Plate Adjustment

[mapleleaf]

Mikey,
I'll get some pic's this summer of the Conbrio at speed with the plate down.....You wanna talk about the bow low!!!!! It's border line submarine!!!!
Should not be attempted at home or in choppy water!!!!
And you're right, out back the wake looks like it was left by a kayak!

[csuggs]

The plate on my 86 doesn't have that much movement. I wonder what the rest of y'all have on yours? My manual calls it a cavitation plate and says "DO NOT lower the cavitation plate below the horizontal plane or raise it over 1/2".
What's up with that? It also says to raise the cav plate 1/2" above the horizontal plane for trick or barefoot skiing.

[Mr oppenheimer]

my 88 mariah and the 87 sunsport don't even have a hinge. they just flex. how far did they design that to go? not very far I think

[csuggs]

Yeah - mine's not hinged either, just a plate that is supposed to flex somehow. Maybe there's an updated version of the plate that is more useful that would replace the OEM plate?

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Yeah my OEM manual says that about the plate too "DO NOT lower the cavitation plate below the horizontal plane or raise it over 1/2". When I have mine as far up as it will go, it is pretty much horizontal. I don't think it goes past much. I will check. I wonder what that would do. Maybe could help.

[csuggs]

I suppose that if we knew what would make a better wake, we could remove the plate, bend it to the appropriate angle and re-install. My only concern then would be if the plate was bent down, would the mounting screws hold with all the extra drag?

[Mr oppenheimer]

mikey-dee's plate is alot like the taps set up on Tiges' that they started in 99 or 2000. my friend had a 21v and when you put the plate way down below the plane of the stern or transom it would lower the bow and the deep v of the hull would cut through rough water and you could go at a pretty good speed in some nasty water with a really really good ride. I have always wondered if it would work on our supras

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Yeah if it is a rough day and we are just cruising slow I put the plate way down and it helps smooth the ride out a LOT.

Sometimes when we are cruising fast and it's rough, the bow bounces up and down and slaps the water making a rough ride. Pretty much every boat does this sometimes. When you lower the plate a little it pushed more of the deep vee keel in the bow into the water and really splits the waves and stops the bouncing action. Interesting really.

As far as something that makes the wake bigger, though, the effect is not that great. I would think very minor adjustments up or down would have the biggest chance of making the wake bigger. I would say keep messing with it, because I think the old ones could find an optimal setting too.

[Dinoz]

Hey guys,

What I've learned about the plate on my '89 comp is that it's really meant for moving the "bump" around for short line skiing, and to "soften" up the wake. Keep in mind that when you move the plate up it does soften the wake, however it makes it look somewhat ugly, move it down and it reduces the bump, but also makes the wake harder. Now this is coming from a skiers point of view, not sure how it will really help the boarders. bottom line is that there isn't a lot of adjustment, boarding really wasn't in mind when they made these boats in the 80's. hope that helps.

DZ.

[Salty87]

...waiting for a volunteer to take theirs off...

not it