Weighting down your boat with ballast the safe way?

[cobra7421]

Hi guys so I have a 97 2150 DD and as you guys know they are a pretty low profile boat. I’m wanting to add ballast fat sacs to my boat for a better wave for surfing and my main concern is water getting in to the boat and possibly sinking it. When you are surfing with that much weight, what do you do when you need to stop and pull around? Because if you slow down immediately, water is probably gonna flow over the transom and also if you add weight to the front then it’s probably gonna nose dive in to the water. Can someone who has done this before with this exact boat give me some advise please? Thanks042E50EA-E431-4262-8859-5E65CFECAE74.jpg

[cobra7421]

I don’t know why my pictures keep coming out sideways. lol

[TeamAllen]

I always let off the throttle to neutral until I see the big wall of water getting close to the transom. I give it a list burst of throttle to keep it from going over the back and back into the first click (wakeless speed) and begin my turn to the right (because of the suck gate on that side). By the time I make that turn the wake has dissipated enough to not be an issue with the bow. I take the rider on the left because thats where the rope is. We are all regular footed. Goofy footers would be on the right side.

I will usually idle back to the rider nice and smooth, unless there is something wrong or another vessel is approaching. We have about 400 ponds up front w/out passengers. I never take water over the front, but occasionally over the back. What little goes in there will be taken care of by the bilge pump. It is never a big wall of water over the rear hatch. It is usually if I am not paying close attention, forget or mistime the surge.

[NICKYPOO]

As soon as rider falls I gently cut the throttle (about 1 full second) and turn the wheel all the way to the right. Wait for the wake to pass and then idle back to the rider. You’re going to take some water on sooner or later no matter what. Nothing to freak out about. That’s what bilge pumps are for. As time goes on, you’ll learn how to finesse it in order to limit it.

[NICKYPOO]

I don’t know why my pictures keep coming out sideways. lol

Edit your pics into landscape. That usually does the trick but not always. I tried to upload one the other day that refused to come up anything besides upside down.

[NICKYPOO]

I’m never run bow weight. Ever. I don’t even bring a sac for “just in case” anymore.

[cobra7421]

Thanks for the info guys

[cltTige]

off topic question, what kind of tower do you have cobra?

[bpbeasley01]

I run two 750 lbs stern and two 350 lbs in bow. Never had an issue taking on water.


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[cobra7421]

off topic question, what kind of tower do you have cobra?

It’s a phat tower

[NICKYPOO]

It’s a phat tower

Love those towers. My buddy has one just like it on 21v. Just about the best tower you could get back then. His still super solid.

[cltTige]

Man I am really jealous, so many ppl have them, and I like the looks but seeing as how they are out of business it might be hard to get one. Think I'm leaning towards the Samsons when I do upgrade.

[NICKYPOO]

If I couldn’t find one over 10yrs ago, I doubt you’ll find one. Samson makes that Edge tower that is very similar. They make a quality product. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them.

[dj2]

I got lucky and found one for my 96 pre2000 on craigslist back in 2011.
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[TeamAllen]

That is really some luck finding that one.
I guess one of the guys left Phat Budde and started Samson back in the day. That's why they are similar.