So a buddy of mine told me about this new $500 wake shaper that was coming out back in May, and I was definitely skeptical at first. Then I read more about it, and saw the videos, and decided to give it a try. I loved the idea of running an even ballast setup, and just switching the shaper from one side to the other for goofy riders. Plus with a 30 day return policy (with a restock fee), the risk seemed pretty low.
Previous to this, my listed setup was a single ballast puppy feeding two bags on the port side - a 750lb in the port stern locker, and a 300lb bag under the port side seats. It took about 10 minutes to fill, and produced a pretty decent wave. When I filled up the 300lb bag under my bow seats, or added a bunch of people, I felt like the wave was pretty good.
After ordering the Delta, I decided to remove the bag under the seats, and add another 750lb bag to the driver side locker with its own pump, to even out the setup. So that was my June project, to re-plumb my system and wire in a new ballast puppy. One big debate I had was whether I could use the existing 1" thru-hull I'd drilled for the initial setup to feed both bags, and the original vent hole as well. I talked to the guys at Wakemakers, and got 2 different recommendations.
The first guy was convinced that each bag needed it's own isolated thru hulls for "optimal performance", but the second guy wasn't so sure. I decided to hedge my bets and try a shared setup to see if it would take way too long to fill and drain, and worst case scenario, drill a couple of holes later. A key thing here is that rather than just having a "T" fitting from the thru-hull to the pumps, I found that Wakemakers has a "Wye" fitting to split the feed, and good news, it works like a charm! I used a standard "T" for the vent line, which worked fine there.
First session with the Delta on the boat, both bags filled in 2 songs (less than 6 minutes), and once I popped up, it was by far the best wave my Calabria has ever produced with just my wife, and 3 young teens in the boat. The Perfect Pass was set to 10.5mph, and after getting up, I immediately felt stable in the pocket, and had the sensation that I could stay on that wave forever. I decided to test that theory and tossed the rope, and was able to carve it up to my heart’s content for my longest ride ever! The wave is long, clean, and powerful. Setup-wise, I had the Delta as far back as it can go, and just barely below the water line.
This last weekend, however, my friend’s son rides goofy, and after switching the Delta to the other side, and setting up the same way, the wave came out washy, and we had a hard time cleaning it up. Even upping the speed to 11.5+, it didn’t want to clean up all the way. I’m sure it has something to do with prop rotation, and people placement, but we didn’t take the time to test multiple setups.
Still, I'm going to call this a success story, and it feels FANTASTIC to have my surf setup totally dialed in.
I'm hitting Lake Chelan in WA for a week, and I'll try to remember to get some pictures and video of the wave (and my *****-eating grin)
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