Surf Gate - My experience - not impressed.

[CJAY]

define decent? That's the impetus for this whole discussion. I used the word "great" to define my VTX. Biggest? nope. Would ryan like it? haha, doubtful. Was it fool-proof dialing? yep. So, when you're a wake snob, would you find it "decent"...I dunno...but for someone like RTS who HAS NEVER surfed, is it a great wave, a better wave than he woudl be able to get out of a non-surfgated Vdrive without tens of hours of experimentation and practice, without a doubt. No doubt user-experience helps (like in that G) but you simply didn't need any on that VTX.

My idea of decent is a wave that can allow any rider to ride ropeless once they understand the whole feel of push, regardless of size of the individual. It needs to have a pocket large enough to be able to do some moving around. Surfgate helps a ton, the VTX is a pretty easy boat to dial, but I doubt I would think a stock ballast VTX as putting out a decent wave.

[nyryan2001]

Nicky- that wave with you is legit.. you must be in the 11.6 - 12 range to get it that straight....

[TrickyNicky]

11 MPH max. I always try and keep it at 11 and have tried speeding it up, my uncle (co-worker on these waves) always tries to slow it down and keep it at 10.6 Mph.

If I speed up should I add bow weight or take away? And vice versa, If I add bow weight should be speeding up or slowing down?

[85 Barefoot]

My idea of decent is a wave that can allow any rider to ride ropeless once they understand the whole feel of push, regardless of size of the individual. It needs to have a pocket large enough to be able to do some moving around. Surfgate helps a ton, the VTX is a pretty easy boat to dial, but I doubt I would think a stock ballast VTX as putting out a decent wave.

If that's your definition of decent, then a VTX absolutely does.

[CJAY]

11 MPH max. I always try and keep it at 11 and have tried speeding it up, my uncle (co-worker on these waves) always tries to slow it down and keep it at 10.6 Mph.

If I speed up should I add bow weight or take away? And vice versa, If I add bow weight should be speeding up or slowing down?

11 MPH max. I always try and keep it at 11 and have tried speeding it up, my uncle (co-worker on these waves) always tries to slow it down and keep it at 10.6 Mph.

If I speed up should I add bow weight or take away? And vice versa, If I add bow weight should be speeding up or slowing down?

More weight should allow you to speed up. It all depends on what you want out of the wake, speed will take down some of your size, but with more weight you should keep the push

[CJAY]

If that's your definition of decent, then a VTX absolutely does.

I guess I'd have to see it, because the Stock MXZ I rode behind with surf gate sure didn't. Nor was I overly thrilled by the LSV stock before we filled up the PNP bags.

[85 Barefoot]

I guess I'd have to see it, because the Stock MXZ I rode behind with surf gate sure didn't. Nor was I overly thrilled by the LSV stock before we filled up the PNP bags.

Points which I have never made. Both of those boats have significantly more wetted surface and it makes total sense you'd need more weight....but again, you're now redefining your own definition of "decent", aren't you? you're saying you weren't "thrilled"....your own definition of decent was to allow someone of any skill level to ride ropeless and do some "moving around"...what does that have to do with being "thrilled" with a stock boat when you're an experienced rider and have your own boat dialed the way you like it?

Edited July 22, 2013 by 85 Barefoot

[Lance B. Johnson]

Truth be told here. Bone stock LSV. 215# Ruffdog I think 8 people? I had no problem surfing or staying in the wake. Surface tricks would probably be the limit. Anything requiring speed or a firm wave (airiels) nope. Wave was a little short and soft. I would LOVE to ride that boat properly weighted and finally resolve this for myself.

But..... Stock wave 215 pound dude no problem. And the smaller peeps liked it.

Edited July 22, 2013 by Ruffdog

[Afun]

My experience after the first weekend behind the boat...Don't take on the rollers, holy moly! The wave was so nice with stock ballast, I don't think I need the extra 550's in the rear locker. I had it spinning. I am still going to get them. I think the 3 second transition from goofy to regular is just the correct amount of time needed to prepare for it. My Phase 5 Razz was too quick for my brain. When I leaned forward....oh boy...forward I went. Looking forward to slowing it down a bit with another board. I was having so much fun, I could not keep my mouth shut. Kind of like Michael Jordan going in for a dunk. I drank plenty of water. Is it wrong to wakesurf to Huey Lewis and the News? Am I still cool? I could not find any instrumental music. You know I love those Malibu videos. I can't sleep at night. All I think about is getting behind the boat again. I love it! 10.6 mph, stock ballast including bow full, and Wedge deployed 50% to 100%.

[85 Barefoot]

Afun, huey lewis is only appropriate if its "hip to be square" and you're wearing your sperrys ON the surfboard. Glad you're having fun man!

[Afun]

I love that song...my wife was like...not cool...not cool. I was blasting the sound system everywhere I went. How about this thing about not being able to keep my mouth closed while surfing. Unreal! It's like a reflex.

[85 Barefoot]

You do NOT have to worry about an altercation at the boat ramp with any Huey Lewis playing that's the good news!

[Afun]

You do NOT have to worry about an altercation at the boat ramp with any Huey Lewis playing that's the good news![/

I am never going to live this down

[IXFE]

Okay, it's on! I like this idea. I'm game. Skurfer, -BS-, Bobby, Ruffdog and any other Oregonians willing to come to my spot in Newberg. I'll hit up some other locals (e.g. Tyler, Brian, Mike, etc.). Bring extra sacks and we can see test many different configs (using stock + PnP as a baseline). I'll have the GoPro running too. Maybe somebody can do a cool video edit to share with the Crew (I suck at video editing).

I'm thinking a week night... probably July 29th, 30th, or 31st.

In addition to the Soulcraft sticks I have a new Parks Thruster 5'1" which I'm liking as well.

I'm serious about this. PM me if you have a preference on those evenings. Also leave me your cell numbers so we can text (more efficient).

Wifey and kiddos are out of town those days so I was gonna be sitting around anyway.

Okay... I'm overdue for an update... Check your PM's for final date and time.

[IXFE]

Here's how the "unofficial" BuCrew Surf Gate night turned out... exactly ONE crew member made it out to Newberg to ride. Many thanks to Ruffdog for making the trek all the way from Gresham and for providing the extra sacks. Sorry to the rest who couldn't make it. I know schedules were tough with Wake the World. Tuesday was just the only night I could get out this week.

So, here's the video from that night. It was shot using my cell phone... hand held by my neighbor who was in the observers seat, probably the worst possible angle. I think Ruffdog will agree, the wave looked bigger in real life.

Final disclaimer... I used a free site to edit the video, and somehow I managed to lose the HD quality. Sorry about that. I don't know sh*t about video editing.

http://youtu.be/3RVOsShNeTk

Edited August 1, 2013 by IXFE

[shawndoggy]

Holy cow.... So that's 4000 lbs of ballast you guys were pushing? Hard to drive? What were your rpms at surf speeds?

And thanks for sharing!

Edited August 1, 2013 by shawndoggy

[nyryan2001]

talk about a butter smooth clean surf wave.... what did the surfwave look like 11.6 - 12?

[Fman]

Dave, that wave looks great... nice video, after 115 hours this season with surfgate I cant imagine ever owning a boat without it. We also have been surfing much more this season than we ever did in the past because of surfgate. If you properly weight these boats with surfgate the wakes are great, and yes, having ability to switch sides either while surfing or to a different rider is huge. And yes, having people sit comfortably in the boat, and having the boat drive easily weighted is huge... not sure how anyone can honestly say its not a legit upgrade for any boat.

[shawndoggy]

I think the question of whether a diamond hulled boat will produce a good surf wave has been settled once and for all, at least as far as surfgate goes.

[IXFE]

Holy cow.... So that's 4000 lbs of ballast you guys were pushing? Hard to drive? What were your rpms at surf speeds?

And thanks for sharing!

4,100 lbs. to be exact (not including wedge).

It was not hard to get out of the hole... the ACME 2315 is a beast and boat had ZERO issue getting out of its own way. Ruffdog and I were both marveling about this after the fact (he was driving when I surfed). i think is prop is as good as, if not better than, a motor upgrade.

I honestly didn't pay attention to the rpm's.

[IXFE]

talk about a butter smooth clean surf wave.... what did the surfwave look like 11.6 - 12?

We never went that fast. We stopped at 11.6. What can I say... we just liked it at that speed.

[IXFE]

A few other comments about the session.

• To give some perspective on the wave size... Ruffdog is very tall. I am 5'11".
• Ruffdog was riding a Souldcraft Fang Tail (4'10") and I was on a Ronix Parks Thruster (5'1")
• We both tried both boards... the Ronix is faster down the line and easier to recover. The Soulcraft required more pumping to recover but is also more maneuverable.
• In hindsight, I wish I'd remembered my bring my GoPro.
• Ruffdog took some still pics of the waves w/out any riders (this is your cue to post them )
• We didn't have time, but we should have surfed the boat first without the 450's in order to do a back-to-back comparison (i.e. just stock + PnP).
• After we were finished and had dumped all the ballast, we wondered if we should have experimented with wedge more, e.g. different positions or none at all.
• I was so excited about the wave, I went to AWS yesterday to get more weight. I ended up buying a 750 for the walkway... I figured that's a good place to start.
• Meeting Ruffdog was fun... great guy! It only made me want to meet more Crew members.

[pkh]

Looking good! A tiny bias in weight on the regular side will clean up that little bit of wash.

I have been using lead to make tweaks, I have 200lbs under the observer seat by the batteries. It makes a huge difference in cleaning up regular wave, and goofy wave is still clean.

[Bawshogg]

Really disappoined I couldnt make out Tuesaday. Got in late from WTW Monday night, and had to play catchup at the job.

Looks about all the other surfgate waves I have seen or been on. Like I said, you sacrified the whole boat to the ballast gods and that's what you got. It doesn't get better with out that weight either.

Not to rub it in, but I can make this with just under that weight, NO EXPOSED SACKS.... just leaned.

Like the OP tried to say. Surfgate is not what they make you believe it can do.

[CJAY]

So you can lean your boat and get almost as good of a wake, but then you have to lean it the other way for goofy riders. Surfgate is 100% what they sell it as. It allows you to got form wake to surf without draining, it allows you to quickly change sides, and it allows you do some things trick wise you couldn't never do with a leaned boat. All in all it's a great innovation