Surf Tabs :)

[86century]

One thing I forgot about that I am most intrigued by is centered around the the more leveled ride with even ballast distribution.

So if I'm putting ~1000 in the rear surf corner to lean now, what kind of wave could I get by having ~1000 in each rear locker to totally bury it, plus my locker/nose weight, plus a gate or tab... A North Shore monster?

I know you can supposedly surf with less weight and a gate, but what about maxing it out? Or is there a point of diminishing returns.

As we continue testing it is possible to get to much weight depending on how the gate is mounted. If you are at the point where the top of the gate is under water at speed its basically pointless. However if you can move the gate up to match then you get a huge wake with a pocket big enough for a semi.

The ability to have the boat set level and still have a good wake is why I started to doing this.
hopefully I will have better videos in the next week or so.

[trayson]

^^^^ yeap. Different people have different goals and priorities. Mine is a permenent install, so holes in my hull didnt'tbother me.

Mine is a direct drive, so surfing with no ballast wouldn't happen no matter what I did. But with a vdrive, I can see no ballast surfing being realistic. I have a friend that Has a Tige 21' vdrive that I can surf with no ballast and 1 passenger on the surf side (even with driver on the nonsurf side). Certainly makes me long for a vdrive. But with a surf system, I can get vdrive quality wake on a DD.

Plus the ability to swap from regular to goofy in under 10 seconds is awesome. At some point I could add $200 in Lenco trim tab actuators and be able to swap sides instantly and open up the world of transfer tricks... but that's not a priority now.

However, the ability to weight level is a game changer and has elevated our utility and enjoyment of the boat sooooo much I would never go back to "slammed and listed". Level and less slammed is fantastic.

[bergermaister]

How are you mounting the hinged side of the gate to the hull or platform? Can't quite tell from the pics.

[Beejwest]

^ what Berg said. Is it just attached to the swim platform brackets somehow? I wonder if those are strong enough over time to handle that kind of load/force. Water at 10mph is extremely powerful. I'd be worred about stress cracks in the gel, and/or hull damage.

[86century]

Yes it is mounted to thae swim platform bracket.

Flexing and stress over time is a big concern these models are prone to cracking the gel coat just from the stress of people on the platform.
Overall the mount is 22 1/2" long by 3 1/2" wide and 1/4" thick with a triangle support that goes around the platform support.
With a backer on the inside for added support that is a bit longer and wider(don't know the exact dimensions)

We have tested it up to 15mph wile deployed with no flexing what so ever. Much above that and it is no longer in the water.

The next step is to ad actuators for us as well to be able to swap sides on the fly would be great.