How much ballast to surf?

[Utemachine]

I'm deciding if I should even go down this path. My buddy with a 21ft V drive has around 1500 pounds of ballast in the boat and that's not enough. I have a 20 Switch I and can only fit about 750lbs in the back ski locker. Is that enough weight for a surf wake? What are you fellow Direct Drivers doing?

[ragboy]

With a 20ft boat, you should be fine with a 750 in the corner, and then get about 400 lbs in the bow. Shorter boat needs less weight.

[ajholt7]

I surf my 20v with 750 in the rear and just shuffle people around til the wake is awesome!

[Utemachine]

I surf my 20v with 750 in the rear and just shuffle people around til the wake is awesome!

That's what worries me. The V already puts off a bigger wake. I also can't imagine throwing 400lb up front. I take water over the nose fairly easily when I have people up there. with 750 in the rear, how many feet of surfable wake do you have?

[ragboy]

Experiment when its flat, so its safe. People up front is a good place to start. But on the 20Ft boats I have seen, the wave is really short unless you get some weight up front to get that nose down and more boat in the water.

[embo]

I know of a 20v that hadn't been putting much weight in the bow... maybe about 130. Now they are putting probably 220 or so and they say it has really improved the wave and seems like the push has actaully gotten better to. They run about 400 in rear locker and 150 on platform. They love the wave they get. They usually have only 3-4 peeps onboard at the same time.

[TRD]

I know of a 20v that hadn't been putting much weight in the bow... maybe about 130. Now they are putting probably 220 or so and they say it has really improved the wave and seems like the push has actaully gotten better to. They run about 400 in rear locker and 150 on platform. They love the wave they get. They usually have only 3-4 peeps onboard at the same time.

Hi Embo, I not sure what the difference between the switch and the 21i is but here is a thread and now here is what I run now.
I run a #320 bag flat on the floor under my back seat, (2) #400 v-drive bags on the side you are surfing on. I also have a #150 brick that I put up front. This wkend I put my back seat up there also and it helped. I think I may look into another #320 bag for the front. I don't like putting weight up there because I do take water over the bow if the water is rough. With weight up there you really do have to drive different. Good luck.

http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/show...&highlight=trd

[ajholt7]

Go easy on me, I'm a beginner. This is 750 in the rear corner.

[ragboy]

That is pretty good, you will be ripping in no time. What is your taps set at?

[ajholt7]

That is pretty good, you will be ripping in no time. What is your taps set at?

I believe it was TAPS was around 6 and about 11 mph. No weight in the bow.

[ragboy]

Try getting weight in the front, and get the taps down to 2 or so. The wake may look cooler with taps at 6, because it looks bigger. But I have seen that on the 20 ft boats, and even the RZ2, taps up high make for a very difficult transition. Taps above 3, usually, the transition becomes a place where boards go to die. ;-) Lots of pearling and tough to do bottom turns and accelerate up the wake. RJ usually likes 2 or 3, start at 1, then try 2, etc.

You def will want some weight in that bow. Looks great though, have fun.

[ajholt7]

Try getting weight in the front, and get the taps down to 2 or so. The wake may look cooler with taps at 6, because it looks bigger. But I have seen that on the 20 ft boats, and even the RZ2, taps up high make for a very difficult transition. Taps above 3, usually, the transition becomes a place where boards go to die. ;-) Lots of pearling and tough to do bottom turns and accelerate up the wake. RJ usually likes 2 or 3, start at 1, then try 2, etc.

You def will want some weight in that bow. Looks great though, have fun.

Thanks, I'll give it a try. Seams though when we move peeps to the bow it washed out.

[NiceOnes]

I used to run my 22i weighted as follows:

600lb bag in each rear locker.
800lb bag on the floor behind the engine
600lb bag in the bow
5-6 people positioned on the riders side of the boat equally placed from front to back.

I also would drive a tight circle. I would only surf when the lake had gone to sh!t already and I couldn't do anymore damage.

This setup was precarious and an inexperienced driver could easily take a lot of water over the back when coming to a stop. The passengers would also return the boat to balanced when stopping. With this setup my old 22i could produce a wave that rivals what I am getting out of my new RZ4.

This setup is excessive and something a person could work up to if they are confident in their driving and passengers.

The bottom line is that I could get a fantastic wave out of my 22i but at the cost of stress and lack of safety. This is the main reason I've gone to the V drive. I'm not reckless and 18 anymore + there's more and more young kids popping out of the woodwork these days and I'm not willing to put them at risk. Myself and my crazy friends yes, but their wives and kids. No.