2015 Weighting with AVX, TAPS, Sacs and other bloviations.

[ragboy]

I have been getting a bunch of emails, texts, calls, rocks against the window and other forms of communication regarding several things related to wakesurfing with various tige models, weighting, polar bear weighting, and other stuff. So I am going to try to run through what I know and some of our plans that I can share, so I have something to point to. ;-)

Wake9 Z3
We have a 2015 Z3 in the works, so you can be sure we will get that boat dialed. It will be used for the EWT this year also, and setup to put out the best wakesurf wake around.

VX, AVX and TAPS
First, if you have or are getting a 2015 Tige, you should not need any new taps plate from us to wakesurf better. The 2015 plate is based on our R&D and from what we have seen it should work great. The new 2015 models seem to now be using Lenco hydraulics, so they wouldn't work with our taps plat anyway as it is.

We do have 5 steel taps plates that are powder coated black that will work on 2014 and earlier models with VX. They would work with models without VX, but I have no idea if they will have a positive effect on wakesurfing. I also have several stainless steel plates on the way. I will have them in our store to order this week, the black ones will be $150 including shipping to the contiguous US and $200 for the stainless. I wasn't planning on selling, but lots of folks are asking.

Some Notes on the TAPS Plate
Our taps plate does not require removing your plate from the transom. We did this once and it was really difficult to replace and seal every time so we popped out the rivets and made plates that just match up and bolt to those rivet holes and it works great. So it does involve drilling out those rivets, but you don't have to pull the bolts through the transom. We have 800 hours or so doing this, so it works just fine.

This taps plate was designed to help with 2 issues. It makes the wake cleaner, especially on the goofy side and it also allows the goofy side to mellow out easier. Without it the goofy wake is steeper than the regular on the Z3 and the Z1. Not so sure on the others. It does make the wake cleaner on all models with AVX. This taps plate is much wider, not as long, thicker so it doesn't flex, and allows for a lower mounting to the arm.

Since the plate allows for a mounting that brings the taps plate down more, it is specifically made for wakesurfing. If you were to go 25+ MPH with the lower mounting for wakesurfing and with taps all the way down, it can effect steering. Speeds under 20 or just keeping the taps at 2 or higher prevent this from happening.

So here is one picture of the taps plate, this is a black version.

These 2 show the plate as it is new, off the boat, and you can see its different shape and the 2 sets of mounting holes. The lower mimics stock, and the lower allows for the plate to come down a bit more and the ability to mellow the goofy wake if desired.




And here is one mounted on our boat using the upper mounts. Keep in mind that rusted part is just a quick remedy to make sure the bolts never come out during comps. It was a quick remedy is not protected or stainless.


2015 Comp Weighting
First, the new 2015 boats are now using larger L shaped sacs. They are not as large as the sacs we use in our boat for comps or for the polar bear, but significantly more than 2014 pro stock. This Surf X system is going to make a great wake but it won't be at the level we do for the competitions or for the polar bear. I have been getting lots of questions about this, but I can't answer definitively until we get our 2015 and dial it in.

We did dial in the 2015 Z3 on the second day of the polar bear and it was great. We added lead to the stock Surf X system and tried to simulate as close as we could what the Wake9 Z3 sacs would do. This is not an exact science, of course, but we have done this a lot, and I think we were pretty darn close even with the 2015 differences.

There are no hard tanks under the rear floor of the 2015 AVX boats as far as I understand. This makes the system much simpler, but it may concern you that there is less weight. Well, the didn't do floatation under there as far as I understand, and lowered the floor so you can get more sac in there. Of course this means we have to have a 2015 specific set of sacs, which we are working on. There is another positive change in the 2015 boats that I am very excited to test. We should be getting the new 440 raptor motor in our boat, which I hear is great on fuel. It is also 200 lbs heavier, and all of the ford motors except for maybe the SC are about 200 lbs heavier than there PCM counterparts. So with more room for sacs, loss of the 250 lb hard tank, and then 200 lb more of engine, I think it will be a net gain in the exact right spot. Kind of excited to play when the time comes. You may be thinking that 250 less on both sides (the hard tanks) is 500 lbs less, but it doesn't work that way. The off surf side tank can be just compensated with more weight in the opposite sack since it doesn't fill up.

We are also going to be working with even better prototype sensors and pumps so you will want to get to an EWT event and check it out. We will be fully announcing all of that soon.

I believe all of the above information is accurate, but if there is any change I will update here. Hope this answers many of the questions I have been getting. If you are looking for one of those taps plates, I will post the link by friday.

Here is a great picture of the 2015 Z3 with comp weight in case you haven't seen it. Nothing special other than extra weight to simulate our custom sacs.

IMG_6098.jpg by wake9, on Flickr

ok, a couple more.

IMG_6110.jpg by wake9, on Flickr

IMG_6292.jpg by wake9, on Flickr

Its late, or early, Please forgive any quick typing and/or grammar errors. Please feel free to ask me questions in this thread, not via PM.

[Tomp]

Thanks for the write up!
Our 2014 Z3 has been traded in on a 2015 that's in production next week, I am interested in seeing if the adjustable AVX can help with our various shallow water areas on our lake.
Lake depth unfortunately is only 7ft to 12ft in most areas and we cannot avoid all of the shallow spots.

[Bad05]

Great info as always! Looking forward to your testing and hopefully seeing it in person this summer!

[Greeko]

Thanks so Much Ragboy for the info.

I was told the hard tanks are 250 lbs but I guess I was mistaken. Thanks for the clarification!

Looking forward to hearing more information on the new sack and weight capacity

[Greeko]

I shouldn't have thrown so many rocks...sorry about that LOL

[Surf406]

I'm definatly all in, I emailed my info

[ragboy]

@greeko, no worries. I am not complaining, just maybe being a bit more efficient this way. I just didn't want to post all of this until I was sure I had all the right information.

[trace]

Um, I think the hard tank info is incorrect, I have a'15 z1 and 007 has a '15 Z3 and they both have the hard tanks under the locker floor. Ours are early builds, so maybe they changed something, but we have the surf x bags in our boats.

[chpthril]

I have been in a 2015 Z3 built in Oct, as well as an RZ2 built some time after. Both had ballast that was the same as previous years, except the Z3 did have the new L surf sacs. ASR, yes it was different. No tanks that I could tell, but solf sacs in a below the floor cavity.

So yes, things can change during production, so later 15's could be different.

[trace]

Just a nit, but the Lenco actuators are electric, not hydraulic. The early builds still had a Bennett actuator on the taps plate. Then they switched to all Lenco actuators. The reason for the switch is in driving the avx, the actuator had to push and pull, the Bennetts only push with a spring return.

[ragboy]

Yes, I believe there have been some changes. I know there were early models with hard tanks, and with bennett stuff.

FTR, the hard tanks work fine, the issue is that they prevent the evolution of the ballast system. For instance, the system we built in our boat for the events last year was hampered by the hard tanks. Part of the process for switching sides is not just fill times, but empty times. More specifically, moving water fast from the goofy side to the regular was FAST because the regular side holds more than the goofy in our setup. Moving it the other way, water has to empty from the goofy side when transferring and if this is very slow it takes too long to get back to that dialed weight for that side. The hard tanks and the way the system was built made it overly complicated and it was impossible to get good empty times unless you emptied the hard tank and the bag above separately. We pushed very hard that this was a big hinderance, and it seems Tige's solution was to remove them. In the end, that is probably the best IMHO. It may be that the R20 or RZs still have them, but I don't think so, I can ask.

[Tomp]

Since my boat is not built yet I assume I will not have the hard tanks below? What happens to the space and is now the total water capacity less?

My 2014 that I traded in has the fly high aftermarket bags added that I bought from MLA, are they bigger and or better than the 2015 factory bags?
I could possibly get them back if so.

[Greeko]

Thanks for setting the record straight Robert!

[chpthril]

Since my boat is not built yet I assume I will not have the hard tanks below? What happens to the space and is now the total water capacity less?

My 2014 that I traded in has the fly high aftermarket bags added that I bought from MLA, are they bigger and or better than the 2015 factory bags?
I could possibly get them back if so.

Tom,

Based on some feedback, I think the new 2015 in-house Tige built surf sac, are basically the same dimensions as the Fly High W005. This makes sense due to the fact that Tige actually designed this sac at Fly High's request.

[ragboy]

So I have confirmed that the hard tanks are removed on all RZ and Z models but I have no idea when this change was made.

As far as the sacs, the Z3 is using the wake9 custom sac from the goofy side, but on both sides, so it is not longer on the regular side like on our boat. They did this for various reasons, mostly certification, weight limit, etc.

The Z1 uses the same dimensions as the wake9 Z1 sac for the part that is in the locker, but they are much shorter than the wake9 Z1 sacs, I don't have the dimensions but they barely reach down the side much at all. Same on both sides.

@tomp, I am not sure which boat you have, the RZ2 would probably be very similar to the Z1 above, possibly the same.

They are def not using the W005, especially not in the Z3 or Z1. Those bags would not fit well in the Z1 or Z3.