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to cover or not to cover


Hentz

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What kind of cover? Evolution=no worries. Others, I've heard of people cutting noodles to place around straps or saran wrap in certain places to prevent rubbing. I would certianly want the boat covered on that long of a trip.

Edited by Ndawg12
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Either uncovered and 70mph, or covered and 55 mph. If it's raining out, I'd definitely cover it and reduce speed. A highway rain just makes a mess out of your interior, you'll spend way more time cleaning the inside than traveling slower. If no rain, I wouldn't cover it.

Sorry, no experience with Evolution covers.

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Dumb question but is the original cover on a 2011 wakesetter an evolution cover?

NO, and dont tow with it. Tow it UNCOVERED w/ the plexi thing in place. If it gets a little dirty from the tow, take the time to clean it up. I towed uncovered from VA to OK this summer 1,400+ miles. Thru rain, dust, 18-wheeler filth mist and everything else. took about an hour to clean up.

No less than 5 horror stories with pics a plenty on here in the last 6 months with folks getting serious gel coat chafe from covers...

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Either uncovered and 70mph, or covered and 55 mph. If it's raining out, I'd definitely cover it and reduce speed. A highway rain just makes a mess out of your interior, you'll spend way more time cleaning the inside than traveling slower. If no rain, I wouldn't cover it.

Sorry, no experience with Evolution covers.

ARHHH... I hate towing int he rain. I really makes a mess. Usually tow uncovered unless it is raining. If it is raining, I'll throw the cover on and go slow, 45 to 50 mph.

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We tow with the cover 3-4 400 mile round trips a year, and think we do have a bit of clouding in the gel coat after a few tows, it still shines and looks good, but if looking closely its not as glassy looking. Our boat is white above the rub rail so its unnoticed unless looking very closely, and it buffs out easily to a nice glassy shine. The cover we have now is a custom locally built cover that snaps on under the rub rail, the previous cover I believe was a Great Lakes cover that snapped in the same places, most of the tow is on the interstate at more then 70mph, we have had no issues with ether cover coming off or flapping. I like being able to put stuff in the boat like boards and stuff and not worry about them flying out, and hate getting to our place of vacation and have a nasty boat for everyone to admire. If its a white boat above the rub rail I say go for it, if a colored boat I would try it but pay attention to the gel coat to see if its chaffing/clouding.

P.S. we have towed a few times from the lake to our house which only a couple miles with no cover and the plexi shield in place and the center front seat in place, the center seat peace needs to come out or it starts to fly out at low speeds in our boat.

Nice looking boat by the way, I like yellow on a boat.

Edited by mainekneeboarder
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My boat doesn't leave the driveway without the cover, no joke. The benefits of towing with a good cover like evolution FAR outweigh any excuse not to use one.

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Thanks. That was my next question

quote name='Indyxc' timestamp='1318608943' post='493650']

You can always wrap the rub rail area with industrial saran wrap and any other contact areas and tow with your current cover.

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I have the same CS cover, I too was concerned about towing with the cover on,read all the opinions on here about it and decided to leave it off for my first trip down the highway. About 25 minutes into the trip we got passed by a truck and a pebble got tossed through the drivers side windshield (At this point I hadn't even owned the boat long enough to have it in the water!). Had the cover been on I'm convinced the pebble would have bounced harmlessly off. That was my $1000 lesson, the boat doesn't leave the driveway without the cover. I do wrap the bucklles by the tower in soft cloths and have seen no gell damage to date......but I keep looking for it.

Edited by alaidlaw
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I have the same CS cover, I too was concerned about towing with the cover on,read all the opinions on here about it and decided to leave it off for my first trip down the highway. About 25 minutes into the trip we got passed by a truck and a pebble got tossed through the drivers side windshield (At this point I hadn't even owned the boat long enough to have it in the water!). Had the cover been on I'm convinced it the pebble would have bounced harmlessly off. That was my $1000 lesson, the boat doesn't leave the driveway without the cover. I do wrap the bucklles by the tower in soft cloths and have seen no gell damage to date......but I keep looking for it.

:plus1: One of the MANY reasons I choose to ALWAYS have the cover on.

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My boats have always had snap-on covers, and I've never had any issue trailering with them on. The one I had on my Sea-Ray was a fairly coarse canvas material and never did any damage - the one on my Malibu is a bit denser and less coarse, and no damage on it either. I know some people don't like snap on covers for some reason (don't like screwing the snaps into the boat I suppose), but I've always been happy with them.

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Before I purchased my MXZ, I had a 2007 Sky Supreme V232 with a stock Vacu-hold cover. It was red and black the same color as my new WS. We towed with the cover on at speeds of no more than 45-50 mph and after 3-4 years the gel coat damage was extensive and VERY noticeable at close range (anywhere from 6 feet or closer).

That being said, we loaned the boat to a friend who drove it to McCall from Boise (about 110 miles) and hit a patch of chip seal and received a sh*tload of oily pebbles in the interior doing only 15-20mph through that section. They could not be repaired with cleaners and the boat vinyl had to be replaced. So we sold it to Idaho Water Sports for our MXZ.

I dont know the correct answer here. Each choice has its downside. Since were going to keep the MXZ for a long time I think we might just have to bite the bullet and go low speed and hope for the best.

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Before I purchased my MXZ, I had a 2007 Sky Supreme V232 with a stock Vacu-hold cover. It was red and black the same color as my new WS. We towed with the cover on at speeds of no more than 45-50 mph and after 3-4 years the gel coat damage was extensive and VERY noticeable at close range (anywhere from 6 feet or closer).

That being said, we loaned the boat to a friend who drove it to McCall from Boise (about 110 miles) and hit a patch of chip seal and received a sh*tload of oily pebbles in the interior doing only 15-20mph through that section. They could not be repaired with cleaners and the boat vinyl had to be replaced. So we sold it to Idaho Water Sports for our MXZ.

I dont know the correct answer here. Each choice has its downside. Since were going to keep the MXZ for a long time I think we might just have to bite the bullet and go low speed and hope for the best.

Or buy an Evolution cover. There are peeps that swear by this. I dont have any experience with but sounds like they are the best

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Before I purchased my MXZ, I had a 2007 Sky Supreme V232 with a stock Vacu-hold cover. It was red and black the same color as my new WS. We towed with the cover on at speeds of no more than 45-50 mph and after 3-4 years the gel coat damage was extensive and VERY noticeable at close range (anywhere from 6 feet or closer).

That being said, we loaned the boat to a friend who drove it to McCall from Boise (about 110 miles) and hit a patch of chip seal and received a sh*tload of oily pebbles in the interior doing only 15-20mph through that section. They could not be repaired with cleaners and the boat vinyl had to be replaced. So we sold it to Idaho Water Sports for our MXZ.

I dont know the correct answer here. Each choice has its downside. Since were going to keep the MXZ for a long time I think we might just have to bite the bullet and go low speed and hope for the best.

Sounds like you also need some Rock Tamers for your tow vehicle.

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