I've been asked a couple times for information on the custom rudder and ride plate solution I made and since I took some pictures, I thought I'd post them here for everyone to see.
The mount (the hardest part) is custom molded to the nozzle so it fits exactly, then 3 holes are drilled and tapped into the nozzle to hold the mounts to it. Then you can have various sizes and shapes of rudders as you want.
Then the ride plate. I've gone through a couple variations. I mounted it ontop of the existing ride plate because my screws would not come out no matter what I tried. I simple drilled some extra holes in it for the new one to mount too. In the middle I made a cut out for my depth gauge sender. I couldn't mount it ontop of it since it doesn't seem to penetrate carbon fiber hardly at all. I also added some vertical strakes into the mold when I laid up the main plate section to help with some added stability. Then on the sides I mounted some cut angled aluminum for more straight line stability. I have a couple different lengths of the aluminum strakes depending on what I'm doing. The small ones in the pics are for more turning performance and pulling tubes/wakeboarders and I have some 6" long ones for cruising that I can interchange.
All of them have been on there for almost a full season now and they have withstood everything I've thrown at them. I tow a lot of wakeboarders and tubes and it helps tremendously.
I've been asked a couple times already to make them but I've always said no. The reason is for two parts: 1) It takes a lot of time on my part, plus the carbon fiber I use is not necessarily cheap and 2) I'd need your nozzle for a good couple weeks because some holes need to be drilled and tapped plus it has to be molded to fit yours exactly. I may be open to making some but some details may need to be discussed if you're really interested and ok with some of the concerns above.
The mount (the hardest part) is custom molded to the nozzle so it fits exactly, then 3 holes are drilled and tapped into the nozzle to hold the mounts to it. Then you can have various sizes and shapes of rudders as you want.
Then the ride plate. I've gone through a couple variations. I mounted it ontop of the existing ride plate because my screws would not come out no matter what I tried. I simple drilled some extra holes in it for the new one to mount too. In the middle I made a cut out for my depth gauge sender. I couldn't mount it ontop of it since it doesn't seem to penetrate carbon fiber hardly at all. I also added some vertical strakes into the mold when I laid up the main plate section to help with some added stability. Then on the sides I mounted some cut angled aluminum for more straight line stability. I have a couple different lengths of the aluminum strakes depending on what I'm doing. The small ones in the pics are for more turning performance and pulling tubes/wakeboarders and I have some 6" long ones for cruising that I can interchange.
All of them have been on there for almost a full season now and they have withstood everything I've thrown at them. I tow a lot of wakeboarders and tubes and it helps tremendously.
I've been asked a couple times already to make them but I've always said no. The reason is for two parts: 1) It takes a lot of time on my part, plus the carbon fiber I use is not necessarily cheap and 2) I'd need your nozzle for a good couple weeks because some holes need to be drilled and tapped plus it has to be molded to fit yours exactly. I may be open to making some but some details may need to be discussed if you're really interested and ok with some of the concerns above.
