Surfing Speed

[CJD]

Funny, this section always has viewers, but it has little action. SO, I decided to add something I have learned about wake surfing.

First of all, surfing is a blast. It is easy enough that we have yet to fail getting people up on their first time, so it is simple...and yet it has nuances that us old heads can work on, like forever. Setting the wave up has been a pain for us, though, since we have had no guidance. Last season we were surfing at 12 knots, 1100# on the goofy side and 700# in the nose of our 2005 24SSV, with the plate full nose up. To get a decent curl, we had to turn a bit into the surfer. The kids could surf great, but I could not find a spot where I could let go of the rope. I always fell out.

So, this season, we started with a new, larger board. I figured the old one was too small for me at 180lbs. This worked better, but the sweet spot I could work with no rope was very tight...like +-1foot. Not enough to do much with. So, better, but still not right. I finally broke the code. The boat speed has to be matched to the weight of the surfer! I found that my sweet spot opened up when I dropped the speed to 10.8 knots. The boat was no longer trying to outrun me. Finally! Also, we could straighten the boat out and no longer had to turn slightly into the surfer. Amazingly, only 1.2mph made a world of difference.

Well, thinking what was good for me must be good for the kids...I gave them the same speed. None of them liked it. Now they were constantly overrunning the boat. So...for those beginners like us...heavier surfers have more drag, so they tend to glide slower. Lighter surfers skim faster, so they need more boat speed. And 1 mph makes a huge difference when it comes to surfing.

If any of you have figured out tips and tricks for a beginner like me...please chime in!

[jtryon]

i've been surfing for the past 4 seasons, but the past two surfing has pretty much been ALL we do. i think it's a more friendly watersport than wakeboarding or skiing, and a lot lower-impact which is why everyone likes it when we have them try.

i have to say, you will lengthen that surfable area by 2-3x if you install some sort of delayed convergence system. i was in the same boat as you, having to be right off the platform to surf and had to really pay attention to stay in the sweet spot. after playing around with my own system based off of the hundreds of homebrew systems out there, it is the best thing i have done to my boat other than installing perfect pass. it's worth the time to throw one together with scraps of wood you have at home just to test it before making the plunge, but i haven't seen many people who haven't improved their surf wave this way.

[wotan2525]

Everyone has their own preference and as you get more experience riding you will find that the sweet spot gets larger and larger. I'm 220lbs and I haven't found a board that I can't ride, yet..... Larger boards are easier than the smaller ones but once I spend a few minutes figuring out the characteristics and how to weight them, I can ride just about anything.

[CJD]

"Delayed convergence"...is that the side plates the new boats come with?

[jtryon]

yes, the most popular are either the malibu-style paddles that swing out, or the nautique-style plates that slide out. both have been used with success. i found the malibu-style was easier to implement for me, and most people use that style when building their own. my first implementation during testing was a simple wal-mart cutting board (15"x20") with the board cut to match the hull contour. mounted that to a couple 2x4's that were cut to sandwich the platform edge, held on by ratchet straps. took maybe an hour to build and had great results. do a little research on "ghetto-gate" and you'll see many many similar implementations to draw inspiration from!

[Zim]

I have a 20V, and while the surfing wave isn't anything like the new boats with surf systems, it's pretty damn respectable for what it is, and I'm able to surf that boat no problem at all. I found there's a few ways to alter your wave.

First, weight - Obviously you need some weight in the boat. I've got a 750lb bag in the rear locker of my boat. I fill that up, and I fill up the 400lb bag in my ski locker. With just that, I can surf the wave, but it's not my favorite wave to surf. The wave gets much bigger with more weight, so whether that's people, or that's ballast, more weight helps. I have 2 extra 400lb bags that I fill up around the boat when I don't have a big crew. Usually just 1 of the 400lb bags on the surf side rear seat adds a good bit of height, which for my boat, translates to push. Also, the further the weight is to the rear corner of the boat, the more it helps the shape/height of the wave. I don't find that more than the 400lb bag in the ski locker is beneficial. If I have people up there, fine, but I'd rather them be in the back on the surf side.

Second, Speed - This is hard to dial in on a per person basis. It varies slightly from my experience based on how much weight is in the boat, and how big your rider is. If you have a lot of weight in the boat, you might need a little bit more speed to clean the wave up. If your wave is washing out, try speeding the boat up a bit. If your wave looks long, but has no push, slow the boat down a bit. This paired with the next variable (the wake plate) is the hardest thing to get right IMO.

Last, wakeplate - This only applies if you have one that's adjustable at the helm. The plate lets you shape the wave to be steeper or longer at any speed. Finding that perfect combo is what takes time. If I want a longer wave to play on, I have the wakeplate around 75% up. If I want as steep as possible, I go full 100% up. I've had it as low as 50%, but only because I was running a crap-ton of weight (2700lbs plus people) and it was washy. The plate helps with that. Adjusting all of this together can make for a great wave... it just takes some dialing in.

My best setup is 750lb surf side locker bag full. Other locker empty. Ski locker 400lb bag full, extra 400lb bag full on surf side rear seat in the corner, then 4-5 other people all huddled on the surf side as much as possible, and one of those sitting on the back corner of my sun pad. Wake plate at 75%, speed unknown... but roughly 2650-2700 RPM's in RPM mode (my speedo's never worked). I can play all day on that wave.

[CJD]

Interesting info!

So what speeds are you guys using?

[Zim]

Interesting info!

So what speeds are you guys using?

No idea. Speedo is broken. I'll run my phones GPS next time, but I'd guess somewhere in the 10.5-11.5 range.

[CJD]

I've been studying all those wake gate systems on u tube. They are cool and all...but I'm getting a better wave than they are on the tube with 2500lbs in our 24ssv. The more I thought about the physics, tilting the boat accomplishes the same thing as a gate. The advantage of the gates seems to be the ability to switch between straight and goofy without transferring a ton of ballast.

That said...can someone explain the difference between the systems that are side gates and bottom hull gates? Do they accomplish the same thing? Is one better or more efficient?

I played some more with speeds today. I can ride the wave between 10 and 11.3mph. Below those speeds I sink. Above those speeds I cannot skim fast enough to keep up with the boat. Now the kids end up on the swim platform if we run less than 10.5mph. They seem to be happiest at 11.7 to 12 mph. They do have the advantage of a longer curl at those speeds.

[Wrenhaven]

Great info! I'm taking notes as I read!