Who wants to work with Lectrotab on a electric wakeshaper / surf tab for Yamaha jet boats?

[anmut]

This thread came up just recently and I openly pondered the question "could Lectrotab make a wake plate that deploys deeper into the stream for better displacement and/or a wake shaper device that could switch between regular and goofy at the touch of a button?" According to the OP he had spoken to the guys at the shop on his tour and was told they "had no plans" to make such a device (which I believe). So for shits and giggles I emailed their sales email address and asked them to look into it and that I believe there would be a market for this product.

I received this response:

I appreciate you reaching out to us about developing a wake or surf plate or some sort of wave shaping device. We do have ton of experience since 1997 with developing trim tab systems for all types of boats, but not as much on the wake plate side of things. We do have a control switch that we developed for a company called Wakeland where they installed an aftermarket wake plate kit using our actuators and control switch. The control switch is really neat. You can program it to adjust the actuator/plate manually and save both the left surf and right surf in memory. So you just press right or left button to automatically adjust for surfing that side. It works great but we just have not developed the surf plates ourselves. We could definitely use your expertise for help with that. If you are willing to help us develop the wake plates for jet boats, I can get you whatever trim tab equipment or surf plates you need for testing. Let me know what you think of this idea.

I replied to him that I would not be MY first choice to help out in development of such a system (I'm a marketing nerd, not an engineer), but, there's a ton of surf-obsessed Yamaha guys on the jetboaters.net that are probably closer to their shop in VA, might have the technical skills to help them, and might be interested. I asked him if I could share this with the forum and he gave me the green light.

I told him I wouldn't open share his contact info (due to spam bots and spiders) but would DM to anyone that is intrigued. @jcyamaharider / @Cobra Jet Steering LLC / @J-RAD / @JetBoatPilot you guys seem to know the most about these boats when it comes to aftermarket - opportunity for partnership maybe?

Personally, I would pay some good money to have an automatic wake shaping device on both sides and/or a surf plate on the stern.

 

[BigAbe75]

Sounds interesting for sure. I would have sent to jcyamaharider... and you already did that. ?

 

[jacoviii]

I would be all over this...

 

[jacoviii]

This thread came up just recently and I openly pondered the question "could Lectrotab make a wake plate that deploys deeper into the stream for better displacement and/or a wake shaper device that could switch between regular and goofy at the touch of a button?" According to the OP he had spoken to the guys at the shop on his tour and was told they "had no plans" to make such a device (which I believe). So for shits and giggles I emailed their sales email address and asked them to look into it and that I believe there would be a market for this product.

I received this response:

I appreciate you reaching out to us about developing a wake or surf plate or some sort of wave shaping device. We do have ton of experience since 1997 .

I also dm'd you

 

[Scottintexas]

I thought we had someone years ago that motorized their wake wedge ???

 

[jacoviii]

This would not be a wedge. The wake wedge deflects the jet stream/wash down to help the water on the surf side "slip stream water" to over come the jet stream/wash. This is more along the lines of the Centurions, Supra, Go Surf Assist,... I just tried a low mounted DIY surf gate. It was under the swim platform and extended 8" down and extended 12" past the rear of the boat over all length was 30" With a heavy list it evened out the pull and need for counter steer so the boat track well. Stock Ballast was 100% surf side 70% locker and 700lb on the stern. But the gate had issues it was very large, a pain to stow and @ 35mph in choppy water it bent the 3/16" aluminium plate LOL.

The issues with making a Yamaha surf is weight(242x 4752lb)/ draft (242x 18"), tracking, jet stream direction, and more. Ok so weight is EZ right? No having enough people is not reliable. So add ballast bags? Well everyone complains about the price, time to fill them and changing the bags around for listing for surf side. Also once you get enough ballast we find we need lucky cones / different impellers.

Surf boats (centurion FI23) weight 5300lb/ draft 32". Tracking larger rudder extending 10"+ below the hull and a mid hull tracking fin or two.
They also ballast 4200lb+ on top of the static weight . Surf boat/ ski boats with a flatter / shallow V tend to use a surf gate to crab the tracking and add delay the wave convergence. The surf boats with a deep V tend to use a surf tab. These tabs add hull length to the non surf side and redirect the flow of water.

So my plans are more ballast and evenly ballast. So as of now 850 on stern, 1000 over the gas tank, 400lb in the bow or as needed. full stock ballast. Jet nozzle inserts to redirect the stream like surfpoint but ( towed in and down) and still be able to run CJ fins, Modified trim tabs. Relocate the radio cause it will be submerged.
Sounds like a lot but our first issue is draft and jet wash. If out draft was 32" jet wash would not be an issue but time to plane and top speed would be. So you have to ask what do you want in a boat.

 

[Enduro900]

Very interested in following these developments.

There also could be some patent hurdles in the way....

 

[anmut]

Very interested in following these developments.

There also could be some patent hurdles in the way....

I agree that there's some hurdles to jump with this - however my initial thought still stands - a bigger and wider tab that articulates down under the transom farther. I think using a combo of port/stbd could create a much better wave, possibly with less ballast, and you'd still gain benefit of the trim tabs when not surfing.

 

[jacoviii]

I agree that there's some hurdles to jump with this - however my initial thought still stands - a bigger and wider tab that articulates down under the transom farther. I think using a combo of port/stbd could create a much better wave, possibly with less ballast, and you'd still gain benefit of the trim tabs when not surfing.

No you will still need a "ton" of ballast. With the tabs they lift the back of our lightweight boats too easily

 

[Scottintexas]

So I get trying to use the tabs to shape a wave coming from the hull but don't you still have to knock down/shape the spray from the jet or are you envisioning a wakebooster type product ?

 

[Chad Nelson]

I'm In!

 

[tylerwillsey]

I am very interested as we surf on my 2019 AR195 every weekend down here in NE Florida.

 

[Bogus]

Im also interested in

 

[2kwik4u]

What we need is an articulating underwater surf wing.

Moves down and provides "downforce" at slow speeds. Variable pitch and angle for listing and downforce adjustment. Articulates up above the jet wash when not in "ballast mode" and maybe deflects the jet wash down a bit for tubing, or works as additional lift for trim purposes. Would have to tie into the transom significantly to hold the necessary forces, then would have some significant actuators to hold the wing in place. Would expensive as all dammit too.

Like this, but actuated with an articulating foil



I should google before I speak. Appears Malibu already has a patent on this

Thoughts?