Chaparral Aerial Surf Platform

[OrangeTJ]

Looks like Chaparral is offering an integrated surf system on the Vortex boats. It sounds like it is a combination of a 3 tank ballast system and platform that lowers into the jet stream to shape the wake. Pretty cool that they're offering a factory system! I'm liking these Chaparrals more and more...

 

[lashburn1]

LINK?

 

[OrangeTJ]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10153014960358076

 

[OrangeTJ]

http://m.motoring.com.au/news/2015/chaparral-creates-jet-surf-wake-49190

 

[lashburn1]

pretty cool
Hopefully Yammie will catch on..Chap makes nice boats, would be good to see a factory system as nice as the Guys on this Forum have developed on their own,,

 

[OrangeTJ]

The Chaps did look very nice at the boat show. Seem pretty well built and very solid. Supercharger rebuild requirement (or at least what I'm hearing about it) and what appears, based on Boat Test data, to be higher db levels are the lingering concerns for me. Will be interesting to see the experience of real owners! If those aforementioned issues prove to be nonissues, The Chap will be on the short list the next time I'm in the market.

 

[jcyamaharider]

They might be catching up but I wasn't impressed at the boat show. Their fit and finish have a little way to go and the price is still too high.

 

[lashburn1]

They might be catching up but I wasn't impressed at the boat show. Their fit and finish have a little way to go and the price is still too high.

- and that Wave looks JUST Ok...but, its a start...and comes with the Boat...Yammie will be on this as soon as they catch up with existing orders..LOL

 

[BobJohnson]

$2995 upgrade on the 223vr. boat I have on order is pushing my budget as it is, so I decided against this. Plus, I'll be 50 in a few yrs and son is not yet a teen, so we will be happy pulling tubes and ski's. this is cool though. hope to see one in action live.

boat builder here so you can see options and $$ http://www.chaparralboats.com/Chaparral-Boat.php?id=126&action=tab_boat_builder

 

[jcyamaharider]

- and that Wave looks JUST Ok...but, its a start...and comes with the Boat...Yammie will be on this as soon as they catch up with existing orders..LOL

I wasn't going to say it but I agree

 

[Ziess21]

Yeah, not too impressed with that wave. Chap makes a nice boat though and is certainly giving Yamaha a run for their money.

 

[SCSTWG]

I like to see the competition and hopefully this will force Yamaha to step up their game.

 

[Speedling]

I think Chapp finally hit the nail on the head here! The jets are obviously perfect for a wake surfing setup safety wise, and them putting this on there can make it so some would go with the chapp instead of a Tige or Mastercraft!
I hate to say it guys, but unless these newer generation of rotax engines prove to be total failures, Yamaha is just set apart from these guys! Yamaha keeps seeming to go with larger more refined boats which seems to be for a older and growing audience. The new guys on the block are gearing towards the younger families.
I mean, we all remember my SS with the lowered windshield that came tinted, right? Since then it just gets bigger, heavier, etc. Move from 23' to 24' , now a higher freeboard, and then the extra protrusion down the whole keel of the 24's means it's less and less sporty in my book! Unless of course they started going like 60 mph.

 

[SCSTWG]

I agree that this is a great option that Chap has come out with, but I wouldn't go writing off Yamaha just yet. The new 24' boats addressed nearly all of the issues that owners had in the previous generation and now we have to wait and see what Yamaha will do with the next generation of 19' and 21' boats. The other thing to keep in mind is that these are not wake surf boats (Yamaha, Scarab or Chaparral). Take a look at the pics from @lashburn1's new Mastercraft. A jetboat will never put out a wake like that.

 

[Speedling]

True that! certainly not a dedicated wake boat, but a system built in would certainly keep some from switching!

 

[Julian]

$2995 upgrade on the 223vr. boat I have on order is pushing my budget as it is, so I decided against this. Plus, I'll be 50 in a few yrs and son is not yet a teen, so we will be happy pulling tubes and ski's. this is cool though. hope to see one in action live.

boat builder here so you can see options and $$ http://www.chaparralboats.com/Chaparral-Boat.php?id=126&action=tab_boat_builder

Bob...if you haven't tried wake surfing, you may find that you love it! Way less body stress than skiing or boarding! I still ski, but surfing is way easier on this old body!

 

[OrangeTJ]

I agree that the wave looks "just OK" but so do the waves behind our boats without a big chunk of ballast on board. It remains to be seen, but I'd bet that another 1,000 lbs of properly placed ballast would make a big difference in the wave. I just think it is cool that Chap is directly addressing this aspect of their jet boats, highlighting their all-around flexibility and suitability for the recreational family boater. Obviously they are not the same as a dedicated wakeboat, but they can do things those boats can't do, too.

Regarding fit and finish, overall I felt that the 223 and 243 I saw at the boat show were right in line with the Yamahas, with the exception of not having hinged seats (which is a very nice feature on the new Yamaha 24s). Vinyl quality, gelcoat, apparent solidity of the hull (the thump test), fasteners, etc all seemed as good. The engine area seemed pretty tight and the placement of the battery cutoff switch seems particularly poorly considered, but overall seemed like a nice boat. The 223 seems to compare very nicely with the 212X, albeit a bit more expensive. Perhaps I missed something on the F&F front, though.

Not a fanboy by any stretch (of any brand), but I do think these new Chaps have great potential and seem to represent a good alternative.

 

[bobbie]

yamaha plus wake wedge kicks the ass of the chap!

 

[OrangeTJ]

They do seem to make nice waves with the wedge. How much ballast on board in that last vid?

 

[bobbie]

stock ballast plus 800 lb on surf side and 400 lb across the back seat @OrangeTJ but the stock ballast really canceled each other out. i changed the ballast setup this year to run separate pumps for each side with custom bags from wakemakers