This is basically a rehasing of our thread on the Supra Boats forum. I thought it was important enough to bring over here and share for everyone who is looking to get more out of their surf wave.
The original thread can be found here:
http://www.supraboats.com/bbs/showth...Platform-build
It is a lot more picture intensive, this is just a summary.
We are running a 1992 Supra Sunsport Direct Drive with about 1450lbs of ballast on the surf side. We have heard from various sources that your swim platform may affect the quality of the wave in cleanliness, length, and push. We decided to find out for ourselves. Here's our story.
Our original platform measured 68" x 21 3/4" as a rectangle including the grab rails. Not only that, but it had a lip that dropped down about 2" or so under the top of the brackets. This made the water that got caught in there get trapped and create turbulance before it escaped.
Our new platform is in the shape of a squished hexagon and measures 62" x 14.5" x 13.75" x43" x 23 7/8" and is 7/8" thick. It does not have any lip or material under the brackets. We gain more usable space and loose area that affects the wake.
This is only the prototype and is made out of 2 sheets of 7/16" OSP screwed together and coated in spray on bed liner. It is not meant to be the permanent solution, just to test our theory of a smaller, smoother platform improving the surf wake in a noticable way.
The final platform will be made of 3/4" marine plywood and wrapped in fiberglass with a proper pad. This will be constructed during the wintertime while the boat is down.
Original platform underneath:
Green marks the brackets, blue is where we observed the water hitting the platform while surfing
Comparrision between the old platform size and the new platform size
How it sits mounted on the boat
Threaded Mode