Go Surf Assist Review (Finally)

[Thegerman618]

Good Evening T.O,

I will follow this up with a much more in depth review but here is the EARLY results of day 1.

This was not running max weight, and just getting a feel for the system.

Current setup from today:
2006 24Ve
3000lbs rear (true evenly weighted)
0lbs yes 0 bow weight
Speed-11.0 to 11.4
GSA-4
Taps2-3

Thanks to DP Powell and ElevstedConcepts for braving the rain and cold water to help dial this in and get some first of the season sessions in.

Here are some shots from today:
IMG_0442.jpgIMG_0441.jpgIMG_0440.jpgIMG_0438.jpg


More testing to commence later this season, I still have 2000lbs of ballast yet to be untested. But early results after today are quite promising!

[WYTige?]

Wow! That wave looks really good, nice job!!!

[sandm]

nice to see a wave on the proper side of the boat

[Greeko]

Looks pretty good man! Good to see the Soulcraft boards out there! Is the wave a little flat or is that my eyes playing tricks on me.

[Thegerman618]

Wow! That wave looks really good, nice job!!!

Thanks! the Ve seems to really like the tabs but it begs and begs for more rear weight. I am gonna slam it harder next trip and see what I can get out of it.

[Thegerman618]

nice to see a wave on the proper side of the boat

I will have the regular side dialed in for the reunion....just saying! Tested some new playlist on DP Powell yesterday, I think I saw him smile and nod his head to few songs.

[Germaine Marine]

I will have the regular side dialed in for the reunion....just saying! Tested some new playlist on DP Powell yesterday, I think I saw him smile and nod his head to few songs.

I approve of the current wave as seen by the bottom turn that went out to space

[Germaine Marine]

Looks pretty good man! Good to see the Soulcraft boards out there! Is the wave a little flat or is that my eyes playing tricks on me.

Prob just your eyes, I rode it and it's nice.

[boonecragun]

Where was the water line in relation to rub rail with tabs deployed?

[Thegerman618]

Where was the water line in relation to rub rail with tabs deployed?

I didn't think to look but we were not listed over that hard at all. I would say when the tab deploys there is maybe a 4 degree list its not bad at all its very comfortable.

I am going to do a full write up on today the IPAD was giving me issues last night and wouldn't post.

[Thegerman618]

Here is my Full Review of the Go Surf Assist:

I am going to give my unbiased review of the GSA system (Thus far). This will be lengthy so bear with me.

My intention of purchasing GSA had 3 major goals and was willing to sacrifice certain things to get it:
1. Evenly Weighting the boat. Mostly for passenger comfort and overall safety.
2. Ability to switch sides with the push of button, as well as transfers.
3. No more ballast bags on the seats, I want true hidden ballast all enclosed under the seats.
4. More Push from the wave farther back, but willing to sacrifice SOME height to get it.

My listed wave is pretty dialed in, but required 800lbs of weight on the seats in order to be massive and induced almost 12 degrees of list. While this is normal for some of us, it becomes a bit of a hassle at times and for people new to boating or surfing makes for an uncomfortable ride.

So GSA to start:
I waited until the 2017 Version of GSA was released, which has some more sensitive potentiometers and a few other small hardware upgrades. These tabs are EXTREMELY well built, all hardware is either high strength treated aluminum or steel. Lenco Actuators are brand new in the manufactures packaging. All wires and connections are very nicely soldered and heat wrapped or have very easy male to female connections which made the wiring the easiest part of the job. The install directions are straight forward easy to understand even for me. Wiring diagrams are color coordinated and make vey clear understanding of what plugs into what. I purchased the black anodized tabs which are also very well done.

Install:
For me to do the install took roughly 12 hours, that being said the install was pretty straight forward but the majority of the time was spent planning wire routes and module placements. Which if I had to do the install over again would take me at less than half that know how it all goes together now. Word to the wise if planning a purchase or to do the install make sure you look very closely at your transom they may look flat, but you put something that is actually flat against the hull you may find its not. This system utilizes a piano hinge with is great for strength and will last a very very long time, however piano hinges absolutely do not support any flex so ensure you have a true flat mounting surface. There are 1/2" spacer blocks included with the install to ensure you get a flat surface if your transom is not flat. Actuator Wires, they are a royal pain to seal at least on my Ve. the outside easy, getting to where the wire passes through the hull on the inside is a different story. Thankfully I have friend (elevatedconcept) that has Oompa Loompy, freakishly small hands...I mean we are talking creepy small. Think Spork!! LMAO

On the water testing:
First reaction was not pleasant. I filled the ballast bags both sides, hit the surf button and there was a little ripple behind the boat. I was not pleased and thankfully ElevatedConcept was polite and didn't speak his mind because I am sure he was probably thinking "bro you just wasted 12+ hours of your life and over $3K". After some lead relocation and ensuring we had all the weight available at the time placed (3 people, 400 lead, 2 enzos) we starting playing with Speed, TAPS2, and GSA plate positions. After about 45 min, we had something that was starting to maybe kinda sorta look like something. The most difficult piece was how sensitive everything was to minor change +/- 1 position on GSA or Taps2 made a huge difference .2/.4 MPH another huge difference in the wave. With adding the GSA it adds another parameter to the equation. You can just tune one system at a time speed, taps, GSA, you have to move everything in unison. After about hour DP Powell and his wife arrived, adding some much needed additional weight to the boat. Now with 5 people in the boat, the wave took a whole new shape. The wave had Great Push at 8-10 feet back, with a thigh high wave, it was very firm and was very easy to air of the lip if not even a launch off the lip like hitting a quarter pipe on skateboard. The regular side, now I can count on 1 hand how many times I have even set the boat to the regular side as 90% of my friends are goofy. However, by far, hands down, no question best regular side wave I have seen behind this boat and this was with half the weight I should have had in the boat so I can only imagine what another 1500lbs is gonna do to the regular side. I had one major concern before I even put the boat in the water, the swimstep. I know I have ran the boat full before during the Mission Delta Testing and the swimstep was a major culprit in destroying the wave. I assumed that when I got to speed the swimstep would be giving me issues. I was pleasantly surprised to find the water flowed smoothly around the swimstep and had no negative effects on the wave whatsoever. Side to side switching while in motion, is 3 seconds but ill be straight forward I did not mess with it much.

Overall Review:
All in all when I put the boat back on the trailer after 5+ hours on the water, I am thrilled with the results and cant wait to add more weight and keep dialing this thing in, while I don't have unrealistic expectations of comparing my wave to an RZX, I am confident that with the right setup I will turn some heads. I also want to note one thing, I am still running stock prop. With all this weight, these giant tabs dragging in the water, I did not cavitate one time. I was not slamming the power forward but was able to come out of the hole with the tab down full from a stop with a surfer no problem. I need to see what my fuel burn was, but I suspect I didn't burn much more than I normally do. I would say if you are a surfing fanatic and are ultra picky about your wave this is probably the system for you.

Hopefully this was informative for those interested in the system, this is just my experience with it so far. After some additional testing I will post some more pictures. I have a few more of DP Powell I post up of the goofy side.

[Germaine Marine]

Always willing to work on buddies boats if they are inept or lack the skill to complete the job themselves. You are welcome.

[Thegerman618]

Always willing to work on buddies boats if they are inept or lack the skill to complete the job themselves. You are welcome.

LMAO...shots fired

W-Jason
L-Brad

[c_hotshot]

Thanks for the update. Perhaps I missed it - an intall thread - but did you take pictures along the way? I would be interested to see the install process.

[Thegerman618]

I did do an install thread and not sure if the forum updated or what but the thread was deleted. I can post some install pics, I will get some up for you.