R21 Surf Setup

[cullenj94]

Hey Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and can't find consistent advice on a good setup for surfing. I'm riding a 2019 R21 with TAPS 3, and everything that I've tried so far results in a horrible wave. I'm coming from the Surf Gate system with Malibu and it felt so much easier.

Any advice on ballast and TAP setups I can try? I feel like i've tried every combination and couldn't get a wave that had good push or height. Maybe I'm just too picky? I'm regular with usually only 1 or 2 other persons on the boat at a time.

Appreciate the help!

[lee]

Have you tried 6/4?

[cullenj94]

Have you tried 6/4?

I think so, but honestly can't remember. I tried so many different settings. And to be clear, when you say 6/4, do you mean 6 on Surf TAPS and 4 on TAPS? I'm still trying to understand the differences between the two.

What would you recommend ballast at for 6/4? 100% on all? I found most success on 100% Port 40% Starboard and 0% Bow.

For reference, this is what I was getting with SurfGate, maybe not possible with the setup on this Tige?

https://lensdump.com/i/WYWq4C

[Zackdogg]

There are some really solid threads about wave setup on here. I’ve never been on a R21, but I know it took me most of my first summer with my RZX to get everything dialed. I run full ballast with 1000-1200# of lead, and a big crew, we were around 15000#, everything included, on the water last weekend, and had a big, clean, wave. Your weight is going to be what creates the displacement of water, then the taps will control the side, and clean up the face of it.

I’ve seen people say start at 4-4, and dial from there. I’ve believe someone recommended to put taps on like 4, turn your surf all the way up, and just dial down until the lip clears away.

I know on our boat, there is a drastic difference in size, based off how heavy we’re running, but we can always get a clean wave, with taps, significantly cleaner than the wave in the pic you have.

There are also a pile of threads about making sure your actuators are working properly. I just had to replace mine, the week before I couldn’t get any wave, new actuators and we’re back to 100%. So verifying those are working properly is probably step one.

Good luck with it, man. I was pretty frustrated with mine until I figured it all out.


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[Zackdogg]

I meant to mention speed, too. I know a bunch of guys say 10.8 to 11. Our wave is big and steep at those slower speeds. I ride 12 for the most part, and find the wave to be a lot better as I’m not right off the swim deck. Just personal preference, but thought it’s worth a mention.


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[cullenj94]

I meant to mention speed, too. I know a bunch of guys say 10.8 to 11. Our wave is big and steep at those slower speeds. I ride 12 for the most part, and find the wave to be a lot better as I’m not right off the swim deck. Just personal preference, but thought it’s worth a mention.


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Thanks for the help! I've been reading tons of different posts and just haven't found consistent advice. I didn't know too how an R21 would differ from an R22 or RZX and if the settings would be different?

Seems like I just might need more weight. I never needed it before though.

I'll try it with full ballast and see if I can weigh down the back a little more.

[Zackdogg]

For sure man, you’ll get there. It sucks that they aren’t ready to go out of the box, but, to me, it sounds like few boats are, ultimately, I guess unless you’re happy with an “out of the box” wave, which I’m sure plenty of people are..

I’ve seen, and experienced myself, the actuator issues, so I’d make 100% sure that you’re good there, before messing with anything else. You should be able to check them out in dealer mode. Both of my surf actuators failed somewhere over the winter, or my first day out. If you sink that boat, set the taps at 4, and work like 1-5 on surf, you should find a wave there somewhere, even if it isn’t 100% of your wave, if not, I’d guess something is wrong mechanically.. having an empty bow isn’t going to get you anywhere, from what I know.


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[NG572]

Hey Cullen,

I have a 2018 Z1, same hull as yours with a few more bells and whistles. I have been messing around with my wave for the end of last summer and beginning of this summer and have started to get it dialed in. At first start around 10.5mph. Fill everything full and run taps at 5 and 2. You will know if you actuators are working because once you get close to 10mph the boat will suddenly lean and pull to one side, if that does not happen, you are having an actuator issue (which was a problem in 2018 for Tige). Also, once the boat starts to pull your wave should clean up, if it doesn't, start to mess with the surf settings but leave Taps alone (for now). Going a little faster will lengthen the wave but you will not have as much height. Some guys run less bow weight, some more. Do whatever makes the best wave for you. Let me know how it turns out for you...

[cullenj94]

Hey Cullen,

I have a 2018 Z1, same hull as yours with a few more bells and whistles. I have been messing around with my wave for the end of last summer and beginning of this summer and have started to get it dialed in. At first start around 10.5mph. Fill everything full and run taps at 5 and 2. You will know if you actuators are working because once you get close to 10mph the boat will suddenly lean and pull to one side, if that does not happen, you are having an actuator issue (which was a problem in 2018 for Tige). Also, once the boat starts to pull your wave should clean up, if it doesn't, start to mess with the surf settings but leave Taps alone (for now). Going a little faster will lengthen the wave but you will not have as much height. Some guys run less bow weight, some more. Do whatever makes the best wave for you. Let me know how it turns out for you...

Thanks for the advice! I'm going out sunday, so I'll give that a try and report back.

[NG572]

I had some time on the water this weekend with our 2018 Z1/R21. Here is what I found:

I filled 100% ballast front and rear. I also had a 540lb bag laying in the middle walkway starting at the rear bench on the floor going up between the passenger observer seat and the captains seat. My boat was sitting low in the water, the back grab handle was actually just under water and the platform was sunk so that it was well above my ankles. I started at 5 on surf and 2 on Taps. Had an okay wave. I then kept adjusting the surf number higher, I ended at 9 on surf and 3 on Taps, increased speed to 10.9 and had the best wave I have seen behind my boat. To me the most interesting part was what a major difference the extra 540lbs of weight made to cleaning up the wave. It also seemed to allow me more adjustability with the wave example: Longer, shorter, steeper, ect. The extra weight seemed to activate both the surf tabs and the TAPS plate then before.

So here is the dilemma, now that I know what kind of wave I can get, I will always want to have the extra 540 in the boat. The only problem is that it took up all the floor space, and is not practical when anyone other than my wife is in the boat. I am willing to try some steel shot ballast bags in the back, but only 100lbs or so. Perhaps placed correctly (under existing rear bags) will provide the same effect but the jury is still out on that.

One last note of caution... If you try this setup you will need to chop the throttle and turn to the right (if riding normal) or you will bury the nose of the boat into your own wave, that could get you very wet. My wife actually does a great job of this, I have seen others power into a wave and it is not a good result!

Happy Surfing!

[NG572]

Okay... I did some additional testing in my 2018 Tige Z1/R21 over the weekend. Here is what I found:

I filled all ballast 100% full, then put a 375 ballast sac on the rear bench and tested the wave. It wasn't that great, I was running Surf on 5 and taps on 2. The wave would not clean up very well and I could only use a very limited range on both surf (somewhere between 3 and 5) and Taps (1 was the cleanest wave but also the smallest).

I then switched out the Port ballast Sac with a wakemakers ballast sac I purchased (Z3 Port Sac with 1180lb of ballast) and ran a 540 sac on the floor running down the middle of the boat. So total ballast was =
1180 Port Sac
540 Floor Sac
900 Starboard Sac
400 in Front Sacs
________________
Total = 3,020

In that configuration the taps and surf plates came to life, my best wave was Surf 9 taps 3 with a clean wall of water. At the top the water would barrell over making a really nice wave. I could surf much further back, especially when speeding the boat up to 11.1 mph. However, I did not like having a 540 sac sitting on the floor taking up all the walking space in the boat. The only solution I could think of was getting some steel shot ballast (perm) and try locating them under the ballast bags in the corners and see if that will do the trick. I am not a big fan of perm ballast but, if I had a 100lb friend in the boat it would be the same as two 50lb pound sacs so it is worth the try.

Bottom line, for whatever reason the plates don't seem to activate until you get around that magic 3000lb number in ballast. Hope this helps everyone with a Z1/R21... I will keep posting my findings as I get time to try different configurations.

NG572

[Zackdogg]

Glad you’re getting it dialed. It took me a long time to get through all my issues to be able to enjoy mine, like most of last summer. Thanks to Bsreid, I’m running a bunch of bow lead to get my boat on plane.

If you saw that kind of performance with the weight more midship, I’d say throw some lead under your seats. If it took 540, I’m not sure how much 100# will do, but it’s worth a shot. I keep adding lead, because the more weight I add, the better it gets. I can’t stand all the space water takes up, so I’m not messing with any extra bags, I’d rather hump lead around for 10 minutes extra.

As far as picking up your rider, that’s exactly what you should be doing. Dump the throttle and let the waves clear. Anyone trying to power through waves with serious weight, probably needs a lesson in driving. I know because I have to give the same lesson to everyone who drives my boat. They all think they’re driving an 2004 wakesetter. If you have to get back to your rider for some kind of emergency or to protect them from another boat, do what you have to do.

Glad to hear you’re getting there, though man! And there’s still a bunch of summer to enjoy!!




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[NG572]

Update... Had more time with the Z1/R21 this weekend. Was happy to discover something fantastic... I filled 100% ballast on rear port side (passenger side) full discloser I have an upgraded 1100lb ballast bag on port side, and boy was the boat leaning over. I then filled 50% on Starboard (Driver side) and 50% on front bags. I then added 100lbs of lead ballast to rear locker (the flip up cooler area in the back) and took her out. Speed was 10.5, just me in the boat. I was able to run my surf plate all the way to 10 with TAPS on 2 and had a beautiful wave. Not real long but steep with a nice curl and totally clean. I could run the surf setting anywhere between 5 and 10 and taps from 1-3. Anything higher and the wave would start to wash out. Too bad because the higher the number, the bigger the wave was getting. Unfortunately, it rained all Sunday so I didn't get to try it out surfing. I will let you know what it was like to ride it...

NG572

[Zackdogg]

That’s good to hear man. It took me quite awhile, but we’re pretty dialed in, now.. my goofy wave is great, but my regular wave is only great when we have a big crew. If you put some more lead in the bow, and speed up, you’ll lengthen that wave out. We ride 11.5-11.8 for the kids and some of the girls who don’t like to ride a little faster. And the guys ride 12-12.5. The wave isn’t as tall, and steep, but if you actually want to ride, and not just stand in the pocket right behind the boat, it’s a lot more fun.


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[NG572]

Good to know... Thanks for the speed tip

NG572