Hull-side surf wedge DIY

[theskunk]

That is a sore subject...

Only because I'm still finding them...

[biggertanks]

This will be my first post, not sure how to do this!! Love the suction cup idea. After surfing behind my friends axis with surf gate i decided i needed to take matters into my own hands. I want to build something permanent and discrete later. This is a prototype but I am loving the initial results. Not sure the photos tell the story. The first pic is me a friend his 17 year old son and my 60 pound 11 year old. We have all three ballasts full and passengers are not sitting anywhere specific. I stepped out onto the swim deck and slid my prototype on and jumped in the water. The results i thought were great. So the only difference between the before and after is the piece of plywood and one fewer body in the boat for weight. no additional fat sacs and didn't seem to matter where the people in the boat sat as long as they were not in the bow.

video attachment of first trial run
https://youtu.be/b73Zyk97WTc

[theskunk]

It Sucks! (and it's supposed to!)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[simplysanj]

It Sucks! (and it's supposed to!)



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This will be my first post, not sure how to do this!! Love the suction cup idea. After surfing behind my friends axis with surf gate i decided i needed to take matters into my own hands. I want to build something permanent and discrete later. This is a prototype but I am loving the initial results. Not sure the photos tell the story. The first pic is me a friend his 17 year old son and my 60 pound 11 year old. We have all three ballasts full and passengers are not sitting anywhere specific. I stepped out onto the swim deck and slid my prototype on and jumped in the water. The results i thought were great. So the only difference between the before and after is the piece of plywood and one fewer body in the boat for weight. no additional fat sacs and didn't seem to matter where the people in the boat sat as long as they were not in the bow.

video attachment of first trial run

Sweet😸!

Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

[simplysanj]

Out of curiosity, I ordered a 4 head suction grip for $15 on Amazon and lo and behold it held into the surface of my boat. 2 heads should be fine for this to work tho.





Sent from my XT1095 using Tapatalk

[theskunk]

With a completely flat boat, this works. With most of us who have a 'step', it will not without considerable bending, and then will not be dual purpose (fitting each side equally well).

You also need to move it much lower, otherwise the torsion that the wedge will place on it could rip some of the suction away, /me thinks...

[theskunk]

Partially constructed. Still need to:

Re-enforce the part of the wedge before the hinge

Bolt on the rest of the wedge

Re-attach the suction cups and re-design the attach points since I didn't like how it turned out

Find a sheet of foam for the part that touches the boat

Find a way to make it float

Create an adjustable mechanism to allow for different angles from the hinge back.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[vision]

Testing next weekend?

[theskunk]

Here's to hoping!
Structure of the wedge is 100% complete as of today, but I'm still trying to figure out how to adjust the swing for the hinge.

I'd like to have either a sliding system or a pin-based system to allow it to move in and out about 20 degrees of adjustment, plus a fully-swept storage position.

Oh, and I should probably try to make it float, too.

[Ox269]

I may just be missing something obvious here based on the pictures, but could you describe how you are attaching the wedge to the suction handle? Looking forward to some test run pictures, awesome concept


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[theskunk]

I've been playing with a few different designs, but basically I'm putting tow screws through the suction cups, and then i'll have two handle nuts (not sure what else to call them) that allow everything to suction nice and tight, and then allow the plate to tighten down against the hull, pulling on the suction cups.

The pictured stand has 1/4 inch bolts in place, however I *might* use 3/8 if I feel it needs some additional re-enforcement.

[slidin_out]

This will be my first post, not sure how to do this!! Love the suction cup idea. After surfing behind my friends axis with surf gate i decided i needed to take matters into my own hands. I want to build something permanent and discrete later. This is a prototype but I am loving the initial results. Not sure the photos tell the story. The first pic is me a friend his 17 year old son and my 60 pound 11 year old. We have all three ballasts full and passengers are not sitting anywhere specific. I stepped out onto the swim deck and slid my prototype on and jumped in the water. The results i thought were great. So the only difference between the before and after is the piece of plywood and one fewer body in the boat for weight. no additional fat sacs and didn't seem to matter where the people in the boat sat as long as they were not in the bow.

video attachment of first trial run
https://youtu.be/b73Zyk97WTc

Ok I'm thinking my prototype will work even better using that sleeve you built over swim platform. I should be able to overcome my issues with a sleeve like that. My issues were finding a way to deal with the horizontal pressure pushing the bottom corner of the "plate" off the back of the boat. I also had a little vertical lift on the plate as well. This would make it rigid. Busy filling gator tags right now but when we catch the last one I'll have time to work on it again this weekend hopefully.

[theskunk]

Mounted up with some cut up pool noodles to help with floatation...

Test run tomorrow!






Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[theskunk]

In short: it worked!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ScooterMcgavin]

Well that's good news... How about a little info on how well it worked and stayed on the boat? Do you have any pics or video or your wave before and after?
Any comments at all on how well it worked?