Who Owns What???

[tigesinaus]

I have alwayz been interestested in boats, especially wakeboardboats, with all the new and old devices to enhance and shape wakes. I have been noticing everybody is claiming "their" device is the best, and running down other peoples designs, just look at the mastercraft videos on youtube.

so i wanted to put the question out there, who owns what??

Tige has the TAPS system which basically alters the pitch of the boat to enhance/decresase the wake....




Buuuuuut Supra has a strangely similar system called the "Smartplate" which also adjusts the pitch of the boat and shapes the wake (and also moves automatically to help the boat get on the plain, then returns to wake mode).




And then theres Malibu with the revolutionary WEDGE, which adds downforce without the need for ballast, and now can be operated from the cockpit and has different settings with POWER WEDGE..




Buuuuuuut Centurion has the SWITCHBLADE which looks awfully like a wedge, but is somehow revolutionary to them.... but maybe they had it first??




and then there is the Correct Craft HYDROGATE, which i dont fully understand but also seems to work in a similar way to taps by altering the pitch of the hull.




another question.... which is best????

[zad0030]

the difference between the taps and smartplate is that supra's hull does not work in conjunction with the plate like the convex v does with taps.

Wedge and switchblade are very similiar in functioun but different in looks. Centurion actually bought that design from some guy who built it into an old nautique I thnk, maybe mastercraft.

Hydrogate changes the flow of water somewhere, I don't really get it either but it does work.

[rogersbm82]

I have always heard that the drag hardware such as the wedge and switchblade greatly reduce handling. I have never driven one with that or even rode in one but from what I have heard it is not very practical.

[dogbert]

I have always heard that the draq hardware such as the wedge and switchblade greatly reduce handling. I have never driven one with that or even rode in one but from what I have heard it is not very practical.

I would say that this is true because I did get some of that when I added my FAE. Larry Mann told me he's reduced the length of the downspout and has offered to swap mine out to fix this issue and some of the excessive spray I'm getting with certain speed/TAPS settings.

[da.bell]

MB's have TAPS also.

[jhodnett]

MB's have TAPS also.

So does Sanger.

[laserfish]

All of these manufacturers said at one time or another that the TAPS is just a gimmick and does not work. Just look at them now.

[Jason B]

I just grab some fat girls. I bait my boat with Doritos and Twinkies--they come running.

[Redlined]

I think it has more to do with patents.
All these devises do the same thing, regardless of their sales tactics.

[formandfunction]

Taps is a trim adjustable tab just like the other ten million trim tabs before it.There is nothing different or special about any of them.A freind of mine was at the lake last week with his 1959 chriscraft.It has a brass trim tab on the back.I don't remember what they called it but the function was the same.Sanger jet boats along with eliminator and most others used them too.In the eighties they started making them power adjustable for the io market.
The wedge and foil are aimed at pulling the boat down in the water but unlike water ballast they create drag and affect your gas bill/handling.

[laserfish]

I believe that Tige is the first to actually change the bottom of the hull to work with the effects of the trim tab. Hence, the patent on the convex v hull.

[zad0030]

Yeah, actually the Tige Taps system is the only one thats unique because tige is the only one who changed the hull so it works with the taps. The convex V, if you look at it closely you can actually see how at the stern the hull starts to curve up. This allows the hull to settle in its natural position for wakeboarding and the plate pushes the stern up for less drag for slalom.

[TJRiver]

Taps is a trim adjustable tab just like the other ten million trim tabs before it.There is nothing different or special about any of them.A freind of mine was at the lake last week with his 1959 chriscraft.It has a brass trim tab on the back.I don't remember what they called it but the function was the same.Sanger jet boats along with eliminator and most others used them too.In the eighties they started making them power adjustable for the io market.
The wedge and foil are aimed at pulling the boat down in the water but unlike water ballast they create drag and affect your gas bill/handling.

TAPS includes both the trim tab and the convex hull design. Trim tabs on a regular hull just adjust for poor installation of the drive system (I/O or otherwise) or too much HP for the hull.

How does loading your boat with hundreds or thousands of extra pounds (water, lead or fat chicks) not affect your gas bill? More weight or more drag = less gas milage.

[formandfunction]

Loading a boat down causes a serious loss but dragging a stick through the water causes drag that you don't get from waterbags.Ive been on the same tank of gas for almost a month(of course my boat holds fifty gallons)and you just can't get that from a wedge.

[zad0030]

Loading a boat down causes a serious loss but dragging a stick through the water causes drag that you don't get from waterbags.Ive been on the same tank of gas for almost a month(of course my boat holds fifty gallons)and you just can't get that from a wedge.

Well there is definately more factors to fuel efficiency than what type of wake system you use. How often you use the boat, how fast you drive, what watersports you do, hull design, hull shape, boat length, boat weight, size of the engine, make of the engine, year of the engine. Lots of factors to contribute to how much fuel you use in a month. Just cause a boat uses a hydrofoil to pull the boat down doesnt mean it gets bad fuel efficiency.