wake shaper mounted to direct drive slalom boat

[balsamcutter]

Unfortunatly my teen kids do not have the love for slalom skiing I have. They are all about wake surfing. I'm not ready to give up my Gekko Gtr, but the kids are. I am wondering if anyone has mounted a Wake Shaper https://www.wakemakers.com/mission-delta-wakesurf-device.html or something similar to there direct drive, and if they make a decent surf wake.

[MISkier]

I believe @Shell and @RAWSki have some experience with this type of approach.

[emwheaton]

We surf our Nautique 200. You wont get the same wave as a V drive obviously, but it is ridable. You'll definitely want a wake shaper, they make a huge difference. We made one for about $40 (there are several easy DIY plans out there if you don't want to spend the money). That and about 1000 lbs of fatsacs in the back and you should get a pretty decent wave.

 

 

 

 

[balsamcutter]

Ok thanks, good to know that you need a fat sac along with the shaper.

[LoopSki]

I made one as well used once on my prostar. Made a big difference. I didn't use any ballast and if I had a better bigger board im sure it would be surfable. I found it to be dumb so likely won't do it often. Pics are on our ski lake. When we surfed it was on a deep public lake

 

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[FSSPCat]

They do help for sure. We have found on boats with a shallow hull, sometimes it is tough to find a spot to put it. I would recommend not buying one, and making your own. L brackets, suction cups, stainless hardware, and a plastic cutting board. That way you can taylor the shape to your boat, plus it’s about $250 cheaper. At least to start.

[Shell]

@balsamcutter yes, we bought the Edge and used it on a 21ft Centurion V-drive and it worked great! Definitely makes a difference. We did not use any fat sacks, but rather put all the kids in the back and on the surfers side. Made a great wake where the surfer could ride without the rope. Good luck!

[emwheaton]

We've found the wave is better if the weight is evenly distributed in the back. The shaper does the job of shaping the wake on the rider's side. We used to sit everyone in the back on the riders side, but noticed the wave was significantly steeper and longer when we balanced the weight out.

[Horton]

I moved this thread into the members only / Off Topic section. Some of you may not like it but I need to keep this site MOSTLY focused on Slalom and 3 Event skiing.

[eleeski]

It is certainly not "way way off topic". Devices that make our slalom boats useful for other water activities are quite relevant.

 

Is there a version of this hidden in the new Nautique?

 

Eric

[wtrskier197]

Does anyone have experience with using a wakeshaper on a prostar 197? Ordered a suction cup handle over winter to make one. after getting boat out this summer and starting to figure out the configuration I realized there is no flat spot big enough for the suction cup (size of suction cups i think is 4.5" circles) with the raised lettering of the prostar word and the rest of the space is curved too much or too small of area. If I go in front of the prostar lettering I'm getting pretty far away from the back corner and not sure how that would work. Any suggestions other that sticking velcro on the boat? I've seen some little 2" suction handles but not sure about those.

[eleeski]

No experience with the product but it looks intriguing.

 

Perhaps you can adapt the safety bars for showers that have smaller suction cups.

 

Or just bolt it on... ( @Horton has quit giving me Pandas, just dislikes when I suggest drilling holes in expensive boats).

 

Eric

 

 

[bigskieridaho]

I have a Malibu Response LXi. I run a 650lb fat sac, wedge down, and a homemade wakeshaper and we surf problem. Sometimes more weight depending. Let me know if you want to know how to make one. It cost me $14.

 

[OscawanaSkier]

@balsamcutter I got that exact wake shaper to try with my 18TXi, along with a 1k sack. Found a place to mount (maybe a little low). Wave looked better to my eyes, but my buddies didn’t like it as much. May need to fine tune a bit.

 

Also - engine sounded like it was laboring with the shaper in place, much better without.

 

Anyone else experience this (or worry about transmission wear with a DD boat)?

[Deke]

As @FSSPCat said it can be tough to find a spot on some hulls. I looked into a commercial model for my "99 RLX and there is not enough space to mount between steps in the hull. Surfing is fun and is a great way to spend a windy afternoon on a public lake but I am just not motivated enough to hack my boat for it.

[FSSPCat]

@Deke this is why I have friends with gigantic surf tractors ha ha. Ski my RLx in the morning, and surf theirs in the afternoon.

[Tom351]

I made one for my 99 Sport Nautique- with about 2500lbs of ballast the surf wake is great. Really good if you consider that the unweighted boat is also decent for slalom/course skiing.

 

[Joeprunc]

yes, the suction cup device is a must for surfing with a DD. I made one too. Put about 1000# of ballast and wedge down. Surf with a Ronix Powertail. The more surface area the board has, the easier it will be to go ropeless.

[GZ22]

I tried it the other day on my 2003 supra comp 20. 600lb in front (ski locker) at 400lb in rear (the way I bought it). Put a wake shaper on.the rear but was tough to find a proper spot where it would go deep enough. Didn't really work well. Couldn't get enough drive to let go of the rope. Maybe I should add weight? Or less in front? We only had 4 people (3 in the boat while I surfed).

[Tom351]

GZ22- can you move the weight from ski locker to back? With the direct drive engine location you wont need to add any weight up front unless you are well over 1000lbs in the back- to oversimplify: weight in the rear makes the wave larger and gives you more ropeless "push" .......and adding weight in the front will "stretch" the wave so you can get farther from the boat (no need to do this until you can easily go ropeless). More weight in the rear may help engage the wake shaper.

 

Also, try about 9.5mph. Speeding up has a similar effect as adding weight to the front.

[GZ22]

@Tom351 OK good to know. I'll try it next week! I was probably going too fast. I was trying around 11mph. I suppose I could try buying more ballast bags, but if I spend more money in boat toys this summer (surf and a ski this year) my fiance will be upset lol.

[GZ22]

Update: I had an extra person in the boat and slightly deeper water last weekend and we were almost surfing, we were able to let go of the rope a couple times, but fell back shortly after. Against the recommendations here I did still have some weight in the front ballast, which looking back may have hindered us.

 

The shaper made a huge difference once i found the right spot.

 

I think I can make this work as the wave looked great, it just didnt have quite enough push. I'll try again next week. Also I ordered two 550lb ballast bags off ebay (https://goo.gl/PEjTXj ; hopefully these arent junk) that I will place on each side of the engine as far back as possible night next to the 400lb one that is under the rear seat. They should hopefully arrive by Friday the 17th so I can try them that weekend, and then I'm pretty confident we will be surfing no problem. Will update again afterwards.

 

If i can make a decent wave behind this Supra Comp 20 I'll be really pumped to have a great slalom ski boat that can surf too.

[GZ22]

Update one year later:

Added the two 550lb ballasts on either side of the motor, my 400 in the far rear, plus the wake shaper and I was surfing! But barely, some of it is lack of skill skill surely. And we were only a group of three people, so only two ppl in the boat.

 

I think with a few more ppl in the boat it'll be pretty decent!

 

2003 Supra Comp 20. Best push was around 10mph, wake plate all the way up.