What do y'all think abut this for the jet wash?

[Justin Turner]

I have a Glastron GTS-207. I tried the wake wedge without ballast and it was a fail. I have 2250# of ballast on the way but need to eliminate the jet wash. I have read through the "mud flap" idea thread and then stumbled onto this. Can't remember what boat it is on. Anyway here is my idea.

Replace the swim platform bracket (because mine is bent anyway) with another bracket that will hold my swim deck and this "blade". I will make it slotted vertically so it can be moved up and down, depending on speed and what i'm doing, but it will stay on the boat. I am thinking it will have dedicated positions with spring loaded "latches" to hold it in place. They will be oblong latches as to hold it in the dedicated positions.

My the top of my jet is at 14" from the bottom of my swim deck and the bottom of the jet is 17 1/2" from the bottom of the swim deck so I am thinking I will make positions from 13" - 16" or so as to not blow it off and/or rip the bolts out of the transom.

Anyway, please send me your thoughts. I am by far no mechanical engineer but once I get the bracket mounted I can keep re-engineering the "blade" until it works.

Thanks for your help!

 

[haknslash]

That blade is called The Wedge. It's on Malibu and Axis wake boats. The purpose of the wedge is to bring down the back of the boat to simulate a lot of ballast. It causes a Ton of drag that you can really feel once it is engaged. I test drove an Axis earlier this spring and boat handles completely different with it deployed. I'm sure it creates a TON of force too since it basically is a reversed hydrofoil and acts like a huge shovel to drag the boat down. I'm not sure how well built a Glastron is but those boats are reinforced for the wedge due to the forces. I also don't think it will be good for a jet and you would just cavitate from it trying to pull the boat down. Really need a ton of torque and a prop that won't "slip" like an impeller will under high loads/speeds. I don't see how a deployed wedge would solve jet wash.

You should look into what Scarab does with those detachable pieces that divert the water from the sides to shoot over to the jet pump. My guess is they are using that force of water to push the jet wash to the other side. Not a whole lot of info on how they work aside from that one thread in the watersports section Scarab 255 Wake - Wake Tests with Ballasts. Or try and make a mud flap.

 

[Midnight2V]

Having owned a Malibu with a power wedge I can tell you that @haknslash is not exaggerating at all. In addition to the downward torque the wedge applies to generate the wake, there is also a considerable amount of lateral load generated as well. The amount of hull reinforcement that not only the transom, but also the keel must receive, is considerable. I believe that the gunwale may also require reinforcement as well, but I don't remember.