Wakesurf History: 2012 Tige Z3

[topaz surfer]

Excellent write up. That is very awesome that you guys get to be part of the r&d for Tige with a surf boat. I think it is great that Tige is willing to listen and involve you and you deserve it. Ragboy you have been a great help to the growing sport of wake surfing and I would not be a Tige owner without your help. Hats off to you, and I can't wait to see your new boat and what you guys do with it.

[Timmy!]

Wow! What a great write up Ragboy! The attention that Tige has given you guys just blows me away! It really shows their commitment to making a quality surf boat that people will want to buy. The Z3 is so gorgeous and I was disappointed with your initial review because I was hoping that it would make a significant impact in the surfing community. I am very happy to see that Tige went waaaaay above and beyond on this boat to make it what we were all hoping for! Congrats to Tige and the Wake9 crew for setting a new benchmark in the Tige wakesurfing community!!!!

[mainewakeboarding]

Thanks for all the good work. Do you think the solid swim platform makes much of a difference or is it mostly the hull?

[talltigeguy]

Thanks for all the good work. Do you think the solid swim platform makes much of a difference or is it mostly the hull?

On the Z3 at the Lake Mead reunion (the one that they gave back) the swimstep was not even touching the water, even with an Enzo sack and multiple men on the surf side. It will be fun to see if the final version will even have a swimstep that touches the water. Hopefully not, it would seem that using the swimstep to shape the wave is not ideal from a purist standpoint, although I think the 24Ve does that to some degree.

[ragboy]

I don't remember if it was touching or not, I know the deck angles up a bit. But here is a picture of the RZ4 wake, and you can see the turbulence. Those do not exist on our 24Ve, or this new Z3. Filling in the bottom, a smooth bottom of the deck def makes a difference in the wake.

[Moki]

Great story and video! I think I found my next boat. I wasn't sure if I was going to get another Tige or look at other brands, but this boat and video is compelling!

[ragboy]

I don't think you will be disappointed.

[Wakeman22]

Ragboy you are the man. Keep up the greart work. I now have a 24ve for sale so I can get this new one....

[ragboy]

Your welcome, exciting times.

[Guma]

Ragboy - I know this boat was mainly for test the shape of the wake but was anything mentioned about how the bags would be plumbed in? Meaning, is there one or two pumps per side in the back?

I have a '10 Ve that I have put the custom sacs in. I never did anymore than that to the rear so our fill and empty times can get a bit long when swapping over or just heading in to the dock. I am looking at getting a Z3 and will take my custom sacs out of the Ve to install them in the Z3. I really want to find a way to cut down on the lenghty fill and empty times.

...and thanks for the great right up and video. Because of this post, I am seriously considering selling my '10 22Ve and getting into a Z3.

[Guma]

One more question... for now..LOL

Do you know the colors on the boat in the video? I am most interested in knowing if the the aft main panel w/graphics and the tower, if those are the Graphite color.

[chpthril]

Ragboy - I know this boat was mainly for test the shape of the wake but was anything mentioned about how the bags would be plumbed in? Meaning, is there one or two pumps per side in the back?

I have a '10 Ve that I have put the custom sacs in. I never did anymore than that to the rear so our fill and empty times can get a bit long when swapping over or just heading in to the dock. I am looking at getting a Z3 and will take my custom sacs out of the Ve to install them in the Z3. I really want to find a way to cut down on the lenghty fill and empty times. With the Pro option, the single bow sac is swapped for a pair of 400# sacs.

...and thanks for the great right up and video. Because of this post, I am seriously considering selling my '10 22Ve and getting into a Z3.

Guma,

The Z3 ballast is setup is the same as your current 2010 Ve. Each tank in the rear floor has a fill and a drain pump. The bow sac (with the base and surf option) has two fill pumps and two drain pumps. With the surf or pro option added, the additional 350# sacs are plumbed into the tanks' overflow hose to fill and drain back into the tank via gravity.

Plumbing in a reversible pump will speed up the time it takes to switch sides.

To reduce the overall fill and drain time, you would need plumb the added sacs with their own pumps.

[Timmy!]

Hey Ragboy, did the boat that you demoed have a completely smooth platform on the bottom? The one I looked at yesterday was 100% smooth and finished in matching gelcoat.

[Guma]

Thanks Mike, pretty much what I was guessing, so we will see if I go down that road.

[ragboy]

The ballast isn't quite the same, there is more ballast. The new pro system in the Z3 is going to have 2300 lbs, not 2000. I guess they are using bigger bags in the rear. The last boat we tested was not quite finished and they were using the 2000 lb system cuz they didn't have the larger bags in at the time. Other than that, the system is basically the same for 2012 as far as I know.

I do know that they have been asking for feedback on the system, and we have been giving them lots of feedback on the ballast system, and I know they are planning some very cool improvements in the near future, but I am guessing more for the 2013 line.

If you are looking for better fill times, we did that more experimental system with the 24Ve and it has worked extremely well and I know that wakemakers.com should have that production ready now, but not so sure on the Z3. I do know that we planned on having them help us with a special "competition" system for this new Z3 that is coming, so I am sure we will be posting on that with jason from wakemakers.com when the time comes.

The swim platform was definitely perfectly smooth on the bottom and the described a new process they had in place for making them, and they were doing directly based on feedback from wakesurfing. I am sure this will make it on other boats in the future, but I really don't know which or when.