220 Hydrogate?

[young.chadm]

Is the Hydrogate useful? Seems to me that over time that it might cause structural issues...thoughts?

[lffish133]

The Hydrogate on my 210 works very well, we put it down when we pull out and it helps us get on plane faster, it is also amazing how it can change the wake shape. I can only imagine that it would work better on a 220 since the hull was much more designed with the hyrdogate in mind. I can't imagine any hull structure problems, if you are worried about the hyrdogate, you should take a look at the Malibu wedge and the Centurion switch blade, those are some serious under water contraptions there.

[saceone]

the malibu wedge , ah! now that's a piece of junk.
I never rode behind a hydrogated nautique.

[gride300]

my experience with a hydro gate was on an 07 220 and 230. i noticed a slight difference in the lip of the wake when changing from slalom to wakeboard. it seemed to make it more abrubt in wake mode, even though ours said wake in both positions. i did not notice any help at all planing off in a super weighted boat. i would love to hear some feedback from owners. isn't it standard? it's a great idea. it needs to be made to displace enough water to make the same size wake as 3000lbs of h20. then it would be something!

[tnlakes]

I think the hydro-gate is useful and it definitely changes the characteristic of the wake. I adjust the wake pretty regularly on my 220. For me, I like it in the wake boarding setting at 75' off, while I place the hydro-gate in the ski setting for newer riders or for my wife. I think above 24 mph it loses its functionality and probably isn't a good idea to have it in the wakeboard setting at that speed or above because it might loosen up the cable. Structurally, there's no way it could hurt the hull, it simply doesn't create that much force like malibu's wedge, which creeps me out.

[SkiTower]

for skiing, we've found that it changes the wake from hard to soft. Can't really 'see' a difference, but the wake is definitely harder when you cut.

[Nautiqueman]

I would not have a new boat without it!

[jaybird]

Stick with ballast

I think I will stick with the old school ballast, check out this easy access rudder packing option Yellow_Flash_Colorz:

Not I fair comparison I know, but wow!

Here is the full story:

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/m...tml?1075167217

[tnlakes]

RE: Stick with ballast

Clearly this doesn't happen often, but this is exactly why I wouldn't own a malibu.

[Nautiqueman]

RE: Stick with ballast

I wonder if the performance of the boat changed any without the wedge and a hole in the back of the bu..

[Laptom]

RE: Stick with ballast

You can buy a Malibu without a wedge.... I think this is an extreem example and for 100% not comparible to the hydrogate.

The hydrogate on our 230 work quite fine. When somebody forgets to drop it you notice the wake is a bit more rampy and softer. When the girls are boarding we make the wake a bit softer this way. They seem to like the wake more then. But the differences a pretty subtile.

[flaudia402]

RE: Stick with ballast

I agree with what everyone else here says. The hydrogate is great on our 220. Coming from an Xstar, keeping it in the 1 position creates a wake very similar. Large, but wide. Dropping it into position 3 immediately changes the wake into what Nautique is famous for -- narrow and extremely rampy. The first time I ever hit the wake in this position, I was astounded at the amount of effortless pop I was able to achieve. A whole lot of fun, but careful out there!

[lffish133]

RE: Stick with ballast

I was comparing the hydrogate to the wedge based only on young.chadm's concerns about the stress on the hull. As far as function, they are not even close to the same. The wedge drags the boat under making the wake bigger, and steeper. Not good for shape because it just drags the butt in. The hydrogate is a wake shaping device. It takes the lip off the wake, takes it from hard to soft, or makes it rampier, depending on boat and the speed you are going. I don't think Nautique will ever introduce some device that will make your wake bigger like the wedge, because it takes your boat hull out of it's natural running length in the water, Nautique is all about having the best hull throw the best wake. You will always have to sink your Nautique with extra ballast, but the wake and boat performance is so much better than any one else, I'm not complaining.

[jaybird]

RE: Stick with ballast

HEY GUYS!

I meant no offense to the Nautique Wedge when I posted that shot of the hole in the Malibu; I was just sharing an interesting photo. I know the wedge and hydrogate serve completely different functions, just though you may get a good laugh.
The glass in the back of the Malibu looks questionable don’t you think?

[tdc_worm]

my experience w/ the hydro gate on my boats:

220:
pros: helps you get on plane faster
cons: makes wake washy when engaged
surfing: no effect (i run way tooo much weight)
overall: gimmick. being the odd man out is a bad thing---if everyone else has a "wake enhancer", you have to keep up w/ the joneses...

230:
pros: helps you get on plane faster. does help shape the wake ever so slightly
cons: none
surfing: port side likes to be i the middle. starboard side likes to be disengaged
overall: gimmick (see above).

all that said, i have the ability to run in excess of 2500 lbs of plumbed ballast in either one, so i depend more on ballast than the hgate...i love my CCs, but nowhere was the hgate part of my decision making process....