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GSA vs. surf gates


vmgobel

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   Hello all, I tried to find discussion about the go surf assist on here but only found side tracked discussion.  I have an 04 23LSV with the 8.1L motor. I built my own surfgates and they work good. I can create a great starboard wave and an ok port side wave. Recently I rode behind my buddies RI237 and it had crazy push! The wave was a bit longer on his but not much taller. The nice thing about his was that it was the same on both sides and the crazy amount of push. 

   My question for all you guys out there is, does any of you have the GSA tabs? If so, have you rode behind a newer boat with surf gates? How do they compare? My friend with the RI237 demo’ed the 23LSV and the RI237 the same day and he said the surf behind the RI237 was hands down better than the 23LSV. 

 I’m not in the market for a new boat nor can I afford one, (and I love my Malibu!) but I believe I can get my wave close to his?

    Manny

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I've ridden a ton.  I have GSA but I also use a suck gate sometimes & here's why:  The boats I've ridden with Gen 2 tabs / GSA, mine included all produce a very long & powerful wave with a crazy amount of push but the lip can be a little lack luster.  Surf Gate gives a great lip but nowhere near the amount of push & length the GSA wave produces.  I can also throw a ridiculous amount of weight at GSA, I run approx 5700 pounds of ballast.  I find with Surf Gate you just end up burying the gate so there is a weight limit.  When I play with my suck gate I have to reduce ballast but I still get a great wave & the suck gate produces a great lip just like surf gate but I lose length & push.  I prefer my GSA because I have the GSA wave & I can slap a $200 suck gate on (not using GSA at the same time) and get the great lip of a surf gate wave.  I like being able to play with both.  But if you have surf gate, you can't get the GSA wave.  That's my .02 for what it's worth.  One bonus for aftermarket is you can buy a GSA kit but you have to build your own surf gate kit from scratch.  I've seen an Axis with GSA, he loves it.  There's a couple guys on here who added GSA to their Malibus & they all love it too.  

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Do keep in mind the Ri is a surf monster, a deep V hull which produce better waves than other hulls, but the wake board wake is usually messy & doesn't clean up till 19-20mph so not great for new boarders.

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Thank you Racer808.

    I have read several posts on other websites and forums and everyone seems to be very happy with their GSA kits.   I built my own surf gates and found a controller so they do everything a new Malibu boat does. It cost me much less than the GSA kit.  I just want more push and consistency from side to side. Your profile shows you ride an MB Sport, Do you have any experience with a Malibu wedge? Any one else out there using the GSA system with a wedge? is so what wedge and how is it set?

     Thank you again.

             Manny 

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Just my opinion... but I think its impossible to compare apples to apples on GSA vs SG unless you physically tried the same hull.  @racer808 is right, the boat you're referring to is a surf monster anyway.

I talked to a lot of people here and on Wake Garage about GSA before putting surf gates on my 07 247.  Ultimately I got both sides of the argument, many who owned GSA said it required a lot of weight, but can get more push.   I've also seen MB boat owners pull GSA off of their boat in favor of a surf gate (or "Slapper" is their term) ... which surprised me and muddied the argument.   I went with SG for cost, stock look and previous experience with it.

 @TimbrSS has GSA on his 06 247 and is extremely happy.   Wave looks like a monster, says it has tons of push with solid weight.   Would love to ride behind it if he didn't live so far away so we could compare vs surf gate on my same hull.    

I might put my own version of tabs on the 247 along with the SG...  maybe I could dial it in.  Won't help my sloppy surfing skills but would be fun to try.   A few other Wake Garage project addicts have talked about it as well but I've only seen one Mastercraft set up with both, ironically enough.

Edited by rugger
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13 hours ago, vmgobel said:

Thank you Racer808.

    I have read several posts on other websites and forums and everyone seems to be very happy with their GSA kits.   I built my own surf gates and found a controller so they do everything a new Malibu boat does. It cost me much less than the GSA kit.  I just want more push and consistency from side to side. Your profile shows you ride an MB Sport, Do you have any experience with a Malibu wedge? Any one else out there using the GSA system with a wedge? is so what wedge and how is it set?

     Thank you again.

             Manny 

I used to have a VLX, I thought the wave sucked without the wedge down, others think it sucks with the wedge down & want it up.  I would be very curios about GSA & wedge together.  Cause now that I remember the pretty awesome steep lip on my Bu & the axis I ride are from the wedge, it isn't so lippy with the wedge up.  

 

The ones with MB's taking gsa off & putting on "slappers" had previous generations and they weren't actually "GSA", they were Gen 1, Gen 2, etc.  I have not ridden a slapped MB but the pics I've seen look like nice waves & the people who've done it are pretty happy.  Most who put slappers on were people without a surf system prior.  Some just couldn't get GSA to work due to the amount ballast & boat struggling to get to plane.  I am in CO at Altitude & have a monster of a prop that is rather useless for tubing for boarding but it's the only prop I've found to get on plane & get the RPM's to 3600.  Some of those dudes were riding around 4200 rpm's not realizing a prop & bow weight would have been very helpful.

Without being on the water with @vmgobel I'd venture that the difference in push is really due to how much more weight the GSA boats are pushing.  The biggest wave I've ridden was a 25lsv but it was sloppy & the guy was not open to my suggestions to improve it & now doesn't like me cause I didn't tell him how awesome his s*** was.

Edited by racer808
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I run as much wedge as I can before it starts slowing the boat down. If I'm light on crew, I can run full wedge. A full crew would be about 2-3 clicks up (from the bottom, or about halfway). It certainly helps the wave, the more wedge the better. Hopefully my v-drive gear change from 1.21 to 1.46 will allow me to run full wedge with a full crew without dropping any speed.

My total ballast is stock full (1500#), 1,000 in each locker, 1000 bow, 500 in lead. 

100% happy with my Wavecontrol / GSA system.

Edited by TimbrSS
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  • 2 years later...

From what i’ve read above i’m a little confused lol. I originally came here to see if people liked their gsa. but then i saw people talk about their malibu surf gates that were aftermarket, i don’t know if that is home built or commercial bought, but i would love to get the classic loom of the surf gate if somebody sells them. if not the gsa was my choice. but reading these did raise one concern, does the power wedge run good with the gsa surf system? it would be helpful if someone could inform me on all of that thank you, i also have a 2008 23 lsv 8.1l engine.

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38 minutes ago, exoticaxstin said:

From what i’ve read above i’m a little confused lol. I originally came here to see if people liked their gsa. but then i saw people talk about their malibu surf gates that were aftermarket, i don’t know if that is home built or commercial bought, but i would love to get the classic loom of the surf gate if somebody sells them. if not the gsa was my choice. but reading these did raise one concern, does the power wedge run good with the gsa surf system? it would be helpful if someone could inform me on all of that thank you, i also have a 2008 23 lsv 8.1l engine.

Yes, power wedge plus GSA is great, I had GSA on my 2008 23LSV and loved it.  Id suggest GSA over surf gate. 

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