What's the wave deflector for?

I have a Nelo 550, which came with a wave deflector as an accessory. I hadn't used the deflector so far, but a couple of weeks ago I had two days with tall short waves and going upwind every second one would crash into the cockpit. So I put the wave deflector onto the boat but now what seems to happen is that it deflects the water upwards and then the wind pushes it into my eyes. Is that supposed to be an improvement? What am I missing?

It's supposed to reduce the amount of water that sheets over the top of the hull and winds up in footwell.  Some boats have a wetter ride than others and going downwind you might notice it helps more than upwind.  As a plus, if you are shooting with your head mounted GoPro it makes a rad tunnel effect when the water gets shot around your face.

Try experimenting with moving the wave deflector either further forward o further back. Hopefully you can find a sweet spot that keeps he water out the cockpit and doesn't hit you directly in the face.

Hey Thorsten, I think the picture below pretty much sums up the usefulness of a wave deflector, downwind any way. Either that or a mask and snorkel. Of course some skis nose dive more than others, but, they all do at some point. 

Very appropriate photo! If I remember correctly, the next one in the sequence has him swimming

@hacker_mike, the issues I've been having were upwind. The water wasn't deflected into my face but simply upwards and then the wind blew it all in my face. Moving the deflector forward/backwards a bit won't change those dynamics.

"@hacker_mike, the issues I've been having were upwind. The water wasn't deflected into my face but simply upwards and then the wind blew it all in my face. Moving the deflector forward/backwards a bit won't change those dynamics". 

Aaah, yes, that could remain a problem. Solution is don't paddle upwind   . 

You're right Thorsten,  Jasper did not recover from that nose dive over a shallow water reef in the surf zone. This type of nose dive is not uncommon in more extreme offshore downwind conditions and is easy to recover from without going for a swim. Shallow water is a different story. Being hit in the face with the equivalent of a fire hose is not a pleasant experience. Particularly after the third or fourth time. This experience is very common on my lower volume XT, but, rarely encountered on my higher volume EVO.  Every boat/watercraft design is a compromise to best accomplish a specific performance goal. Also adding, removing , changing accessories creates a compromise. Venturi bailers vs DeBrito type bailers for example. I had the opportunity to borrow a Think Ion from a friend who suggested that I duck tape over the front handle due to it sending water up into your face.
 So apparently, since surfskis come without wave deflectors installed, they must be optional. We each have to customize our skis to our personal likes/dislikes and type of use. Maybe use velcro for an optional use wave deflector?

A good deflector should absolutely not spray your face. The problem is the leading edge is blunt, and so instead of funneling to the left and right - it just wacks it into your field of vision. Not exactly my brand of whiskey.

Here's a video of a 3D printed wave deflector we designed at Faster Farther to create a clean point of entry and release (two barrels of water low and to the side). 

The unit shown is a prototype, will be available for sale soon. While very handy when going upwind, the biggest dividend is going downwind when you're overgliding. The concept of overgliding is to exit the wave early in order to leverage it's peak energy to make a jump to a wave that is about to form in somewhere front of you, which allows the ski to travel at full throttle at all times (never stalling, wallowing or waiting). A good deflector allows the pilot to split the wave and pop over without swamping the cockpit. Think of it as similar in concept to a motocross rider who throttles up to clear a huge jump. 

Nice paddling Cryder! That's a great example of how the perspective changes for the better once you get up over about 13km/hr and wave selection /catching becomes easier ie. speed begets more speed. 
Sweet conditions ! What was the windspeed and approx wave height?
The deflector does it's job nicely.

I don't know, looks like water is consistently splashing into camera lens (ie; face) to me.
Also quite a bit of spray from handle. Don't care for either one. would rather invest in high efficiency low drag cockpit drainage. ie; large venturi drains with bullets. I'd rather not have any disruption/resistance of water flow over deck. Can't say that I have ever had a problem with splitting the wave, popping over and swamping my ski with out a deflector going full throttle. Interesting too, that V-8 pro appears to be a really wet boat!
Good luck and thanks for the video.

absolutely essential on my V5.  looked too small to be useful but sprayed it white and stuck it on with white cloth tape and there it's been for  6 months

Here you go mate. Full carbon, weighs just 36gms, flexible base to mold to the deck of any ski, and no water in your face.

@stew that thing looks worse than mine, all the water must get deflected upwards...

I'm complaining about upwind performance, not downwind...

Here's a three photo sequence heading into steep waves that are just overhead. The first shows the tip of the ski digging into the wave, the second the water being thrown up, the third the wind blowing it all into my face (the camera is on my head).

tve wrote: @stew that thing looks worse than mine, all the water must get deflected upwards...

I'm complaining about upwind performance, not downwind

Why would you say something doesn't work, or is worse than what you have, if you haven't tried it? These ones work a treat, and were designed to do so.


Good luck on our search.

I've got the think kayak wave deflector and used it on the Fenn Swordfish, Carbonology Vault and now the Think Ion; using the wave deflector going downwind is fantastic and has kept my cockpit dry over many occasions. 

Going upwind same story but wind and deflected water will cause it going into your face, that's just physics... but hey it's 40degC here on Sunday, so i'd love my wave deflector even more upwind as the water will keep me cool!!

I also have the think deflector mounted easily with 2 strips of rail tape to my Carbonology Boost LV (called aLVin). It’s primary purpose is to reduce entry of water to cockpit on downwinders and it does this very well. Water coming directly front-on is split into 2 streams and hardly any is sprayed up.
Going upwind it only occasionally sprays water up. Worse is a wave hitting obliquely eg 45 deg from the front where it can splash, assisted by wind. A minor trade- off for me. 
Interestingly, my Fenn BlueFin S also splashes with oblique upwind waves without a deflector so maybe it’s not entirely the fault of the deflector.
There is a potential downside to the design of paddlepops version in that water hitting hard from front-on will try to lift it and may make it harder to keep it secured to boat. The Think one from Stew is mostly pushed down by oncoming wave and seems to split wave cleanly with appearance of laminar flow: fast and not turbulent. This I can only support with my own lame experiments aiming water at it with a hose.
The reason I got a deflector in the first place was due to the Boost LV having a tendency to nose-dive relative to the BlueFin. Maybe the bucket is a little further forward but the bigger difference is the reduced volume especially in the nose, just like the Nelo 550 mentioned above. I’m learning to adjust, though, and it is a lot of fun as so manoeuvrable and comfortable. Not a criticism of the LV, just a difference that has helped to teach me to stop paddling sooner on a wave and not surf straight down it like a noob.

Stew, how does one get one of those deflectors?
I didn't see anything on the Think website and my (relatively) local Think dealer doesn't stock them.
thanks!

Canadasurfskiguy wrote: Stew, how does one get one of those deflectors?
I didn't see anything on the Think website and my (relatively) local Think dealer doesn't stock them.
thanks!

I believe there available in North America and Canada now? If the guys are out of stock, I'm happy to post one to you if that helps. They're available online at thinkkayak.com.au

The primary purpose of wave deflectors is to make pretty pictures like these:





Just kidding.  

I hate paddling either my swordfish or the V10 double in rough water (and especially downwind) without a wave deflector.  If you really bury the nose the deflector can send great gouts of water into the air, which land on your chest and/or face, but in general it really is most effective at helping to keep the cockpit dry.

I got mine from Nelo and really like it; it seems to send most of the water sideways instead of straight up.

that's a great turn of speed robin.  what's best you're recorded?  pete