So we went out again today, this time with gear, ropes, boards, etc. First some notes. The new racks actually work with our thicker boards, like the Nano, the Soulcraft, TWP Signature, and they all have arch bar traction. You have no idea how happy this makes me. We had 6 boards in the boat, in the racks and in the surf bimini without being in the boat AT ALL.
IMG_1659 by wake9, on Flickr
I have been one of those guys that must piss of Danny@tige to no end. I miss the driver cup holder from my 2007 24Ve. The 2 driver cup holders low and to the right finally make me happy, and even better than the 2007 one. Easy to use, there are 2, and its not in a place that family shoves keys and wallets, etc, in so that I can't store my cold one.
The boat is so frickin deep, that its hard to take the same type of pictures I used to. I can't get the camera down in the walkthrough to get a good perspective on wake height. Still looks good, but just a note.
So last outing we just tested the pro stock system and the best setup was with me and the wife in the surf corner, surf rear full, surf front maybe 200 lbs or so, and then opposite rear filled until the clinometer at rest hit about 8 degrees. That setup seemed to work very well, and we are going to test it again with Frank and Dennis on board as soon as the weather breaks and they are off work. They couldn't get off work today, which was a bummer. We had a GREAT day as a family, though.
That stock setup didn't have enough weight in the back to require much up front. So todays outing we bought a jumbo 1100 lb sac and 2 400 lb vdrive sacs. We put the jumbo in the surf side rear locker and filled only the under floor 250 lb tank and then the jumbo as full as we can get above it. The Z3 lockers are very big and I bet I am getting close to 1000 in there. We then positioned the 2 400 lb sacs under the seats in front of the lockers.
We sat in the corner again, filled up surf front all the way and then started filling the opposite side up to get around 8 degrees. We had to fill up the stock opposite rear completely and then the 400 lb side sac on the opposite side. I am guessing we got about 300 in the side sacs. So that is 950 in water on the opposite side, ~ 1550 in surf rear and then 500 up front on surf side. That got us to about 8 degrees and we hit it. It didn't work, looked horrendous. The boat really acted strange also. The motor wasn't cavitating but it was revving higher, and felt like we were going faster than the 11 we set. I checked GPS and we were going 11.
RJ and I stopped and put our heads together. We go through this with new boats all the time, but this was different. The boat seems to be naturally weighted more to the rear than any of the other boats we have surfed. Like I said, we still can't get our lift balanced and are going to have to go through the expense of moving it back some. First we took out the rear opposite corner and left the opposite side sac full. Went to 11 mph and then moved people around, even amy and I. It helped, but still not right. It wasn't clean, or smooth.
So RJ says instead of adding weight to the opposite rear to get to about 8 degrees, lets fill up the opposite front. The Z3 front ballast is not 400 lbs on each side like the RZ2 or RZ4. It has 500 lbs per side up front so the pro stock system is 2300 lbs, not 2000. It seemed like it would be too much up front. Its a good thing the front is a deep pointed bow, and not a pickle. We filled it up and the boat sat fine. This thing really takes the weight. So that means we now have:
1550 surf rear/side
300 opposite side
1000 up front
With amy and I in the corner and the kids scattered its about 8 degrees and we go to 11. THERE IT IS. That did it, this thing needed all that weight up front when adding the weight in the back. It doesn't weight anything like the RZ2 or RZ4 and definitely not like the 24Ve. Add to that, that even with this setup, the rub rail is not near the water. Its maybe 3-4 inches above. I will be posting video soon, and you can see. RJ said the wake had even more push/power than the RZ2 has. He said it just feels like the wake is constantly propelling you forward in a way that is unique to other boats he has been on. On top of that, he said the shape is better than even the heavily modified 24Ve, which has been his favorite shape to date.
There is still a lot of room for tweaking and dialing, and I can't wait to get frank and dennis on board. It sure was great for the first surf. The wake is also VERY stable. You can move about a bit and alter speed and it just holds. Better than any of those other 3 boats. The only issues was a bit of wash, but its way better than it was in Texas to the point where it was just cosmetic, and not an issue. Even though it is cosmetic for the most part, I would love to see if that can be tweaked out, or some other variation in the taps plate, or who knows. With some tweaking I know we can also get a bit more length, but we have ALL SUMMER. Can't wait.
Here are some pics:
Even thought it was 64 out and 55 in the water, all of my kids wanted to go. It was awesome. Here's Jessie, she didn't last long in the cold.
IMG_1553 by wake9, on Flickr
Thomas doesn't do well in the cold, but he wasn't going to let Jessie out do him.
IMG_1616 by wake9, on Flickr
Maddie was a trooper as well, she braved it and had a fun session.
IMG_2043 by wake9, on Flickr
IMG_2077 by wake9, on Flickr
This picture is a bit weird, but I wanted to tweet a pic so I put down my canon and used my iPhone. It came out weird but it was the only time RJ went all the way back. The water was so cold he didn't want to risk falling. He was trunking it, because Thomas went out in a spring suit and he didn't want to look like a baby with his dry suit.
IMG_1474 by wake9, on Flickr
Similar one from the Canon 60D
IMG_1736 by wake9, on Flickr
RJ was freezing and hasn't surfed much since October. Just a few test sessions in between. He loves that Soulcraft fangtail and even though he seemed stiff was able to boost pretty well. Like I said, he loved the shape of the wake.
IMG_1900 by wake9, on Flickr
I really liked this picture, so I stylized it a bit. Gotta love aperture. I am guessing Wahlers will like this shot.
IMG_1904 by wake9, on Flickr
Great day today, the Z3 is surpassing our expectations.
All shots except the one with the iPhone 4S were shot with a Canon 60D camera with a 18-125 lens. Most shots are done with the focal length of 18mm unless zoomed in.
IMG_1659 by wake9, on Flickr
I have been one of those guys that must piss of Danny@tige to no end. I miss the driver cup holder from my 2007 24Ve. The 2 driver cup holders low and to the right finally make me happy, and even better than the 2007 one. Easy to use, there are 2, and its not in a place that family shoves keys and wallets, etc, in so that I can't store my cold one.
The boat is so frickin deep, that its hard to take the same type of pictures I used to. I can't get the camera down in the walkthrough to get a good perspective on wake height. Still looks good, but just a note.
So last outing we just tested the pro stock system and the best setup was with me and the wife in the surf corner, surf rear full, surf front maybe 200 lbs or so, and then opposite rear filled until the clinometer at rest hit about 8 degrees. That setup seemed to work very well, and we are going to test it again with Frank and Dennis on board as soon as the weather breaks and they are off work. They couldn't get off work today, which was a bummer. We had a GREAT day as a family, though.
That stock setup didn't have enough weight in the back to require much up front. So todays outing we bought a jumbo 1100 lb sac and 2 400 lb vdrive sacs. We put the jumbo in the surf side rear locker and filled only the under floor 250 lb tank and then the jumbo as full as we can get above it. The Z3 lockers are very big and I bet I am getting close to 1000 in there. We then positioned the 2 400 lb sacs under the seats in front of the lockers.
We sat in the corner again, filled up surf front all the way and then started filling the opposite side up to get around 8 degrees. We had to fill up the stock opposite rear completely and then the 400 lb side sac on the opposite side. I am guessing we got about 300 in the side sacs. So that is 950 in water on the opposite side, ~ 1550 in surf rear and then 500 up front on surf side. That got us to about 8 degrees and we hit it. It didn't work, looked horrendous. The boat really acted strange also. The motor wasn't cavitating but it was revving higher, and felt like we were going faster than the 11 we set. I checked GPS and we were going 11.
RJ and I stopped and put our heads together. We go through this with new boats all the time, but this was different. The boat seems to be naturally weighted more to the rear than any of the other boats we have surfed. Like I said, we still can't get our lift balanced and are going to have to go through the expense of moving it back some. First we took out the rear opposite corner and left the opposite side sac full. Went to 11 mph and then moved people around, even amy and I. It helped, but still not right. It wasn't clean, or smooth.
So RJ says instead of adding weight to the opposite rear to get to about 8 degrees, lets fill up the opposite front. The Z3 front ballast is not 400 lbs on each side like the RZ2 or RZ4. It has 500 lbs per side up front so the pro stock system is 2300 lbs, not 2000. It seemed like it would be too much up front. Its a good thing the front is a deep pointed bow, and not a pickle. We filled it up and the boat sat fine. This thing really takes the weight. So that means we now have:
1550 surf rear/side
300 opposite side
1000 up front
With amy and I in the corner and the kids scattered its about 8 degrees and we go to 11. THERE IT IS. That did it, this thing needed all that weight up front when adding the weight in the back. It doesn't weight anything like the RZ2 or RZ4 and definitely not like the 24Ve. Add to that, that even with this setup, the rub rail is not near the water. Its maybe 3-4 inches above. I will be posting video soon, and you can see. RJ said the wake had even more push/power than the RZ2 has. He said it just feels like the wake is constantly propelling you forward in a way that is unique to other boats he has been on. On top of that, he said the shape is better than even the heavily modified 24Ve, which has been his favorite shape to date.
There is still a lot of room for tweaking and dialing, and I can't wait to get frank and dennis on board. It sure was great for the first surf. The wake is also VERY stable. You can move about a bit and alter speed and it just holds. Better than any of those other 3 boats. The only issues was a bit of wash, but its way better than it was in Texas to the point where it was just cosmetic, and not an issue. Even though it is cosmetic for the most part, I would love to see if that can be tweaked out, or some other variation in the taps plate, or who knows. With some tweaking I know we can also get a bit more length, but we have ALL SUMMER. Can't wait.
Here are some pics:
Even thought it was 64 out and 55 in the water, all of my kids wanted to go. It was awesome. Here's Jessie, she didn't last long in the cold.
IMG_1553 by wake9, on Flickr
Thomas doesn't do well in the cold, but he wasn't going to let Jessie out do him.
IMG_1616 by wake9, on Flickr
Maddie was a trooper as well, she braved it and had a fun session.
IMG_2043 by wake9, on Flickr
IMG_2077 by wake9, on Flickr
This picture is a bit weird, but I wanted to tweet a pic so I put down my canon and used my iPhone. It came out weird but it was the only time RJ went all the way back. The water was so cold he didn't want to risk falling. He was trunking it, because Thomas went out in a spring suit and he didn't want to look like a baby with his dry suit.
IMG_1474 by wake9, on Flickr
Similar one from the Canon 60D
IMG_1736 by wake9, on Flickr
RJ was freezing and hasn't surfed much since October. Just a few test sessions in between. He loves that Soulcraft fangtail and even though he seemed stiff was able to boost pretty well. Like I said, he loved the shape of the wake.
IMG_1900 by wake9, on Flickr
I really liked this picture, so I stylized it a bit. Gotta love aperture. I am guessing Wahlers will like this shot.
IMG_1904 by wake9, on Flickr
Great day today, the Z3 is surpassing our expectations.
All shots except the one with the iPhone 4S were shot with a Canon 60D camera with a 18-125 lens. Most shots are done with the focal length of 18mm unless zoomed in.
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