KEPS 45?

[Brandon Atwell]

Hey guys!

Currently building two of these, just wanted to see everyone’s opinion on how they perform and what to be looking for when setting them up?

Hardware wise, what are you guys running? Turn fin? Any ball park on props?

Thanks in advance, if you’ve got some pictures post them up!

 

[Bradley Maglinger]

Cant wait to see you have it finished.

 

[Greg Wannamaker]

Just in the early stages of testing but it’s working pretty much like my 21 KEPS, still in break in mode and haven’t hit max RPM, toying with different pipes to get there. They run really light on the water, so you can run pretty much any prop you like. As they are a ski boat all the ride tuning I’ve needed to do is get the turn fin right, meaning having it neutral in the water, a little canted bottom edge forward and the right sponson will lift in the straights, a little canted bottom edge back and it will dig the right sponson down harder than you want. Once you find neutral, all that’s left is how fast you want it to go! Their different than other riggers, even in rougher water they are just lightly skimming the surface which can seem a bit weird to begin with but when you find the magic balance, you can pin it and not let off until you’ve won the race! Some like to throttle back heading into the turns, not me though I like my boats to enter the turns wide open and exit the same way. The KEPS will do it, get ready for how they rail the buoys, like a surgeons knife. Oh ya, takes so very little throw to make them turn. Have fun!

 

[Brandon Atwell]

Just in the early stages of testing but it’s working pretty much like my 21 KEPS, still in break in mode and haven’t hit max RPM, toying with different pipes to get there. They run really light on the water, so you can run pretty much any prop you like. As they are a ski boat all the ride tuning I’ve needed to do is get the turn fin right, meaning having it neutral in the water, a little canted bottom edge forward and the right sponson will lift in the straights, a little canted bottom edge back and it will dig the right sponson down harder than you want. Once you find neutral, all that’s left is how fast you want it to go! Their different than other riggers, even in rougher water they are just lightly skimming the surface which can seem a bit weird to begin with but when you find the magic balance, you can pin it and not let off until you’ve won the race! Some like to throttle back heading into the turns, not me though I like my boats to enter the turns wide open and exit the same way. The KEPS will do it, get ready for how they rail the buoys, like a surgeons knife. Oh ya, takes so very little throw to make them turn. Have fun!

Awesome to hear Greg! We’re pretty excited, been awhile since we’ve had a 40 hydro in our camp so kinda restarts the learning curve in a sense.

May I ask where the mount and fin came from? It looks like the one Niklas designed for the kit, did you make it yourself or was somebody producing them?

I will probably be in touch with any questions along the way once we get them wet!

 

[Greg Wannamaker]

Yes it is Niklas’s design, a piece of angle aluminium bolted to the bottom of the sponson, then has a bunch of holes drilled in it so that you can move the turn fin forward or back to get your CG the way you like it. Some people just have blind nuts inside the sponson, I like something more tangible to bolt my bracket too so I drill it out and put round aluminum bar inside that it drilled and tapped to my preferred mounting bolt size, that way I have something meatier to deal with the side forces of the turns. By all means ask away any questions you might have. Something you might notice is the adjustable front boom, if I were to built another I would make both booms adjustable, haven’t needed it but I like options for ride tuning. Niklas does his by adjusting with his ride surfaces using double sided tape.

 

[brad nichols]

Did you get the new turn fin design? I made the brackets and fin for Greg's boats and they have changed to mount on the side of the sponson. Greg's 21 is a bullet and his 45 will be the same in time.

Brad

 

[Brandon Atwell]

Did you get the new turn fin design? I made the brackets and fin for Greg's boats and they have changed to mount on the side of the sponson. Greg's 21 is a bullet and his 45 will be the same in time.

Brad

Hey Brad!

haven’t gotten a turn fin yet, actually was gonna send you a message after I looked through some threads, how much would two fins and brackets be?

you can shoot me a PM if you’d like!
Thanks man!

 

[brad nichols]

Which brackets do you want as there were 2 designs. The new design was the side plate and new fin was squarer and not the curved leading edge. Fin and bracket is $60 USD fin is bent and sharpen.

Brad

 

[Brandon Atwell]

Which brackets do you want as there were 2 designs. The new design was the side plate and new fin was squarer and not the curved leading edge. Fin and bracket is $60 USD fin is bent and sharpen.

Brad

Hey Brad!

two of the new designs please, would you like payment when the fins are done or now? Either works, just send me over your PayPal. Thanks!

 

[brad nichols]

I'll let you know when they are ready to ship

Brad