Honest review of the Wake Booster

[Bquick178]

If anyone is interested in our Gantlin Wake Wedge it’s for sale $350 plus shipping

I'm sure it's sold because it's an old post, but I would be interested if you haven't sold it already.

 

[Farny]

Even with the new TVW I'm going to find a good way to add a little more ballast, my 2015 212X comes out of hibernation tomorrow and my next project is a home made wake enhancer....I own a metal fab shop so I'm going to involve our team and see what we can come up with.

how did the homemade booster work?

 

[dadofral]

how did the homemade booster work?

Sorry for the very late reply, our summer has been busier than we thought with family stuff and I still have not gotten around to this yet...hoping to still before it goes into storage.

 

[Farny]

Sorry for the very late reply, our summer has been busier than we thought with family stuff and I still have not gotten around to this yet...hoping to still before it goes into storage.

All good - hope you get out soon

 

[CDubya]

I am definitely no surf expert, nor do i have any interest to surf.
but i never see a decent curl to the wave or even a clean wake. That wave doesn't seem to give you much room to play

Here’s a wake we made today with our 210 FSH. We had the wake booster on and 750lb fat sac, two adults up front and 3 kids on the swim deck and me at the helm when I wasn’t surfing. I think the wave looked great and I was able to use 7-10’ of the wave while I surfed.

 

[Bogie]

Why is the wakebooster only made for 2017 and newer on a 212x. Why wont it work The 2016 and 2017 are identical.

 

[JetBoatPilot]

Why is the wakebooster only made for 2017 and newer on a 212x. Why wont it work The 2016 and 2017 are identical.

The 2017 and newer swim platform's underside is flat. The previous generation had more of a curved shape. The booster needs a flat place to mount.

 

[CDubya]

Why is the wakebooster only made for 2017 and newer on a 212x. Why wont it work The 2016 and 2017 are identical.

I’m not familiar with either of them but I have one on my 2020 Fsh. It works really good and gives me a clean smooth wake.
I’m sure it will work just fine as long as the tie down U bolt is in the same position on the 2016. It does have two little tabs that are bent at a 90° sticking up that could prohibit it from being positioned right if the setup isn’t the same or very close to the same. There are probably people on here who know a lot more about it than I do though. Personally I feel like with enough determination and ingenuity you could make it work on any boat with a swim platform

 

[haknslash]

As mentioned the pre2017 models had a curve where the swimdeck meets the transom. The 2017 and newer don’t have the curve. The wake booster hugs around this area so I imagine the older curved boats underside would interfere.

 

[tahoelocal]

Our observations have been that the booster will work pretty well without ballast but adding ballast is actually going to diminish the effects and make the wave less clean.

From what I've seen when you submerge the swim deck you effectively block the additional flow of water that the booster provides. In essence the booster is like a big water cannon blasting water from the jet pump away from the wave on the booster side. If the water volume is diminished by submerging the booster a bit then it makes sense that the ballast would not help but rather hurt the booster.

The opposite is true for the Thrust Vector Wake. The more ballast you add the better the system gets. But, you have to have ballast to really get a tall wave. I believe the wave height with the booster and the Thrust Vector (without ballast) is about the same.

Is this still the case for new Yamaha Wakebooster on a 2018 AR240? Ballasts actually make the wave smaller??

 

[jcyamaharider]

Is this still the case for new Yamaha Wakebooster on a 2018 AR240? Ballasts actually make the wave smaller??

That is not true at all. The correct amount of ballast will make a wave with the booster. The problem with the booster is it introduces air into the wave which doesn't give you the push that you need. Same ballast setup with the booster vs the Wake Wedge and it is truly a different animal. Booster uses more RPMS on the motor, has more drag, and uses more fuel then then the Wake Wedge does. Wake Wedge produces a clean wave with more power and can be left on the boat all day if desired.

 

[anmut]

To the comment about the booster making the wave smaller:

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2020-212s-wakesurfing-dialing-in-the-wave.28735/

 

[atlbravesr1]

Wish I had a template. The mounting plate and fabrication look like a piece of cake. The deflector length, width, height, and angle is what you need to get right. I can probably get close with pictures.

did you ever get measuements? trying to locate measurements for 21 foot 2020 to build one myself?

 

[Jason Crump]

Hey all, great read.

I see they make a wake booster for ‘15+ boats.
Does anyone have any insight on the wakebooster interfering with trim tab actuator mount location? I have a 2015 ar240…
Thank in advance.