Direct Drive Surf Report - 99 Sport/Air

[Tom351]

We rode this weekend on a 5'-4" Liquid Force Rocket wakersurfer instead of the ocean board that I typically bring. We had to slow down to 9.5mph (on GPS) to be able to go ropeless for any amount of time and there was very little margin for error- if we started fading back at all we would lose the wave- compared to when I ride a 6'0" or 6'4" ocean board it almost feels impossible to fade out the back of the wave, you can recover much easier with the larger board.

[zeckto13]

Didn't notice the circle but see it now. Good to know! Ya, I've heard that water depth makes a big difference. Will make sure we're in 15+ depth. As an aside, I also have Fresh Air Exhaust coming this week so will report back on my thoughts once installed. Looks like I can't get out this week so hopefully next.


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[Tom351]

Also, don't forget to drive in a circle (if not already) It seems to REALLY help with my boat (you can see the arc in the pics above) - for example: when we had less ballast and the rider was "fading" a little too far back the driver could turn a little sharper and really help the rider get some more push.....also, the deeper the water the better: I remember riding one time and the wave just totally lost all push and I lost the wave...when the boat came around we realized that we were on a 6' deep spot in the middle of the 15'+ area where we normally ride- it was as if someone turned off the wave when we hit that shallow area.

[zeckto13]

A few stills

Those are great vids and pics. Thanks for posting. Ordered a second suction handle so I can make gates for each side. Hope to finish and get out next week. Before buying a wake surf board you may want to demo a few. I bought the IS Blue Lake, but I actually like my friends Phase Five Danielo Diamond better. Buyers remorse.


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[Tom351]

I have an '86 SN 2001 and we have been able to get an awesome wave out of it. We have a homemade suck gate that we put as far back on the hull right below the decal lines. For ballast we put two 400lb flyhigh's on the sides of the engine compartment and then a 260lb fly high across the back. With the driver and one person beside them and then one or two people in back to throw and catch the rope on the surf side. No perfect pass but we've found we get the best combination of length and height running around 9.8-10.5 just depending if there is more or less people in the boat. Hope this helps!

Same here- my 86 surfed fairly well with the gate, 800lbs in place of back seat, and 800lbs next to engine... I had to run the gate fairly far forward though because the hull is rough and the gate would only stick when forward of the 2001 decals.

[Tom351]

A few stills

[Tom351]

Very cool! Good to see how the boat sits and how far the wave diverges over. Also noticed you have no spray from the shaper. What length of board is that one? I have a 5'4" blue lake. Nice boat btw. If you ever have a video of the wave from inside the boat that would be great to see. Can't wait to get out again but will be a couple weeks for me.

We did get some spray from my previous shaper version because I could not get the face of it as low (since it was not offset) but the spray would only soak the boat at 11-12mph (when perfect pass would overshoot the speed after starting) and then the spray would decrease and stay out of the boat as the speed settled in at 10.5mph. You can see the spray soak the boat for a few seconds here and then settle down when the speed settles in:

https://youtu.be/eNIygiBSECk

My board is a 6'-4" that I typically would ride on ocean waves (until this summer) so it does have a lot of surface area- I am thinking about getting a wakesurf specific board though because I am sure that the wake has plenty of push for something around 5-5.5'

Here is a clip of my buddy riding...from in the boat:
https://youtu.be/DQgS43zushc
The water is about to the rubrail while moving, but it is nice to not have weight in the bow....I think the DD engine location and the ski locker weight is enough forward weight to get a pretty long wave....the two things that we watch for is not slowing too quickly so the wave does not come over the stern, and then obviously letting the waves pass and keeping the nose up while turning around...I had a touch of water come over the bow the other day, but nothing compared to the submarines I have done in my 86! Feel free to ask any other questions because I love discussing this stuff, and my wife and kids don't care about the details!

[jwell12]

I have an '86 SN 2001 and we have been able to get an awesome wave out of it. We have a homemade suck gate that we put as far back on the hull right below the decal lines. For ballast we put two 400lb flyhigh's on the sides of the engine compartment and then a 260lb fly high across the back. With the driver and one person beside them and then one or two people in back to throw and catch the rope on the surf side. No perfect pass but we've found we get the best combination of length and height running around 9.8-10.5 just depending if there is more or less people in the boat. Hope this helps!

[zeckto13]

Very cool! Good to see how the boat sits and how far the wave diverges over. Also noticed you have no spray from the shaper. What length of board is that one? I have a 5'4" blue lake. Nice boat btw. If you ever have a video of the wave from inside the boat that would be great to see. Can't wait to get out again but will be a couple weeks for me.


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[Tom351]

Cool- let us know how it goes!

Here is a 1st person GoPro video of my wave (camera was in my mouth)
This is with all of the ballast mentioned in first post and an 275lb bag on floor behind engine box (this helped to hold up the 475lb bag on the back seat)
https://youtu.be/E3_LAhlB7vA

[zeckto13]

Thanks. Will report back once I build one like yours and have more ballast.


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[Tom351]

Do you happen to have a pic of your gate? And where your putting it on the hull? Headed out this weekend for another go.

Here are pics of the gate- along with the side view dimension that you asked about on YouTube:

It is at a 45 degree angle and the surface is 8" x 12". That does not include the little extension that goes into the step of the hull...obviously this shaper design cannot switch sides due to this extension but I really wanted to divert the water out of that narrow/lower part of hull. I run it about a foot or two (have tried various distances) forward of where the hull angles toward the swim platform. Also, you may notice that the plate is offset downward on my shaper....this is because the suction cups cannot go any lower thanks to that step in the hull. All of this being said... when I made the in the first post: I was using a previous plate on the shaper that did not reach into the step and was not offset (so it could have been used on either side- and was a little higher since the plate was not offset downward).. But my wave has more push with this newer shaper design. Also, the green plate is just a backer since the white "face" of the shaper is fairly thin and I was not sure if it would hold up- the green cutting board was thicker, but not quite large enough so I just attached the larger white face directly on top of it.

[zeckto13]

Thanks for the feedback, going to give it another go next week!


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[jtryon]

looks to me that you need more weight. i run minimum 1200lbs on the surf side, ~600 non-surf side, and 650 in the bow with a ghetto gate. it's on a different model DD but generally:
1. if you don't have enough push or have a long but not tall wave you need more weight.
2. if you have a tall wave but not long you need more front weight or need to speed up.

[hornsfan]

I'll be following this post closely, thanks for experimenting and posting back.