Show Us Your Wake! (surfing mods comparo)

[jcyamahariders wife]

@J-RAD surfing in super chop ! Love the blue water

I don't even want to see a video of my first surf of the year never pretty . . . hopefully it will be this weekend rain or shine is the goal

 

[Stevenpigsooie]

And one more thing, for anyone reading in here. It’s been stated before but maybe worth repeating.

The Yamaha Booster can not be used with trim tabs. Due to hindrance by the actuator - attachment at the bottom of the swim deck.
Importantly, the Wake Wadge works great (no interference with the tabs) - as long as the short Lectrotab actuators are used, which is the best way to go as far as trim tabs for our boats, anyway, IMO.

Personally, as much as I love surfing and easy setup I would not trade trim tabs for a surfing mod. Not just for long trips and rough water, I use trim tabs every single time my wife is in the boat and I see a big wake I need to cross. I momentarily deploy the tabs, cross the wake with 10x less impact on the boat and passengers, and retract the tabs immediately after. It became a second nature almost. I don’t do this when the admiral stays behind but she absolutely hates it when the boat gets jarred by a passing wake. I respect that and found that the tabs work phenomenally well in regard to completely alleviating that issue.

I find that slowing down is not nearly as effective as deploying the tabs. And deploying the tabs does both - slows the boat down momentarily and makes it almost impervious to anything but the largest waves.

EDIT: I’m sure the Booster could be modified with some cutouts, but as it is sold by the factory it does not fit next to the actuator attachments.

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@swatski I just picked up the wake booster kit from my dealer on Sunday but haven’t got to try it yet. I have the same lectrotab trim tab setup you do and the wakebooster fits with 2-3 inches to spare next to the actuator. Are you saying the flow is disrupted by the actuator so it doesn’t work properly? I wandered about that but want to try anyways. I’ll post videos hopefully this weekend.

 

[swatski]

@swatski I just picked up the wake booster kit from my dealer on Sunday but haven’t got to try it yet. I have the same lectrotab trim tab setup you do and the wakebooster fits with 2-3 inches to spare next to the actuator. Are you saying the flow is disrupted by the actuator so it doesn’t work properly? I wandered about that but want to try anyways. I’ll post videos hopefully this weekend.

Thank you for clarifying that!!!
I have not tried the Booster on, but from rough measurements it seemed there would be a hindrance, not enough space between the actuator attachment and the tiedown ubolt.

Glad you posted, I could be wrong or I have the tabs spaced out more.

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[swatski]

@swatski I just picked up the wake booster kit from my dealer on Sunday but haven’t got to try it yet. I have the same lectrotab trim tab setup you do and the wakebooster fits with 2-3 inches to spare next to the actuator. Are you saying the flow is disrupted by the actuator so it doesn’t work properly? I wandered about that but want to try anyways. I’ll post videos hopefully this weekend.

This is really good news. Looking at pics and clips so far, the Wedge and the Booster seem to shape the wave in a very different fashion.

I’m going to have to try again, or would need to move my tabs... ouch. I was concerned with the Wedge fitting only at the time!

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[swatski]

The board is bigger, but it actually doesn't feel that big to be on it. There are instances of both me pushing down the wake and others where I was reliant on the rope. I would attribute the bobbles to operator error as opposed to the board. For instance, at about 2:10 I put a little too much forward pressure on the nose as I began to pump which cause me to waver. There are clear instances where the board runs forward with no effort at all. I think I did find the best stance eventually, but the wake just wasn't as together as it really needed to be to showcase either well... but people want to see the application in the real world... lol! This was my first session of the season and it felt sooo good to be out there again!

I love the way this board seems to run.
I’m gonna give it a serious consideration!

Next up for me is pondering the fin setup. We run the Quad and the Shim by H/L and there are significantly different options.

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[J-RAD]

@J-RAD just a tip for your wife; people enjoy videos more when there is a crash or awkward dismount involved at some point, keep the video rolling,

Just for your @Scottintexas

 

[jcyamahariders wife]

I am always doing something stupid to face plant !

 

[swatski]

I just want to link to a great post by @MidnightRider in another thread, very informative - about the Yamaha wake Booster.

Yeah I think you are mostly right. However, there is some boost. For instance, if you take the Wake Wedge alone and no ballast and you compare that to the WakeBooster with no ballast I think you will find that both clean the face but that the WakeBooster DOES "boost" the wake a bit. But that fact is kind of empty because none of us would be satisfied by that boost alone. To get any wake that is satisfying and allow ropeless wake to play around on you need ballast. For me when comparing the wakebooster to the wake wedge as a device that cleans the wake there was only a couple things that made me go with the wakebooster.
1. I was looking to get a new board and the slingshot coaster was of interest to me, so subtract the board and you are into the booster for about $500 about 1/2 the price of the universal WakeWedge.
2. It seemed to me that switching sides (which we do a lot of) was faster and easier with the WakeBooster than the WakeWedge (not sure how much faster really though)
3. My 212X is already bursting at the seams with all the stuff we need to store on it and the WakeBooster has a much smaller foot print for storage than the wake wedge.
4. I have seen success with centered ballast using the WakeBooster, this is important to a mix goofy/regular family where we can center the ballast and not have to reposition it every time.

But as far as producing a really nice wave, i haven't seen anything to top the WakeWedge and swim deck bag yet - that includes the WakeBooster. For me it was more about convenience and price point.

 

[Jack Long]

Wake Booster fits and I have Lecrotabs.

Still fine tuning the wake but I have found good results with the help of ballast bags and people.

 

[swatski]

Great info on board fins:

@swatski that was a very basic answer because im still learning so much about wake surfing. Here's a great podcast that explains fins.

 

[Arcadyus]

Great info on board fins:

What's weird is that it's totally noticeable. My blackstix are way way way faster than stock fins. It's like adding a turbo or supercharger to your surfboard.

 

[haknslash]

@J-RAD just a tip for your wife; people enjoy videos more when there is a crash or awkward dismount involved at some point, keep the video rolling,

Did someone mention to post more crashes, spills and fails?

Oldie but fun time with @Bill D and crew that day. That was first weekend testing the Gantlin wake wedge IIRC. Miss those guys bad !! I also wish the custom transom bag was around back then as the wave would be bananas!

@blacksapphirez slick drone piloting in this edit was great

 

[swatski]

Anyone looking for the Yamaha Booster, this may be your best bet (24' model is wait listed, but Stewart seems to be able to be getting those before anyone else):

https://jetboaters.net/threads/oregon-wake-boosters-in-stock-21-and-24.22550/

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[J-RAD]

So, a Cobra and a Cat had a baby, and that baby "Cobra Cat" was adopted, trained and bread by Slingshot. I was fortunate enough to wrangle the XR version one of these magnificent beast yesterday evening and it was glorious! I had a blast on this little 4'8 board.

The wake was the best I ever had. The had been rough as some squalls passed I've, but we waited it out and things calmed too give us a near perfect evening.

First, here's the wake


Second, the ride. I go down a couple minutes in but hop back up for a longer session.

SO MUCH FUN!

 

[orexismd]

2109 Yamaha FSH 210 Sport. @JetBoatPilot TVWake, @jcyamaharider Slingshot Coaster XR 5'0" board, 650lb sack centered on rear swim deck, 650 lb sack left of center console. 145 lb rider and myself. 11 mph on ride steady.

Day 1, 80% full tank of gas.

Day 2, 30% tank gas

Didn't get pics of day three, but didn't use the 650 lb bag beside the center console and used around 700-800 lbs of human ballast moved around in the boat (5 adults on wake side towards the rear and 2 kids up front) and the wake was awesome! And made switching between regular and goofy for riders a breeze!

Loving the Jack-of-all-trades boat!

 

[jcyamahariders wife]

Fishing and surfing gotta love it ! I would love to own a Yamaha FSH they look like fun boats to drive !

 

[W3bexec]

I am always doing something stupid to face plant !

Hi @jcyamaharider and @jcyamahariders wife would you be willing to share what your setup is?

 

[jcyamaharider]

Hi @jcyamaharider and @jcyamahariders wife would you be willing to share what your setup is?

Sure. Wake Wedge, Custom transom bag, 750 in ski locker. Sometimes I will fill the port bag a touch.

 

[JasonSchoenrock]

@jcyamaharider have you tried putting the transom bag in the middle and filling the under seat bags to get the list? I really want to avoid having to move that transom bag from side to side to move from regular to goofy...

 

[jcyamahariders wife]

We have no reason to try the transom bag in the middle we all surf on the same side. I wouldn't see why you couldn't try it out that way. Before the transom bag came about we used to use a 500 bag laying on the back swim deck with 200 lbs of lead ballast and the bag stretched into the middle. Getting your setup right for you is all part of the fun because once you find it you are golden after that !