In addition to that, I did the following configurations:
750 surf side no blade
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...618_193347.jpg
750 on the surf side with 3" blade deployment
This improved the look of the wave. Not dramatically but noticeable for sure.
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...618_193610.jpg
750 on surf side with 1" blade deployment
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...618_193832.jpg
750's on both sides with no blades.
Is anyone surprised that this looks like crap? I didn't think so.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...618_195636.jpg
So then we went on of course to deploy the gates with the boat equally weighted.
Again, sorry for the pic quality. I never thought about the sun.
3 inch blade deployment equal weighting
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7...618_200118.jpg
I believe that this is the 1" deployment with equal weighting. Not 100% sure though.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...618_200156.jpg
Goofy side with 3" blade deployment
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-g...618_200802.jpg
And finally a couple surf shots.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0...ular%25202.jpg
..
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-O...ular%25201.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-h...oofy%25201.jpg
Russ thought it was a pretty decent wave on the goofy side. He didn't feel my "decrease in push" criticisms but it was also his first time on my boat... Sadly we had to cut his run short as the water in the gas made it so we couldn't continue to pull at surf speeds.
And here is a picture from 10 days ago with a slammed/listed boat with my 750's double stacked on the surf side and water running at the rub rail halfway up the hull while underway.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-E...s95picture.jpg
Sadly our testing got cut short because the surf starboard side gate had the unfortunate side effect when deployed of shooting a little spray of water right at the gas tank breather vent. And I ended up with the old "water in the fuel" thing and my engine wasn't happy with me under load. I guess relocating that vent has just moved WAY up on my priority list.
In summary, I feel like these NSS style blades can get a surfable wave with an evenly weighted boat. It's very comparable to the quality of wave I'd get with listing my boat with my two 750's double stacked and the top one 1/2 to 3/4 full. What I did feel is that my wave seemed a little lacking in push compared to what I remember it being with a heavily listed boat. BUT, the usability and drive-ability and comfort of being in the boat is VASTLY improved even with 2 huge sacks taking up the floor. So I'll continue to refine it and dial things in and overall I'd call it a success.
Is it perfect? of course not. Does it make my direct drive have a wake comparable to a perfectly dialed in v-drive, no. But it's giving me more options and is certainly something that opens whole new doors of opportunity with my boat.
Why did you reduce the speed? Do you think that had anything to do with your lack of push?
'Tasty lookin wave brah'
It looks pretty sweet with sun shining through it from behind. Curious like Brain - was the speed decrease due to the SSS or maybe just the current from running upstream?
Trayson, I think you're on to something here. I'm going to keep following this as I find it fascinating. I wondered what the grooves would do-- didn't even think about the vent.
BTW-- the 1975 Houston Astros called and they want their trunks back.