Order tomorrow!!

[deepcove]

yes it will float but the wake won't be shaped as nice.....

[JoeTechie]

Forget wake shape - the boat is not designed to run fast without it! The hull is convex. It has a stepped rear that actually sucks the stern into the water as you run. This is great for wakes, but lousy for running. The boat porpises like hell! The LSV is worse than the LS because of weight distribution, but physics is physics. The smaller plain Outback has a much flatter rear hull, and thus a NWSA rated wake - the LS and all other models have hulls that create wakes without ANY help. Wakeplates are there to REDUCE the wake size (and shape it), but also to plane the boat down so it runs fast well.

Wakeplates should be MANDATORY on all but the plain outback.

mho,

Joe

/edit - my spelling sucks - edit/

[Buttafewcoe]

[Dave A]

I have an 05 LS with the wakeplate and can't imagine having a boat without one.

[Buttafewcoe]

But what I'm hearing is the basic Outback does not need a gadget like a wake plate.

[Buttafewcoe]

And the wakeplate acts more like a trim tab on the other models. I see now why those that have one speak highly of them. Sorry for any confusion you may have caused.
.
B

[lowdrag]

JoeTechie hit the nail on the head especially with the porpoising issue. If you're planning on doing anything with the boat that you need to go fast to do like slalom skiing or just getting from point A to B it's worth the money. My LS didn't have the plate and it would porpoise bad. I tried to correct it by filling the front bag, but all that got me was a few more mph before it started.