Double Wake

[TigeTrojan]

So awesome and something I'm definitely not ready to try!

[Nobody]

I say patent it.

[AdaminMN]

We tried this a couple years ago. Our wakes didn't look as huge as yours though.

[MooseX]

Z3 is the boat on the viewers right? That wave in the first pic is just fabulous...yeah buddy

[ragboy]

The Z3 is the boat setup goofy, the one on the viewer's right, yes.

[Ewok]

-Make sure you have the water to yourself.

-Get both boats in sync with there speed first before you even start with a rider in the water.

-Designate one driver as the leader the other as the follower. The follower needs to be the better driver.

-The boats will be closer than you expect, both drivers need to be 100% attentive to whats going on. There is not a lot of room for error or little mistakes.

Turbonine's tips are spot on, and it is not for the faint of heart. I tried it one other time and it was too choppy and we aborted. This time it was a weekday after school has started and no one was out there, I think we saw one boat. It was glass also. I had Dave set his speed around 11mph and I made sure we had lots of room to go straight with no turns. He was to just get straight and hold. I pulled in and had to match his speed and listen to RJ about closer or farther. I had to FOCUS. I stared at the TAPS sticker under Dave's windshield and did NOT look up other than to check ahead quickly. The second driver pulling up is a bit tough and you have to FOCUS, no distractions. We didn't do it long because it felt like something would go wrong if you kept doing it.

I will get some video, I think I have it from at least 2 cameras, its pretty darn cool.

When I tried this with WABoating it took some thinking and planning on both our parts, and then a good formation briefing about how to start, and when the rider falls, what to do. This is what we came up with.

You need to designate a lead boat and number 2, or the chase. The lead boat gets the rider up, sets cruise and drives a straight line. The chase starts at the same time as the lead boat but a little farther away and slowly moves into position. In our experience, the chase should not use cruise control, just use manual throttle and pick 3 points of reference on the lead boat to keep spacially aware and not to get fixated on one point. We tried this twice with no rider to practice station keeping and the break-up. When the rider falls the chase needs to peel away from the lead boat and wait a little longer before going into idle to slow down. The lead boat can slow down and pick up the down rider when he has safe separation from the chase boat.

The Venturi effect is real and you can see the water between the two boats accelerate a little and that makes the low pressure area which sucks the boats together. We didn't get close enough to feel the boats get any suction or movement toward each other but if we try this again we are going to need to get a little closer so there is less mush in the middle and the rider can go ropeless between the two wakes.

I also think it's better for the lead boat to have the port ballast full and the wing boat to have the starboard side full, so the chase is listed toward the lead boat and is driving the boat from the closest spot looking at the lead boat, I imagine it's much harder to do this looking across your own boat first and then lining up on the lead boat.

[ragboy]

Yes, no question the chase boat can't use cruise and should be on the left so he is on the side of the other boat, to see perfectly. As you get closer, you def feel the effect which is why I was focus'd so hard.

[mls6722]

love the video

[550orm5]

Nice work!

[chpthril]

I say patent it.

Unfortunately, using a different surf board would constitute a 20% difference, thus rendering the patent useless

[goboardgo]

Thtrog and I have done this a few times but at wakeboard speeds. The boat pulling the rider drives straight and the other boat comes up on the port side. That way, as the driver, you can monitor your distance. BTW- where the wakes collide, it makes a wall of water about 5 - 6' high! Pretty awesome!

[Wakeman22]

Very cool...