Trim tabs on '10 Mastercraft X-Series Boats
 

Anyone have factory trim tabs installed on their mastercrafts and do they help with surf wake?

Trim tabs steer the boat in the opposite direction that you want for wake surfing. Put down the tab on the right side and the tab drag on the right side will steer your boat to the right. To compensate you end up turning the steering wheel left.

The center tab helps some wakes like the Enzo goofy wake. The center tab makes the boat steer “more straight” so you need less steering wheel counter steering. FAE not only reduces CO exposure but also has the same effect as the center tab.

No one has really done surf tabs right. Sanger and Mastercraft have both offered tabs. From what I heard on the Sanger attempt the result was disappointing. Malibu's surf tabs are I think a step in the right direction but not the whole solution. I wouldn’t put on trim tabs unless you really know what you’re doing and what the effects will be.

The newer tabs help a bit, but it depends on the size of the boat. On an x45 the tabs really don't do all that much, but on the smaller models they can help make a difference.

Thanks guys

Think switch blade http://switchbladewake.com/

I was trying to get away from so much sac weight and the pain of navigating with all the sacs full. In the "about us" section the boat in the photo is all saved out. Don't want to spend 5k and have to still sac the boat out ...

Yeah, the tabs help clean it up, but tabs, surfgate, wedge, and switchblade will never be able to fully substitute for raw weight, they just don't increase the displacement quite like a couple thousand pounds.