wave smoothing surf flap -- easy to mount on 2009 brackets

[Stingreye]

Sorry all, bad storms in St Louis region yesterday. And today is too cool to drive all the way Rend Lake, IL, to take the boat out.

I will definitely have pics and a full report next weekend.

Looking forward to seeing your results!

[Duncan]

SUCCESS

Pics/vid soon to come after they come off the camera.

First, the super flap reduced/eliminated spray. The wind kicked up a bit on Saturday and pre-flap there would have been spray in the rider's face. With the flap, the area between the rider and boat was throwing no spray. Wind and spray was a problem all last season. Solved.

Second, big aesthetic improvements on the wave. Clean wave face and more importantly wave peak. With the pre-2011 swim platform having an underside lip, our wave always looked a little messy along the peak and some of the face. My wife (the best surfer of us all) really, really liked the look of the new wave.

Third, there were no reverse issues. The boat handled just as it always has. Of course, I never nail it hard in reverse so who knows how it would handle like that.

Fourth, no problems at wakeboarding speeds (e.g., 23 mph) or transit speeds (30 mph). The flap just tucks up against the rear edge of the platform.

My wife is especially thrilled. Between the tweaked wave and her new v2f4 black stixx fins (Xmas present), she was a VERY happy surfer.

[Stingreye]

SUCCESS

Pics/vid soon to come after they come off the camera.

First, the super flap reduced/eliminated spray. The wind kicked up a bit on Saturday and pre-flap there would have been spray in the rider's face. With the flap, the area between the rider and boat was throwing no spray. Wind and spray was a problem all last season. Solved.

Second, big aesthetic improvements on the wave. Clean wave face and more importantly wave peak. With the pre-2011 swim platform having an underside lip, our wave always looked a little messy along the peak and some of the face. My wife (the best surfer of us all) really, really liked the look of the new wave.

Third, there were no reverse issues. The boat handled just as it always has. Of course, I never nail it hard in reverse so who knows how it would handle like that.

Fourth, no problems at wakeboarding speeds (e.g., 23 mph) or transit speeds (30 mph). The flap just tucks up against the rear edge of the platform.

My wife is especially thrilled. Between the tweaked wave and her new v2f4 black stixx fins (Xmas present), she was a VERY happy surfer.

Thanks Duncan! Great to hear more success with this. I had my first run with my FAE and noticed a change in the prop wash and definitely more spray. Flap coming soon in my future!

[Duncan]

A few flap vids and a no-flap pic under similar conditions. Re vids, a friend had the camera and, despite me explaining I needed the edge of the platform in the shot, that did not really happen (next weekend, I will hold a camera while on the board to get images of what is happening under the platform).

Short 30 sec vid with flap (11.5 mph, TAPS 4, FAE exhaust, 1000# port rear, 250# port locker, 300# port bow, 3 adult passengers on port bench, adult driver). Conditions were slightly choppy and wind about 8-10 mph. Crossed another boat's wake at 20 secs -- without flap, spray would be everywhere.

The pic below is from last season WITHOUT the flap. Wind was probably about 5-8 mph judging from chop. Note large volume of spray near center, more churned water with more rooster tail, and the white frothy line half way across the wave and extending backwards. I grabbed this pic quick last night -- I will hunt around for others.

[Duncan]

One more flap vid.

1 min vid with flap, same setup as above. At 30 secs, you can see a bit of the platform.

[MooseX]

I got nothing when I click on the video...

Here's my version..tried to copy Duff'. The rubber is thick and pretty damn stiff...but now I'm rethinking and maybe i should have some kind of lateral support

[Stingreye]

One more flap vid.

1 min vid with flap, same setup as above. At 30 secs, you can see a bit of the platform.

Duncan, Looks great! I imagine its especially helpful for RZ2's with that platform lip. I took my boat out twice without FAE and the wash was not a big problem. With the FAE, there was definitely more wash and it kicks up in a rooster as you said. If there was a wind going toward the surfside it was annoying. It also seems like I had to have the TAPS plate a lot lower to clean up the the wave.

Did you notice any changes to the range of TAPs that was useful?

I really don't have many hours at all behind my boat yet but I definitely am working on adding this mod!

[Duncan]

With the FAE, there was definitely more wash and it kicks up in a rooster as you said. If there was a wind going toward the surfside it was annoying. It also seems like I had to have the TAPS plate a lot lower to clean up the the wave.

Did you notice any changes to the range of TAPs that was useful?

Agreed re lip of platform and FAE. And like you said above, any wind to surfside would pick up the spray and throw it in the riders face. That was a constant issue last season, especially because if it was windy, we were probably surfing rather than wakeboarding (I get the wakeboard sessions with perfect conditions ).

I did notice a little difference with TAPS. Without the flap, TAPS 5 would increase the height of the wave but it would get messier (more froth). With the flap, TAPS 5 was noticeably cleaner. Because it is early in the season, my wife is only running 11.5 mph on her Walker F-18. At 11.5 mph, TAPS 6 or above shortens the pocket too much. In a few weeks, we will bump her back up to 12.5 mph and then experiment with higher TAPS.

[duffymahoney]

The secret to the flap is stiff rubber. My wave is perfectly clean on both sides on almost all taps settings now. It's pretty amazing. I have built 4 of these and the horse stall mat going straight down works the best so far. Nice work on the wave! Looking good!

[Duncan]

The secret to the flap is stiff rubber. My wave is perfectly clean on both sides on almost all taps settings now. It's pretty amazing. I have built 4 of these and the horse stall mat going straight down works the best so far. Nice work on the wave! Looking good!

I agree that a stiff rubber mat going straight down would probably clean our RZ2 wave up even farther. But ... the mounting would be ALOT more complicated and there would be a lot more stresses on the platform or brackets. Also, to counter the lip on my swim platform, I need to go all the across, making it even more complicated.

I think the floppy mat gets most of the benefit of cleaning up the wave and eliminating (FAE) spray and is much easier, quicker, and cheaper to mount. Of course, I got very lucky that there were two holes in the bracket at about the right position.

[Duncan]

Brief update. I am back in love with my 09 RZ2 surf wake with most, if not all, traces of upgrade-itis removed. Really windy this weekend and, without the flap, the rooster tail spray would have been all over the riders face (i.e., my wife, the most important rider , and the checks-and-balances function of boat upgrades like my recent stereo boost). With the flap, there was virtually no spray.

I continue to be impressed by the aesthetic improvements of the wake. In smooth running conditions, it is as pristine as I could expect. I was always somewhat envious of pics showing other smooth and clean wakes. The difference is hard to capture with a picture. Also, the wave "recovers" faster. For example, when you cross a boat wake, of course there is mess and froth, but that seems to clean up faster. Same with start-up, the wave just cleans faster.

Reverse has not been a problem. Backing off the trailer and docking (45 degree angle, slow, with a bit of reverse to crab walk parallel to the dock and stop) is the same as it always has been.

I have examined the mat for wear and there appears to be no stress points or beginnings of a tear. I assume this is because there is no lateral shear forces trying to shred the mat. Also, the threaded rod does not appear to be deformed and the neoprene washers have not pinched through. I plan to remove the outer bolts on the threaded rod to look at what is happening with the 1" gasket that surrounds the 3/8" rod.

Before I mounted the pad, I traced the outline onto a large piece of paper. I would be glad to trace a copy for anyone with the same era swim platform as a starting point. It took a lot of messing around, measuring, cutting and re-cutting. So if you are going to try it, you might as well benefit from the template as a starting place. If those neoprene discs or the 1" gasket are hard to find, I would be glad to pick some up from the local store too.

I will look at some video from this weekend to see if different useful perspectives were captured.

[MooseX]

PICS Please. I might have to rethink mine. Your wave sounds like it's pretty nice

[laserfish]

Duncan and Moose, what are the dimensions of your mat (width vs length)? Looks like a fun experiment that won't cost an arm and leg. Our wave is great, but if we could clean some of the spray, why not make it better. Thanks

[Duncan]

Duncan and Moose, what are the dimensions of your mat (width vs length)? Looks like a fun experiment that won't cost an arm and leg. Our wave is great, but if we could clean some of the spray, why not make it better. Thanks

My mat is pictured at the beginning of this thread. It spans the full platform side-to-side and extends about an inch past the rear of the platform. What made my install inexpensive was the holes already in the swim platform bracket. If you do not have something similar, it might be more difficult to design the mount.

Also, a lot of my problem was caused by the FAE. If you do not have an FAE, you might not get as much benefit.

[laserfish]

FAE is a great addition, but mine does cause some additional spray but well worth the quiet. Upgradeitis is a terrible disease, but the cure is so fun! Hope to get started on this one soon.