Best ballast weighting for RZ4 for WakeSurfing?

[mainewakeboarding]

I have a 2011 RZ4 with pro ballast package. What is the best ballast set up and speed for a beginner? It seems my wake is very steep and best surf spot too close to the boat. I have been filling back corner 600lb full and front 400lb 50% on same side and going around 11mph. Having a hard time staying in the sweet spot after dropping rope. Any help and ideas would be very much appreciated.

[chpthril]

Whats your TAPS set at? Running it at 2-4 should lengthen the pocket a little. Also, are you filling the surf side bow sac to only 50% (200) or filling the sac full to 400#, which would be 50% total bow weight.

Speeding up to about 11.5 will also lengthen the pocket, but sometimes falling out of the pocket can be a result of stance and technique.

[skippabcool]

I don't have the RZ4 but we were out Saturday and finally spent a lot of time surfing. For me, I am bigger, I was finding the same thing, close up to the boat was best. I started to move my front foot closer to the wake, widened my stance and crouched a little and then I was able to move back and surf further back. At first I thought that I was going to fall out the back but I stayed right there and the wave pushed me.

[mainewakeboarding]

Thanks for the info. Have tried TAPS 1-3, seems 2 has the best wave shape. Filling to 200lb, so 50% of that sac. Would it be better at 100%? Have all adults sitting on surf side in back also. I'm using a Ronix Cortex and I'm 165lb. Any other advise? Thx

[shawn74]

Assuming 600# is 250 hard tank plus sac above , my boat doesnt like over 10.6 without more weight after a lot of trial and error I prefer 700# starboard back est. 1100# port back 1 big peep front port everyone else port side middle by tower at 10.6 to 11.4 . Extremely happy with wave long and tall ,with no peeps I move around a 660# and 450# non plumbed bag . Not saying this is necessary but its worth the time and $ to me

[Ewok]

I hae also heard tha adding a little weight on the non surf side can help clean up the wake and lengthen the pocket.

[mainewakeboarding]

Thanks, I will try that.

[ragboy]

The longer boats will suffer with less push/power in the wake unless you really load them down. When you only put about 600 lbs in the 24s rear, then you can't put any weight up front, or it will knock the wake down, and totally neuter it. That has been our experience on the 24Ve which should be the same on the RZ4. Try filling up just the under floor tank on surf side. You do that by filling until you start to see water go in the sack. Then stuff a 1100 jumbo vdrive sac in that locker as full as you can get it, then nothing on the opposite side, and nothing in the front. Get all your fattest peeps in the rear corner, skinniest guy/girl driving.

The 24s don't do well unless they have a LOT of weight, but that setup should be great and give you enough power for lots of fun. The key to getting power from the wave on the 24 seems to be burying that corner as much as you can, get the rub rail as close to the water at speed without going under. That setup should get the rub rail a couple inches off the water.

With the RZ2, same setup and add 400 lbs on surf side up front, and you get longer and more power, wave has lots of push.

The other factors are your speed and the board. You should try around 11mph, probably not slower than 10.6 or so. Faster than 11 may be hard to keep up with a slower board. Taps lower to make it less steep for a beginner. 2-3 is good like chptril said. Higher taps can give a bit more push, but shortens and steepens the wave.

Post some videos for help. What board are you riding?

Hope that helps.

[mainewakeboarding]

Thanks for the info. Yeah, I am seriously looking at putting in additional sacs. I have two boards - a Ronix Cortez and an Inland Squirt. The Squirt is better at staying in the pocket. The Cortez is easier for beginners to get up on. Thanks for your help.

[madhat7]

I see this is a very old thread but maybe I'll get some responses here:

I too have a 2011 Tige RZ4 I purchased and I'm so disappointed with the wake!!! I had a 22V riders edition with ZERO ballast and you could surf without a rope. No matter what I do in my RZ4 with ballast combo I can't get a wake large enough to drop the rope, you have to hold it the entire time. I've tried TAPS from 1-8, adjusted rope length, tried between 10.8mph and 12.8mph. I've filled all ballast to 100%, I've only filled the side we are riding, and I've filled just the rear and not the front. Literally every combo I can think of. I've even had 10 people in my boat WITH the port side (the side I ride) filled to 100% and STILL can not ride the wake without needing to hold the rope. I've been shopping upgraded ballast options all morning and it looks like there are some larger sacks available beyond the stock, but I'm not sure that will be enough. Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated, I just want a wake large enough you can surf without a rope like so many other boats I've been behind!!

[Grebva3]

I have a 2012 RZ4 with the pro ballast setup. Hard tanks subfloor with bag on top that runs under seat both sides. I do use a nauticurl wake shaper and the wave is great.
I normally have at least 5 people in boat and typically keep kids on surf side or up front.

[apmx121]

I just bought a 2008 RZ4 and I am trying to tune in a good wave. I am using a Mission Delta wake shaper and putting it below the line on the back of the boat. I also trimmed and raised my swim platform to keep it our of the wave. I think my ballast is about 550# on both sides and I am filling both sides equally and putting all the people on the surf side. I run 10.8 to 11.2 MPH and getting a wave that some can surf without the rope. I am trying to figure out what is best because I think that a lot of the prime setups like only filling the surf side with major ballast was a great setup before people started using stick on wake shapers. I understand that with wake shapers you can fill both side ballast to get more displacement and get some list to the surf side. I am trying to figure out what pitch and roll/list the RZ4 likes so I can duplicate the wave each time I go out. Ragboy do you have an opinion on weather it is best to do an extreme list with only ballast on surf side or fill both side ballast to get displacement and a slight list to surf side and a wake shaper? Also what pitch and roll would you recommend on the RZ4 with wake shaper?

[TBarr]

We're using the Swell H3X shaper on our '08 RZ4 with pretty good results. The shaper makes a huge difference for sure. We've got two big ballasts in the back that we have been filling equally but I wonder if filling the surf side more would help. We have goofy surfers though so we have to switch back and forth anyways so we would have to adjust the ballast all the time. https://www.swellwake.com/products/s...rf-creator-h3x

[trevor]

I bought the liquid force mega wake shaper and upgraded from the mission delta and saw a huge improvement but still list by roughly 200 lbs.


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[madhat7]

TBarr I just bought the Swell H3X, going to take my boat out on Friday and try it out, will report back and let you all know the results. Has anyone here installed a larger aftermarket ballast tank? Considering making the investment but don't know if the added weight makes a big enough difference to justify the cost..