Using front ballast to clean up the skiing wake?

[IDBoating]

Has anyone experimented with adding bow ballast to unweight the stern a bit and thus clean up the water skiing wake even more than just using the TAPS plate alone? I'm worried a bit about a slight loss of steering control but the rudder and prop extend far enough down that I think this concept could be played with a bit. I just don't know if it would make a difference or not.

[kx250frider617]

Try it, The worst that can happen is you have to drain your bag. I would try a fly high tube sac which is 370lbs and slides perfect in the bow hallway. It is also light enough to just drag back and forth from the bow to the back of the boat.

[IDBoating]

Try it, The worst that can happen is you have to drain your bag. I would try a fly high tube sac which is 370lbs and slides perfect in the bow hallway. It is also light enough to just drag back and forth from the bow to the back of the boat.

I would (and will), but my new boat is still in storage. It's probably coming out this weekend, when I'll start working on my automated ballast system. So it's not going to be in the water for a few weeks yet.

Thinking about ballast systems, though, made me wonder about their usefulness for cleaning up a ski wake. Hence this thread... I'm wondering if anyone ELSE has actually tried it and how it worked out.

Thanks!

[KonaKing]

I have used 0 lbs to 500 lbs in the bow on 22v. My conclusion was that it did not help enough to warrant the time it took to fill. You are try to over come the weight of V8 engine in the back. You may find some very small effect but it seemed to me that I was just adding unwanted weight and pushing the whole boat deeper in the water. With the taps you are much better off trying to take weight out of the stern such as relocate your batteries ect... for what it's worth there you go.

[IDBoating]

Excellent data, thank you very much!

While we do pull friends on waterskis, it doesn't justify lots of extra effort. I just wondered if there was an bonus side effect. Robert (aka "ragboy") has said here that the 24Ve's longer hull amplifies the effect of bow ballast, which made me wonder if it might have an advantage for waterskiing. Apparently, not all that much.

Thanks again!

[River Runner]

Go faster....it cleans up the wake for skiing immensely!!!!!

Take less people if your trying for a good ski wake.

Or better yet find a friend with a Tige 2002flsm!!!!!