Are we at the limit?
Something that has sparked my curiosity a bit is if we are at the limit for wake size? With the giant boats like the G23 M235 Ri237 etc. have we hit the peak? Is it possible to make a boat with anything bigger?
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Yes we have.
While technology will find a way to kick out bigger cleaner wakes,neighbors and lake associations will spread bans if it gets any bigger |
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That's kind of what I figured. More gadgets etc than anything. |
I was told by one of the guy's at PTM that they took a M235 and put 12,000lbs of ballast in the boat all over the floor and seats of the boat and it was the biggest wave they'd ever seen in their life, so yeah, they can get bigger.
They were also burning 43 gph hour though, so there's that... Talking with someone at PCM, they talked about the next revolution being dual props so we can power these massive boats and ballast without the massive engines and gas burning they require. What's also crazy is that you look back at boats in the 80s, 90s, and how affordable they are and younger people and families are buying those as starter boats. It'll be crazy in 20 years when people are buying 2015 G23's as their starter boats and those are the wakes people are learning to wakeboard on. Of course the new G23s will probably be $450k by then. |
Just get a cabin cruiser about a 30' it will throw a 5 foot tall launch ramp at 21mph and carry all your friends they can nap or cook while you hit that monster... It's all over the California Delta there are ships here so wakes from your puny 23' wake boats are nothing.
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A very long time ago, 2007-ish. Mastercraft had an X-80 & ProStar that Volkswagen built a diesel for. I drove them both during the Miami Boat show that year. These engines were insane. In regards to performance, in my mind they were perfect. Produce twice the torque, 1/2 the emissions, quieter (you could only hear the turbos) and fuel economy that was off the charts. Only issue is at the time it was $20K up-grade! Similarly, I spent some time in a prototype Tige (20i I believe) that had a Yanmar diesel that was a complete POS. Had a cloud of black smoke, knocked, and only started half the time. It was still expensive, but torque and fuel economy were better than gas. Why hasn't there been any movement on transmissions? I know MB had a 2 speed some time ago that seemed to work. |
Looks like some others have reached a higher limit already:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ssly-boat.html https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNMAIQU77Ho |
We have a big Sea Ray Sedan with twin inboards and have thought about surfing it. I'm sure it would be fun but not something I'd want to do regularly.
Reasons: Takes a long time to get up to speed, Impossible to hold a steady speed, Takes forever to slow down and turn around, BURNS GAS you think a wake boat is bad try running 2 454's pushing a 13,000 lb boat(dry weight). Mine burns 7-10 gph at 8 mph(1600 rpm) trudging along. About 40 GPH at WOT to go 35 MPH. |
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I surf my fathers 48 Sedan Bridge whenever I go to Florida. It's super fun and the wave is so big/fast. Your back leg will burn from the amount of time spent on the breaks. I don't do it long but it's cool to do when we head out to the sandbars. Even used the dingy to throw me into it few times. https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...3a56394065.jpg https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...b4c089fa77.jpg |
Someone will make an un-towable wake boat eventually.
Unless road laws change, I'd say we are pushing the limits. Every Malibu is 102" except the VLX (100"). As far as I understand, 102" is the max for all US roadways without a permit. Boats can get longer, but so far anything over 25' hasn't done that well. |
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I don't think we've hit the limit. I think dragging weight around with big engines is dated and there will be a more efficient way to make a wake. Either that or the sport will eventually get so expensive that it will completely die.
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I think we are approaching the limits on inland public waterways. I believe this for a couple of reasons:
1: The landowners are begging to rise up together against it, using lake shore erosion as an excuse. Yes, on some (but not all) waterways, there are larger cruisers that throw just a big, if not bigger, wakes. Wakesurfers and wakeboarders are perceived as "wild" "partying all the time" especially with loud tower speakers. The cruisers do not seem to be viewed this way even though the person at them help could often be trashed. 2: I don't see this mentioned often, but I believe it will become a deterring factor, especially if you trailer and don't live on the water. AIS - Aquatic Invasive Species. The MN DNR is starting to have people at landings performing boat inspections and sometimes even wash stations. They are currently just asking questions and on occasion are inspecting ballast. If the bags are wet...you do not get on the water. When we had a G23 and they couldn't inspect the bags, they asked that I turn on the pumps to see if water comes out. I didn't mind that, I just ran them in fill, especially since that is the only lake that boat had been on. The wake boats are catching all kinds of hell compared to the fisherpeople that lake hop (they are beginning to crack down on this as well). Part of why we parted with our G23 for an older boat was so we didn't have payments. I would hate to own a boat, with payments, that I cannot get on a lake due to AIS concerns. The way of surfing is heading back to the ocean, larger lakes with natural breaks and surf parks. I would love to have a surf park near, but in the great white North of the U.S, I don't think it will ever be justified. The season is too short, I don't know if an investor would ever recoup their funds. I don't think that wakesurfing will go away all together, but I think the requirements to play will be limited causing boat sales for surfing to drop and they manufacturers will not be able to justify the R&D investment into boats focused on the sport. I believe the manufacturers may even think the same way and that is why there is so much push for the latest and greatest surf tech and get it out as fast as possible. |
#winching
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Waves are going to continue to get bigger, the sport is still in its infancy really. Even stock waves are getting crazy big now. My Ri257 is north of 14,000 when fully loaded, with a hull designed to make giant waves.
Malibu has licensed surfgate to chaparal, think about a 32' cruiser WITH a surf system! The i/o crowd is moving into the sport, once they start adding legitimate amounts of ballast, and optimising thier hull shapes, yeah there is potential for MUCH bigger waves. |
Trust me once the people start really complaining or figure out there is even the most minuscule amount of environmental damage caused by surfing . The ****ty libtard states like CA will ban Wakesurfing faster then guns .
I have a love hate relationship with the whole sport . I snivel about the wakes but I love the sport so I take it with a grain of salt i guess lol. |
I surf and I also own lake front property. Like most things disrespectful people are helping to destroy us. Staying 100' from docks is not only the law (at least where I live) but also common certousy. Surfing right off people's docks really pisses them off, not saying they still wouldn't complain but respecting people's property never hurts.
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Pretty sure everywhere you go you are responsible for any damage your wake causes so...Respecting other people and property is the law now and it has been forever.
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