My new modification

[harv]

After reading Ragboy's posts last year about swim deck mod's... I studied my options. My brackets are out really close to the sides of the deck, so even if I modified a swim deck I'm sure it would still drag in the water and cause wash. My next thoughts were to space the deck up off the brackets, but I fear that the brackets will be the next thing messing up the wake.

BTW- I did take my boat out (Switch V) without the swim deck a few times for some analysis... Wow! It is absolutely huge and not a bit of foam until way way back.

Since I'm a mechanical designer and have access to design software with load analysis capabilities... I've designed up a pair of brackets that will raise the deck up 8". The brackets will not drag in the water (I'm hoping) so I should achieve the results that I'm looking for.

Here is a pic from a night session with Tommy Czeschin just before Worlds. No deck... 8 people + 480 lbs in rear locker. Taps was stuck at 7 (I blew a fuse again... too much stuff on at the time). But the wake was so clean and fun. Tommy loved it!

[Oklahoma Breakdown]

WOW That wake is sic. Talk about riding the dark side.....

[Ewok]

Swimplatforms.com is a company that makes custom swim platforms for many different boats. If they don't have a mold for your type of boat, they make one based on the template you send them. If you make the custom brackets and want a custom platform built to your shape and specs, give them a call. They made a perfect swim platform for my 93 Bayliner that looked stock. It was a perfect fit, looked great and functioned even better. I bet with your mount idea and ragboys custom shape we could have a perfect aftermarket swimplatform for all of us to order.

[harv]

I'm getting the parts fabricated as I write this...

I'll let y'all know how it turns out. I've rated each bracket for 300 lbs with a safety factor of 8!!! May have some flex at 300 lbs but will not fail or deform.

Not sure what material the existing brackets are made of. I haven't removed them from the swim deck yet. Mine are being made from 304 Stainless Steel.

Thanks for the input Ewok... I'll check that site out.

Here is a pic of the regular side.

[NICKYPOO]

Super dope Harv!

[G-MONEY]

so with the swim platform up 8" how do you get in the boat when you have no ballast?

[Duncan]

so with the swim platform up 8" how do you get in the boat when you have no ballast?

Being that high up, you could mount one of these extender ladders under the platform.

Another issue though is what moving the platform up is going to do on other Tige hulls ... from Ragboy's reports, not running a platform was terrible, with rooster tails and mush--he suggests what is important is a smooth bottomed platform. So I wonder if raising up the platform will help on all of our boats?

[harv]

Good thoughts.

Some may have trouble getting in the boat with a higher platform (especially my kids, but their light. I can help them in). Every one that I've surfed with when the deck was off was skilled enough to pull themselves up and out of the water but then proceeded to drain lake water into the back lockers. Maybe 8" is too much? If I'm paying for the upgrade I wanted to make sure that I'd achieve the results that I was looking for.

Without the deck... there was some rooster, mostly caused by the fresh air exhaust, otherwise it really wasn't an issue. The higher deck should block any spray that the exhaust was causing.

[harv]

Check out this shot. Rider: Tommy Czeschin Photo: Travis Lang

[NICKYPOO]

Check out this shot. Rider: Tommy Czeschin Photo: Travis Lang

Wow! That one is almost surreal. All of them are awesome though. Travis there has definitely got some serious skills behind the lens. Thanks for posting them and post more if you can.

The platform issue seems to be hull specific. Obviously harv's wake became amazing (Switch V) and ragboy's wake became mush (24Ve). Not sure what exactly the difference maker is in the hull shape but that's just the way it worked out. Could even just be the angle of attack. I don't know.

[petrey10]

i am thinking about making a new platform for my 2001 20i but still haven't heard from ragboy on my questions... do you think 3/16'' aluminum will be so thin its too sharp? I know a guy who works with aluminum and he said that 3/16 will be plenty thick but I want to make sure that its not too thin that it becomes sharp (yeah I know you round the edges but its pretty thin stuff)... I am not going to mess with raising or lowering I just want a better surf wake and not to have to oil teak all the time

[petrey10]

what do you guys use for the top of the deck... i mean what brand is the foam/pad

[Ewok]

The 2010 Tige's use Seadek, it's much softer on the knees and butt than the little black e's. I'm ordering the pads for my platform and I've only had my boat for 6 weeks.

[petrey10]

anybody have any suggestions for my other questions about the 3/16'' alum

[NICKYPOO]

3/16 is pretty damn thin and tough to get a decent round edge on. I would think at least 3/8 or 1/2. 3/4 would be dope but probably overkill and really heavy. What did rag use? Seems like it was at least 1/2".