Now that I’ve been riding my Superfreak for a couple of weeks, I wanted to write up a detailed review of the hull and my experiences with Tem (who builds the Superfreak hulls, in case anyone doesn’t know this already).
I have never owned an aftermarket hull before. I’ve always ridden a Superjet as my main ski. I progressed from a stock Squarenose to a stock Roundnose to Tubbies and then finally to a shortened Roundnose with Tubbies. I had that hull very much dialed in to my likings. A lot of people didn’t like it, but many people did. It was kind of a love-hate-thing. You either loved it or you hated it. I’ve also ridden a bunch of other skis – SXR’s and 550’s mostly, a hacked up 750SXI hull, also some racing SJ’s. I had tried only one aftermarket hull in the past (a REV) and didn’t care for it at all.
So I was a bit apprehensive about ordering an aftermarket hull without trying it out. I’ll admit that I decided to go with Tem 100% due to online feedback on the old style Superfreak and his reputation for a solid, yet light hull. His prices are also very competitive.
Hull ride review first:
I love the ride. I was instantly comfortable on it. There has been only one accidental dismount in 20 gallons of riding. It is very twitchy but very predictable. Everything happens so much faster on this hull than on any other ski I’ve ridden. It can at times ride a bit nose-high at low speeds, but as soon as it planes out, the hull is planted and extremely stable. My setup runs in the low 50’s and it is just as stable as an SXR (but much lighter).
The hull can carve, but it doesn’t do it nearly as well as a tubbie’d Superjet or an SXR. I think it’s just too light for it. I switched back and forth between several Superjets and a 750SXI and my Superfreak yesterday. The stock hulls just have a lot more weight to keep them in the water. The Freak seems to be more on top of the water rather than in it. It slides out a lot easier when trying to carve. None of this is a bad thing. It’s a great recreational ride, but you won’t be running a buoy course with it.
It seems nearly impossible to accidentally sub the hull. Steering is very fast. Combine this with the fast handling due to light weight and you have one RESPONSIVE hull. I get on other skis just to get a break sometimes. :lmao: I let plenty of other people ride my ski and they all say the same thing: it handles fast and is super responsive. The wide tray is so nice and you get used to it very quickly. Hopping on a Superjet, that tray feels like a 550. :haha:
The hull is so light (259lbs ready to ride with 2 gallons of gas) that it gets a lot of air. It naturally goes vertical (or past vertical) when you punch it just off idle. When you go for a backflip setup wake and hit it without trim or even commitment do actually do the flip, the hull will still get upside down. No, I still cannot complete my rolls even with this hull. I actually have the technique all wrong. My rolls look more like underflips or flairs. That said, they get a lot higher! :bigok: I’ve been working on flatwater flips and I am almost there. If the pole were a little shorter, I think I’d have it. (I didn’t want a shorter pole because I wanted a rec boat). I am doing all this with a standard 61X big bore motor built by Jetworks plus total loss and a 140 12V mag pump and Wammer trim.
I had this same setup in my old Superjet hull. This boat is at least 95 lbs lighter than my old one. The difference that makes power-wise is incredible. I think you could run a stock 701 in this hull and have a blast.
The buying experience:
I first started talking to Tem in September after some un-named Californian lawn-darted my trusty RN and cracked the nose. I was very happy that I finally had the excuse I needed to go aftermarket. Thanks to my loving and ever-supportive wife, I was able to ahead with it. (This was before the Badazz hull was out) I first wanted to get a glass Superfreak, unassembled. I think this would have cost about $3-$4k. Then I decided to have Tem do the assembly instead. No reason to screw up a perfectly good hull. Then I found out that the full carbon option for hull, hood, and pole cost only a little bit more ($1500 total?), so I decided to go ahead with that. Total was somewhere at $8k. I thought it was a great deal for a 59lb carbon hull, 8lb carbon hood, and 6lb carbon pole.
I put a $2k deposit down in late September and told Tem that I didn’t need this hull until well after Christmas. A couple of months later, the Badazz hull officially came out and I was even more stoked. The hull was shipped to the Blowsion shop in February. This is not the typical waiting time for a hull to be built. I specifically asked for a late delivery date. Tem was always very upfront with me about times, prices, and all that. In fact, I should mention that he’s an absolute pleasure to talk to on the phone.
Tem has been great about supporting this hull even after the sale. He has sent me some updated hood hooks for free, an accessory piece for the pole, some fix-it materials (more on this later) and receipts needed for registration. He has always been very easy to get a hold of, be it through phone, email, or the X. He also hooked me up with some deals on a ride plate, water box, and shipping. He can be a bit scatter-brained at times, but I imagine he’s PRETTY busy. :biggrin: (Besides, it’s not like I have room to call anyone scatter-brained. :lmao: ) Great guy, thumbs up.
Hull construction, quality, etc:
The hull is incredibly solid. Some areas are very thin and flex a tiny bit. It is simply amazing how strong AND thin some areas are. I used a hole saw for cutting holes in the hood liner for breathers. Those cut out pieces are about 1mm or less thick. I was not able to fold or break those pieces. I could very slightly bend them.
The finish that is on the hull as it is shipped is an epoxy tooling gel coat. It has quite a few pin holes. So prep for paint is going to take some time and effort if you want a show quality finish. This wasn’t a surprise to me, Tem had warned me in advance. The inside of the hull doesn’t look as pretty as other hulls I’ve looked at. (Lightweight and WDK’s newer hulls). Tem doesn’t want to put any more weight in clear coat or other finishes on the hull than necessary. Maybe that’s not your cup of tea and you want something that looks nicer – I am fine with it.
I had to do very little parts modification to fit things. The reduction nozzle ears needed to be enlarged, the top of the pump needed to be ground down a little, and two motor mounts needed to be slotted a little.
I broke the battery tray on my first ride out. It simply ripped off the pillars it is glued to. I might mention that I use a 13.5lb battery, so it’s a pretty heavy load. Apparently I was the first person to break one of those trays. Tem set me some repair materials and spent a lot of time on the phone with me to make sure it gets repaired right. I glassed in some inserts for a standard SJ battery box (I like this better than the flat tray anyways).
I also had some cracks in my paint on the side that I land my “rolls” on. I was a bit concerned about that, but I have been wailing very hard on that side for a couple of weeks now and there is no additional cracking. The area is solid, but very very slightly flexible. I think the paint is not able to cope with the hull flex.
Come to think of it, pretty much all of my riding in the past two weeks has been constant abuse with plenty of slapped ¾ rolls, pancakes, and the like. So far, this hull seems SOLID and light. If I ever were to have an issue, I have absolutely no doubts that Tem would continue to stand behind his products.
This ended up being a lot longer than I had intended. Wheeew.
I have never owned an aftermarket hull before. I’ve always ridden a Superjet as my main ski. I progressed from a stock Squarenose to a stock Roundnose to Tubbies and then finally to a shortened Roundnose with Tubbies. I had that hull very much dialed in to my likings. A lot of people didn’t like it, but many people did. It was kind of a love-hate-thing. You either loved it or you hated it. I’ve also ridden a bunch of other skis – SXR’s and 550’s mostly, a hacked up 750SXI hull, also some racing SJ’s. I had tried only one aftermarket hull in the past (a REV) and didn’t care for it at all.
So I was a bit apprehensive about ordering an aftermarket hull without trying it out. I’ll admit that I decided to go with Tem 100% due to online feedback on the old style Superfreak and his reputation for a solid, yet light hull. His prices are also very competitive.
Hull ride review first:
I love the ride. I was instantly comfortable on it. There has been only one accidental dismount in 20 gallons of riding. It is very twitchy but very predictable. Everything happens so much faster on this hull than on any other ski I’ve ridden. It can at times ride a bit nose-high at low speeds, but as soon as it planes out, the hull is planted and extremely stable. My setup runs in the low 50’s and it is just as stable as an SXR (but much lighter).
The hull can carve, but it doesn’t do it nearly as well as a tubbie’d Superjet or an SXR. I think it’s just too light for it. I switched back and forth between several Superjets and a 750SXI and my Superfreak yesterday. The stock hulls just have a lot more weight to keep them in the water. The Freak seems to be more on top of the water rather than in it. It slides out a lot easier when trying to carve. None of this is a bad thing. It’s a great recreational ride, but you won’t be running a buoy course with it.
It seems nearly impossible to accidentally sub the hull. Steering is very fast. Combine this with the fast handling due to light weight and you have one RESPONSIVE hull. I get on other skis just to get a break sometimes. :lmao: I let plenty of other people ride my ski and they all say the same thing: it handles fast and is super responsive. The wide tray is so nice and you get used to it very quickly. Hopping on a Superjet, that tray feels like a 550. :haha:
The hull is so light (259lbs ready to ride with 2 gallons of gas) that it gets a lot of air. It naturally goes vertical (or past vertical) when you punch it just off idle. When you go for a backflip setup wake and hit it without trim or even commitment do actually do the flip, the hull will still get upside down. No, I still cannot complete my rolls even with this hull. I actually have the technique all wrong. My rolls look more like underflips or flairs. That said, they get a lot higher! :bigok: I’ve been working on flatwater flips and I am almost there. If the pole were a little shorter, I think I’d have it. (I didn’t want a shorter pole because I wanted a rec boat). I am doing all this with a standard 61X big bore motor built by Jetworks plus total loss and a 140 12V mag pump and Wammer trim.
I had this same setup in my old Superjet hull. This boat is at least 95 lbs lighter than my old one. The difference that makes power-wise is incredible. I think you could run a stock 701 in this hull and have a blast.
The buying experience:
I first started talking to Tem in September after some un-named Californian lawn-darted my trusty RN and cracked the nose. I was very happy that I finally had the excuse I needed to go aftermarket. Thanks to my loving and ever-supportive wife, I was able to ahead with it. (This was before the Badazz hull was out) I first wanted to get a glass Superfreak, unassembled. I think this would have cost about $3-$4k. Then I decided to have Tem do the assembly instead. No reason to screw up a perfectly good hull. Then I found out that the full carbon option for hull, hood, and pole cost only a little bit more ($1500 total?), so I decided to go ahead with that. Total was somewhere at $8k. I thought it was a great deal for a 59lb carbon hull, 8lb carbon hood, and 6lb carbon pole.
I put a $2k deposit down in late September and told Tem that I didn’t need this hull until well after Christmas. A couple of months later, the Badazz hull officially came out and I was even more stoked. The hull was shipped to the Blowsion shop in February. This is not the typical waiting time for a hull to be built. I specifically asked for a late delivery date. Tem was always very upfront with me about times, prices, and all that. In fact, I should mention that he’s an absolute pleasure to talk to on the phone.
Tem has been great about supporting this hull even after the sale. He has sent me some updated hood hooks for free, an accessory piece for the pole, some fix-it materials (more on this later) and receipts needed for registration. He has always been very easy to get a hold of, be it through phone, email, or the X. He also hooked me up with some deals on a ride plate, water box, and shipping. He can be a bit scatter-brained at times, but I imagine he’s PRETTY busy. :biggrin: (Besides, it’s not like I have room to call anyone scatter-brained. :lmao: ) Great guy, thumbs up.
Hull construction, quality, etc:
The hull is incredibly solid. Some areas are very thin and flex a tiny bit. It is simply amazing how strong AND thin some areas are. I used a hole saw for cutting holes in the hood liner for breathers. Those cut out pieces are about 1mm or less thick. I was not able to fold or break those pieces. I could very slightly bend them.
The finish that is on the hull as it is shipped is an epoxy tooling gel coat. It has quite a few pin holes. So prep for paint is going to take some time and effort if you want a show quality finish. This wasn’t a surprise to me, Tem had warned me in advance. The inside of the hull doesn’t look as pretty as other hulls I’ve looked at. (Lightweight and WDK’s newer hulls). Tem doesn’t want to put any more weight in clear coat or other finishes on the hull than necessary. Maybe that’s not your cup of tea and you want something that looks nicer – I am fine with it.
I had to do very little parts modification to fit things. The reduction nozzle ears needed to be enlarged, the top of the pump needed to be ground down a little, and two motor mounts needed to be slotted a little.
I broke the battery tray on my first ride out. It simply ripped off the pillars it is glued to. I might mention that I use a 13.5lb battery, so it’s a pretty heavy load. Apparently I was the first person to break one of those trays. Tem set me some repair materials and spent a lot of time on the phone with me to make sure it gets repaired right. I glassed in some inserts for a standard SJ battery box (I like this better than the flat tray anyways).
I also had some cracks in my paint on the side that I land my “rolls” on. I was a bit concerned about that, but I have been wailing very hard on that side for a couple of weeks now and there is no additional cracking. The area is solid, but very very slightly flexible. I think the paint is not able to cope with the hull flex.
Come to think of it, pretty much all of my riding in the past two weeks has been constant abuse with plenty of slapped ¾ rolls, pancakes, and the like. So far, this hull seems SOLID and light. If I ever were to have an issue, I have absolutely no doubts that Tem would continue to stand behind his products.
This ended up being a lot longer than I had intended. Wheeew.
