Makai extra weight setup

[dakota4ce]

I put a taller piece of angle aluminum to bolster the bottom channel—mine did pop out.


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[benny32]

So after two months and about 75 hours in our new Makai I'm really scratching my head on getting the wave right. I have the upgraded wakemakers bags in the back and 500lbs of lead, almost all in the back, and the wave just feels so soft compared to other boats I have ridden. I have ridden behind a Mastercraft x23 and Tige 23zx and both have so much more push and the wave feels much more solid. One day we went straight from my Makai into the X23 and it was crazy the difference. I realize these are more expensive boats but I didn't expect the difference to be so dramatic.

We tow between 10.6 and 11 and usually have about 400-500lbs of people in the boat and run the center tab between 20-40 and side tab between 60-90. Am I expecting too much out of our Makai or do I just need to keep adding weight?

[SONIC]

So after two months and about 75 hours in our new Makai I'm really scratching my head on getting the wave right. I have the upgraded wakemakers bags in the back and 500lbs of lead, almost all in the back, and the wave just feels so soft compared to other boats I have ridden. I have ridden behind a Mastercraft x23 and Tige 23zx and both have so much more push and the wave feels much more solid. One day we went straight from my Makai into the X23 and it was crazy the difference. I realize these are more expensive boats but I didn't expect the difference to be so dramatic.

We tow between 10.6 and 11 and usually have about 400-500lbs of people in the boat and run the center tab between 20-40 and side tab between 60-90. Am I expecting too much out of our Makai or do I just need to keep adding weight?

Pull the center plate up to 0 and speed up to 11.2 to 11.6 and see how it feels.

[Hayden]

So after two months and about 75 hours in our new Makai I'm really scratching my head on getting the wave right. I have the upgraded wakemakers bags in the back and 500lbs of lead, almost all in the back, and the wave just feels so soft compared to other boats I have ridden. I have ridden behind a Mastercraft x23 and Tige 23zx and both have so much more push and the wave feels much more solid. One day we went straight from my Makai into the X23 and it was crazy the difference. I realize these are more expensive boats but I didn't expect the difference to be so dramatic.

We tow between 10.6 and 11 and usually have about 400-500lbs of people in the boat and run the center tab between 20-40 and side tab between 60-90. Am I expecting too much out of our Makai or do I just need to keep adding weight?

Do you have a link to the upgraded wakemakers bags you bought? Did you replace your stock rear bags or are the wakemakers just added as additional bags in addition to stock? You said you have them in the back, where did you put them exactly? What pitch are you running at? Flow 2 or 3?

I've had good results with 9-9.5 pitch, 11mph, 0-15 wp. 20-40 on your wp seems too high compared to what I've seen posted by many on this forum.

If you have 500 lbs leadwake, my guess is that you'd need 1000 lbs of additional water/lead AND 4-5 adult passengers to really get it to start waking up. Can always gain some push by pitching up to 10-11 deg, (you lose some length when you do).

[benny32]

Do you have a link to the upgraded wakemakers bags you bought? Did you replace your stock rear bags or are the wakemakers just added as additional bags in addition to stock? You said you have them in the back, where did you put them exactly? What pitch are you running at? Flow 2 or 3?

I've had good results with 9-9.5 pitch, 11mph, 0-15 wp. 20-40 on your wp seems too high compared to what I've seen posted by many on this forum.

If you have 500 lbs leadwake, my guess is that you'd need 1000 lbs of additional water/lead AND 4-5 adult passengers to really get it to start waking up. Can always gain some push by pitching up to 10-11 deg, (you lose some length when you do).

I got these. https://www.wakemakers.com/supra-and...r-upgrade.html They replace the stock bags. Pitch is usually around 10 and it's Flow 3.

I've used that 20-40 based on the dealer recommendation but I haven't been blown away by the dealer so I'm certainly open to other opinions. I'll try it up more. I thought I read that push decreases as speed increases so I've kept it low but if you think a bump past 11 might help I'll give a try.

[2in2out]

I would move some of your lead forward into the bow. 10 degrees of pitch could be lowering the push. If weight is concentrated towards the stern, the bow becomes more buoyant and won’t displace as much water. Goal is to keep enough of the bow and stern in the water and achieve pitch and roll numbers.


Center plate less than 20. Make sure to burp your bags and top them off after every run. When you pitch >10 degrees you could be losing volume from the bags. Increase speed to 11.2-12.1 dependent on rider ability.

Which side are you surfing? Reg or goofy?

What degree of roll are you achieving for surf side? You’ll want to move lead and people there.

If running goofy, you’ll need more roll to counter prop rotation and cavitation.


Making my new SA build come true!!!

[benny32]

I would move some of your lead forward into the bow. 10 degrees of pitch could be lowering the push. If weight is concentrated towards the stern, the bow becomes more buoyant and won’t displace as much water. Goal is to keep enough of the bow and stern in the water and achieve pitch and roll numbers.


Center plate less than 20. Make sure to burp your bags and top them off after every run. When you pitch >10 degrees you could be losing volume from the bags. Increase speed to 11.2-12.1 dependent on rider ability.

Which side are you surfing? Reg or goofy?

What degree of roll are you achieving for surf side? You’ll want to move lead and people there.

If running goofy, you’ll need more roll to counter prop rotation and cavitation.


Making my new SA build come true!!!

I'll try moving some lead back to the front and try to get the pitch around 9-9.5. I'll also try bumping the speed to 11.2 and going up from there see if there's any difference.

Everyone we have ride is regular and we run about -1 to -2 roll.

[Holdmybeer]

Start here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt8VVwwEwn4
About the 5 minute mark you start seeing numbers that would get you what you are looking for.

[TXSurf4]

I'll try moving some lead back to the front and try to get the pitch around 9-9.5. I'll also try bumping the speed to 11.2 and going up from there see if there's any difference.

Everyone we have ride is regular and we run about -1 to -2 roll.

First question is have you checked the calibration on your inclinometer? Make sure that is good first.

Next have you watched this video? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt8VVwwEwn4&t=1s
If not check it out and look at the numbers Robert is using with the Flow 3.0 Setup. Also note his speeds. As others have stated you need to bump your speed up. It seemed counter intuitive to me but it really woke our wave up when I bumped ours up to 11.3 mph.

On the water when you fill your bags make sure that you burp them and get all the air out. If you are not doing this you are missing out on several hundred pounds of ballast. Make those changes and see what your results are. I try to change one thing at a time and then test to make sure I know what impact each one has and so I can repeat it.

As you are setup now you are 1,200 # above stock ballast plus 500-600 in passengers (which is a light crew) plus gear. With this setup you should be able to make a decent wave with decent push but most people with great waves on a Makai are running the 1350s in the rear and anywhere from 1k-1700# in lead depending on their crew. I am currently running 1k in lead and am able to make a fun wave, but I have had times where I had 12 adults on my boat and the wave was awesome. So that being said I want an awesome wave and have the 1350s sitting waiting to be installed I just need to find some time. My point in all that is to say that depending on your expectations you might need more ballast in whatever form that is (lead or water). As far as your lead placement goes check out Robert's videos on that here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKiSpHn1hug
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRX6v9QpycI
(reason I am sharing all the videos is that most of us have watched them so sometimes we assume others have and know what we are talking about)

Another point as others have stated your center plate should stay between 0 and 20 when surfing. Anything beyond 20% deployed really starts to counteract your ballast.

The Makai has the potential to make an amazing wave it just takes a little more tweaking than the premium brands to get it dialed in.

[benny32]

Great information! Thank you so much for taking the time to put this together. I'll power through those one at a time and see if I can find the combination of changes to make it go. I haven't been burping bags, though that's a really easy change with the new bags. Are you doing that with the subfloor bags? I'll definitely check the inclinometer and to verify the reading.

Thanks again!