Wave deflector on the cheap.

I see videos and photos of wave deflectors on skis that are clearly homemade. But I can never quite make out what there made of. Anyone have any tips for off the shelf / homemade deflectors?... Cheep is good, effective better!

Bill

Usually made from 10mm EVA expanded foam rubber, basically your common old camping mattress. Mine on the other hand are carbon fibre!

"Mine on the other hand is Carbon fiber"... Sure it is.
... Doesn't exist until I see a picture.

Bill

Easy with a 2l Coke bottle :

1. Cut off the bottom.
2. Cut off the very top, leaving some of the section where it gets narrow.
3. Cut in half length-ways.
4. A bit more trimming for shape.
5. Place on boat, bottom of bottle joining together pointing forwards.
6. Lots of gaffer tape.

The more curve you can keep at the top of the front, the better it will hold together when diving into a trough.

Works a charm, good for a few downwinds & easy to replace.

I would never have bothered to upgrade if I hadn't won my own "real" defector.

Ranga wrote: Usually made from 10mm EVA expanded foam rubber, basically your common old camping mattress.

Sounds interesting... How does this work?

Ranga in our sort of conditions Perth, is there really any need for these? Maybe my shitty paddling but seems more water in the boat from waves lumping in from the side sometimes with SW behind and swell more westerly. I know it's poor paddling but getting bogged and over-run seems to fill the boat more than over the front of the cockpit.

Newbflat wrote: "Mine on the other hand is Carbon fiber"... Sure it is.
... Doesn't exist until I see a picture.

Bill

You mean like this??

Even a liter of water adds 1kg to the weight of the ski, it just slows you down. And the longer it stays in the cockpit the more it slows you down. Pretty obvious!

So how do you make something that looks like Stew's deflector out of old rubber mattress? For the life of me I still can't figure that one out.

I'm taking the bait Ranga. If it's that obvious why doesn't everyone here paddle with one; why don't skis come with these built in because they are so necessary; why aren't these touted as essential after-market add-ons online or in retail outlets - which they are not?

For that matter given the speed that Epic bailers clear water at the touch of a foot, isn't it pretty obvious that these aren't really essential to clear a kilo or whatever of water?

If it's so obvious why aren't elite paddlers using these extensively? Yes I have seen a couple of videos of Oscar paddling with these, however from what I have seen they are more the exception rather than the rule. I won't launch into a weight-related argument given some boats come kilos heavier already at a given price point.

Maybe I'll open the ambit of my original question - would one be advantaged generally speaking by having a wave deflector? (If so Ranga, how much are yours? )

Right, Watto, let's go fishing. I'll rise to take your bait

Watto wrote: If it's that obvious why doesn't everyone here paddle with one;

I can't comment for where you are, but they are quite common round here. Here being Fish Hoek, Cape Town. On a good downwind day, or a race day, you will see many boats with all manner of deflectors on them.

why don't skis come with these built in because they are so necessary;

• They get in the way.
• They stick out and are likely to get caught on things and break.
• They don't let the ski slide in and out of racks, or onto the roof of a car.
• They are simple to add after-market.

why aren't these touted as essential after-market add-ons online or in retail outlets

They are available at our paddle shops and have been for years. Our ones look just like what Stew posted. Unfortunately mine is glass, not carbon - carbon looks so much cooler

If it's so obvious why aren't elite paddlers using these extensively?

Well for one, Jasper Mocke uses one. He is the current champ. Maybe that counts for something.

would one be advantaged generally speaking by having a wave deflector?

IMHO, yes! I really do love using mine in anything bigger than 1m chop upwind, or 20knots downwind.

Upwind into chop they are great for keeping dry. Dry = light. Light = don't lose speed going upwind.

Downwind they are great when the nose digs into the wave in front. Preventing swamping, keeping momentum up.

In a double on a Millers Run, I'd almost say they are essential for a pair of mid-pack paddlers. That's where the Coke bottle version gets used mostly...


(not sure I would feel the same if I had one made out of floppy old mattress though...)

Stew

Where can i get one of these??

To me, wave deflectors work in short steep chop like the Millers run mentioned. In many other areas such as the KZN east coast (Durban) they're not necessary as you seldom flood the cockpit going downwind, and very few people use them here.

While everyone works out if they needs one or not, I do. And at the moment it looks like it's ether make one in carbon fiber or drink a coke and use the bottle and nether sound ideal at the moment.

People pay a lot of money to shave a few pounds off there ski and that benifit is neutralized with something like two liters of water in the ski. One shot of water up the ski can dump ten times that into the ski in a second. Yes my bailer on my epic is super fast, but the more I don't need to open it the better, plus that water shooting into the cockpit happens just when you don't want it to so I would prefer to midagate what I can. I sometimes paddle in a place where a wave deflected would be quite handy, hence the question.

Bill

Bill: When you get down to the Gorge, ask JD to show you the one he made out of foam, pretty slick!

Don

Check out this awesome race video from cape town. Jasper, Dawid, Sean Rice, Van deWalt, Austin Keiffer, and many others have wave deflectors of various constructions.

In the opening sequence we see Jasper with a couple of pieces of foam on the sides of his seat.

Are these also deflectors? I haven't gotten around to asking about those.

waterbornewarrior wrote: When you get down to the Gorge, ask JD to show you the one he made out of foam, pretty slick!

These foam deflectors you guys keep talking about - are they in any way similar to the ones Stew photographed? And the Mockes use in the Millers video?

Or are they something different entirely?

The previous poster who claimed to make wave deflectors out of floppy camping mattress went very quiet when I asked him for more info...

Hey Rob at 3mins 30secs!. On topic - did you use a wave deflector - if not why not ? Would it have made a difference?

Off topic, couldn't do Mauritius this year, keen 2016. Do you do this each year ; is it feasible to travel to CT beforehand (want to do Millers Run)? Fck I love this sport.

Hey Watto!

On topic - did you use a wave deflector - if not why not ?

(If this is directed at me!)

Depends on the boat. I use a carbon formed deflector on my V10 Double and it's incredible effective at reducing the amount of water coming into the front cockpit.

I very seldom flood the cockpit on my Zest - it has a fair amount of volume in the nose and I just don't seem to nosedive very much in it.

is it feasible to travel to CT beforehand (want to do Millers Run)?

Not really because in winter we don't often get southeasters. In fact this winter there's not been much in the way of northwesters either - when we do reverse Millers Runs!

Do make the most of Cape Town, you really want to come over in summer when the southeaster blows most days. If you do ever come - we'll make sure you get your fill of downwinds! The Millers Run isn't the only one around - we could do a tour, Gordon's Bay to Monwabisi; Milnerton to Melkbos and of course the Millers!

All the best
Rob