New Swim Platform

[MJHKnox]

I have seen the posts of people adding the new swim platforms to their boats. Some have mentioned it does interfere with their surf wakes.

I have a 2007 Supra SSV 22'. It has the rail around the outside of the platform. I’ve talked to people that get rid of the rail on the platform so things do not get lodged between the rail and the platform.

I know the new platforms have better pads on top with the logo.

Has anyone upgraded and noticed differences on the shape of the surf wake?
If so, what model boat did you have?

Mark

[crystal waters]

I would never get rid of the rail around the platform.
It is in my mind a great safety device to quickly grab onto if need be when in the water.
You have to manage your ropes and equioement always when in use so as not to entangle a passenger etc so its no more effort to ensure you are not ensnarled on the grab rail.
There was a post on this same issue earlier this year and if I recall correctly the vast majority of replies was for keepng the grab rail.

[99bison]

I posted the earlier thread in the rail last winter, based on everyones feedback left the rail on, but will be taking it off this winter. Sure enough sons leg got stuck in between.

Not to mention gain another few inches of surf :), and less wakeboard wear for those sliding off.

[trayson]

I have seen the posts of people adding the new swim platforms to their boats. Some have mentioned it does interfere with their surf wakes.

I have a 2007 Supra SSV 22'. It has the rail around the outside of the platform. I’ve talked to people that get rid of the rail on the platform so things do not get lodged between the rail and the platform.

I know the new platforms have better pads on top with the logo.

Has anyone upgraded and noticed differences on the shape of the surf wake?
If so, what model boat did you have?

Mark

Me and my buddy are talking about making a new platform for my 92 sunsport. Here is a pic that we've been using in our discussion.

The blue line is about where the water line is when we're surfing. and the green unfortunately is where my outside platform bracket is so that really limits out ability to cut any of the corner off when we make a new platform...

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-LbJS8IaIlTQ/UgJilzfr0XI/AAAAAAAAOps/8yve-EMlhTg/s800/photo.jpg

I want to replicate the concept of the Supra Surf platform as much as possible.
http://diamondlakeswatersports.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/platforms.jpg?w=950


A big key is that any new platform would have a SMOOTH bottom. My OEM platform is fiberglass and has a HUGE lip that digs into the water and I'm sure is affecting my surf wave.
You can see the lip and the placement of my platform brackets here:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yhm3FJ26rZk/UgmA_rY39sI/AAAAAAAAOwA/DKIdCMx3HxI/s800/20130812_115954.jpg

Also, in this video, you can see what my platform is doing and how it's cutting into the wave...
http://contour.com/stories/supra-sunsport-doing-surf-duty

I too like the concept of a grab rail. And when we make a custom platform, I'm not sure if we'll be able to retain anything like this... We'll see.

[JohnsonT]

Trayson- If you decide to go about building a custom platform do you plan on using the old one as a model or something completely new? If you are interested in selling the OEM one I would be very interested in buying it from you.

[trayson]

Trayson- If you decide to go about building a custom platform do you plan on using the old one as a model or something completely new? If you are interested in selling the OEM one I would be very interested in buying it from you.

It honestly depends on how well the custom one turns out. I would be taking the old one off completely, so if I do decide to sell, I'll let ya'all know.

[MJHKnox]

Next time surfing I have to pay more attention to see if what 'drag' I'm getting on passenger side from the platform and/or corners of the platform.

The Moomba Forum has a few posts on this topic. Plus they discuss the costs.

One post mentions putting some water in the opposite-side (driver side bag) to level-out the weight. The swim platform was dragging enough to cause a little rooster-tail. Anyone try that?

Mark

[Supra-in-steamboat]

We add weight to the opposite bow and sometimes passenger area to somewhat reduce the platform drag, but it is sort of inevitable. We are also contemplating making a wooden version of Surf platform this winter. Great back to back pic of the platforms Trayson, pretty much enough said when you look at the pic. Good luck making your wave tastier everyone.

[trayson]

I am pretty confident that weighting more equally won't help me out. I used to put my tube sack along the rear floor and my 750 fat sack beside the doghouse. That was "okay" but too much weight rear and not enough in the back corner. Now I put the 370 tube sack beside the doghouse and the 750 fat sack on top of it scooted to the rear corner in the seat.

So taking away list to make the swim platform happy wouldn't help me with the rear corner weight I need in my DD.

It's pretty obvious on mine that the platform is cutting the wave. Not sure how much of an impact, but we'll see after we prototype a home brew surf platform... (to the extent available w/o moving my brackets).

[2500HD]

Why not just make one out of wood, then make new platform brackets that are angled towards the center allowing you to angle the swim platform?

[trayson]

Why not just make one out of wood, then make new platform brackets that are angled towards the center allowing you to angle the swim platform?

Because I don't weld.

[villain]

If you send me the dimensions that you want I can do it out if steel. Don't have a machine to do aluminum yet. If it is powder coated good it should last a lifetime or close to it.

[beat taco]

Because I don't weld.

I can hook you up with some boogers, send me a pm if you need some welding.

[Blackntan90]

What about 'capping' the bottom of your stock platform with sheet aluminum or even 'glass? I may look into this myself...

[trayson]

What about 'capping' the bottom of your stock platform with sheet aluminum or even 'glass? I may look into this myself...

I thought about that too. Just didn't want to encase it so much that I couldn't access the screws to remove it from the brackets. Decided that a custom shape was worth going forward on a prototype with.

[villain]

What ^^^ said. Lol

[trayson]

So, made some progress on the surf platform. My buddy Phathom is doing the work, and together we've been doing lots of planning and measurements.

Here's how it's looking so far:


Still have to sand down more(possibly) and coat the bottom. It's all cut, sanded and coated on the top. It is measuring 62" at transom, 14.5" deep the brackets, 13 3/4" long angled transition, and a 43" wide platform end that measures about 23 7/8" long transom to platform end all at 7/8" thick.

It's made out of two pieces of plywood sandwiched together, because that's the wood we had laying around. Spray on undercoating to cover it, again because we had it laying around. If we like it, we'll glass in the wood and put some closed cell foam decking pad on it.

My outer brackets were pretty wide, so we did what we could on width as I didn't have much of an interest in moving them or making new ones. (thanks for the welding offers though). I should have to cut off about 1.5" of the extisting outer brackets though. But it's the flat bar before the angle brace comes in, so it shouldn't affect things much. Not sure if we'll have to shim the new platform up or if it'll be thick enough to match the height of the existing as is.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_bg42R-hEiQ/UjH370_dkXI/AAAAAAAAO90/sS74r1vYodg/s800/IMG_20130911_233806_076.jpg

[2500HD]

Hey Trayson, since your building your own swim deck. You should really look at adding a wake shaper like i made to it. It's well worth the 25 minutes it takes to build it. And best of all it only takes 3 seconds to switch sides. You'll also be amazed at the wave. Heck i was surfin with just the rear locker full last time i went.

[kvand347]

Waiting to see how this all turns out. If it works, I may be doing the triple conversion in the spring: DIY FAE, platform, and wake shaper!

[trayson]

Well, we have a few coats of spray on undercoating on it now. Tonight we'll mount it up to the OEM brackets. Tomorrow we're supposed to have sunny weather, so our goal is to do a test with it tomorrow. Hope to get some pics/video.

In the end, if this works, we will probably re-do it using a single piece of wood and might also fiberglass the whole thing. We'll see. Stay tuned...

[MJHKnox]

Hey Trayson, since your building your own swim deck. You should really look at adding a wake shaper like i made to it. It's well worth the 25 minutes it takes to build it. And best of all it only takes 3 seconds to switch sides. You'll also be amazed at the wave. Heck i was surfin with just the rear locker full last time i went.

2500HD - is this your thread?

https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?14955-DIY-Wake-shaper

Mark

[2500HD]

2500HD - is this your thread?

https://forum.supraboats.com/showthread.php?14955-DIY-Wake-shaper

Mark
yep, that's it.