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What was the First Boat with "THE WEDGE"?


tj_in_kc

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Anyone know what year (and model) Malibu Boat was the first to have the wedge?

How about the year and first to have the power wedge?

Any other history around the creation of the wedge would be great! Doing a research project...

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The manual wedge was first available for the '98 model year for direct drives, then but all SV 23 hulls could be retrofitted with it. At that time the wakesetter line was nothing more than a package that consisted of a wedge, tower and stickers. Therefore no "model" was specific as it can be used along the entire line.

Originally the wedge had a flat foil then later a specific model "Wedge23" was designed for the SV23 "wake hull" that have a slightly "V" to the wedge foil. Originally the '98-'99 wedge utilized pins then in '00 changed them to a clamp style that retracted w/ springs.

IIRC in '00 was when the wedge "trap" door in the teak swim platform came out.

Official Press release from '98

The word is out! And the praise is as high as the wakes with the introduction of Malibu's new Wedge. A revolutionary wakeboarding device that dramatically increases wake size to satisfy the most demanding boarder or aspiring novice. The Wedge is a deployable wing that is attached to the transom. Its unique design pulls the rear of the boat down to produce a huge wake equivalent to 1,000 lbs of additional transom weight. But the benefits of the Wedge go beyond its unparalleled performance. At boarding speeds of 18 to 22 mph the Wedge eliminates the need for any additional weighting systems that can adversely affect seating capacity and safety. And when the water glasses off and the slalom ski calls, the Wedge can easily be raised for world class slalom wakes. The Wedge is available on all direct drive Malibus for 1998 and can be retrofitted on all SV23 direct drive hulls prior to this year. Performance Wakeboard Report said it best, "The bottom line is that we believe the Wedge to be the most significant development in wakeboard boat technology". You'll believe it's the most fun you've ever had behind a ski boat.

The Powerwedge was first availiable in '06 across the entire model line and isn't able to be retrofitted.

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The manual wedge was first available for the '98 model year for direct drives, then but all SV 23 hulls could be retrofitted with it. At that time the wakesetter line was nothing more than a package that consisted of a wedge, tower and stickers. Therefore no "model" was specific as it can be used along the entire line.

Originally the wedge had a flat foil then later a specific model "Wedge23" was designed for the SV23 "wake hull" that have a slightly "V" to the wedge foil. Originally the '98-'99 wedge utilized pins then in '00 changed them to a clamp style that retracted w/ springs.

IIRC in '00 was when the wedge "trap" door in the teak swim platform came out.

Official Press release from '98

The word is out! And the praise is as high as the wakes with the introduction of Malibu's new Wedge. A revolutionary wakeboarding device that dramatically increases wake size to satisfy the most demanding boarder or aspiring novice. The Wedge is a deployable wing that is attached to the transom. Its unique design pulls the rear of the boat down to produce a huge wake equivalent to 1,000 lbs of additional transom weight. But the benefits of the Wedge go beyond its unparalleled performance. At boarding speeds of 18 to 22 mph the Wedge eliminates the need for any additional weighting systems that can adversely affect seating capacity and safety. And when the water glasses off and the slalom ski calls, the Wedge can easily be raised for world class slalom wakes. The Wedge is available on all direct drive Malibus for 1998 and can be retrofitted on all SV23 direct drive hulls prior to this year. Performance Wakeboard Report said it best, "The bottom line is that we believe the Wedge to be the most significant development in wakeboard boat technology". You'll believe it's the most fun you've ever had behind a ski boat.

The Powerwedge was first availiable in '06 across the entire model line and isn't able to be retrofitted.

Dude, I'm going to call you BOK, Book Of Knowledge!

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What's really weird is my 2000 Wakesetter VLX only came with the tower, sitckers, and fat sac. No wedge installed or optional for my boat at the time. As far as I know, the only thing that made it a "wakesetter" was the hull (non-diamond) and fat sac in the ski locker.

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What's really weird is my 2000 Wakesetter VLX only came with the tower, sitckers, and fat sac. No wedge installed or optional for my boat at the time. As far as I know, the only thing that made it a "wakesetter" was the hull (non-diamond) and fat sac in the ski locker.

The wedge was available for the '00 model year, they didn't have the angled wedge23 at that time and some had this notion the standard wedge wouldn't work on the wake hull. The MLS was added for the '00, don't think they had that in the '99 lineup.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Wedge came out in 1998

MLS came out in 2000

I was told that the Wedge was first installed in '95 on the Sunsetter. That is when they started beefing up the transoms to handle the added stress along with the non-wood stringers. It had a single pin to lock the wedge into place and was made totally out of aluminum.

Edited by Sunsetter95
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Wedge came out in 1998

MLS came out in 2000

I was told that the Wedge was first installed in '95 on the Sunsetter. That is when they started beefing up the transoms to handle the added stress along with the non-wood stringers. It had a single pin to lock the wedge into place and was made totally out of aluminum.

The Sunsetter didn't go all fiberglass until '95, until that time it was still had wood in the hull. So '95 was the first year for the Sunsetter while the Echelon, all fiberglass, could use the wedge in '93.

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