My third Tige. NEW RZ2!! WOW!!

[Domsz06]

esp if it's the farmers that grow that green sticky stuff

[farmacist]

Beautiful boat! Time will tell what the surf wake will do. I have seen pics of it loaded up and they were able to surf fine, but complained the edge of the platform cut into the wave and made a funky riding surface.

The platform did appear to make a funky surface but I think it was caused by the platform support and not the platform itself.

As for the water spots, I keep the boat on a lift and just wipe it down good at the end of the day. So far no problem but only been out three or four times.

Thanks for all of the compliments. I will keep you posted on the surf wake as I try different combos. This weekend I am trying lead weight.

[MOTLEY CREW]

Congrats! You are right about the ballast switches. I also just purchased my third Tige('04 22v, '06 24v, '07 RZ4) from Lee. I am working on a fix for the switch problem. They should have been installed under the dash. The seat is great. The boat is tons more fun to drive than my '06.Lots of play in the racks when loaded but it could have been rouger than i thought, the chair is that good. My biggest complaint is that the bimini partially covers my tower speakers. I have to get this fixed. I took a little mouth from a former Tige owner now MC cat over the bimini. It is a very obvious problem that should have never made it out of design.

[farmacist]

Motley Crew- Congrats to you as well. You must have the orange & white beast. Saw it several times during the stereo install etc. Very nice boat! I agree on the bimini. Not sure why MC and Malibu can have such user friendly tops and Tige can't get it together. Took the same "what is that all about" from a couple of friends who have an X30 and X-Star. .
Let me know if you come up with a reasonable fix for the ballast switches. It is not a major issue for me, just a little annoying.
However, that aside, the RZ2(4) is still (IMHO) the best bang for the buck and the best looking wakeboard boats on the water.
Glad to hear you like the boat. I know Lee and crew worked hard to make everything right. Those guys rock and make the buying experience enjoyable.

[Ruune]

wow... how's that for brand loyalty! Sick colors, man! Daddy likes!

Re the factory ballast: Have you thought about taking the tanks out and replacing them with collapsible fat sacks? You could plumb them up to your factory pump(s?) have more weight when they're full. Also, they'll take up less room when collapsed.

[talltigeguy]

RUUNE,

I wondered something like that as well. I am in the dreaming stages of a new RZ and would like the ballast because of the location of the tanks, but I need to modify it for a big surf sack and all. SO if I ordered it without the Tige system, I do not think I could get any reasonable shaped ballast bag behind the rear storage. I wonder if just a long tube would be good? Wouldn't an 8 foot long tube fit back there? Should be able to hold 800 pounds or so? Would lose side to side control, but that is what additional sacks would be for.

THe way the tanks are now, it looks almost like the boat was built around them, and it would be next to impossible to remove them, or put some in after market. Does anyone know if this is true? Lee?

[Ruune]

It does look like that, and I actually had the same thought. However, since bags arent rigid, you risk the bag sagging down into where the belts are for the engine. That wouldnt be pretty...

[da.bell]

It does look like that, and I actually had the same thought. However, since bags arent rigid, you risk the bag sagging down into where the belts are for the engine. That wouldnt be pretty...

You could put a DIY wall up there to hold the bags in place. Getting the wall up would be a task in itself but can be done.

[lee]

RUUNE,
THe way the tanks are now, it looks almost like the boat was built around them, and it would be next to impossible to remove them, or put some in after market. Does anyone know if this is true? Lee?

Me and the farmer are going to make a decision on that real soon, I am guessing. He would like a bigger surf wake. Farmer is going to try some things this weekend and depending on that out come we might have to take the tanks out and go with bigger floor tanks, bigger bags or add to the tanks that are there. I belive the tanks will come out if need be.

[talltigeguy]

Me and the farmer are going to make a decision on that real soon, I am guessing. He would like a bigger surf wake. Farmer is going to try some things this weekend and depending on that out come we might have to take the tanks out and go with bigger floor tanks, bigger bags or add to the tanks that are there. I belive the tanks will come out if need be.

So I suppose that means that you could put some in if you wanted? It would involve shifting batteries and what else?

It does look like that, and I actually had the same thought. However, since bags arent rigid, you risk the bag sagging down into where the belts are for the engine. That wouldnt be pretty...

Good thought there, soft bags back there would not be pretty...

[farmacist]

Thought I should give an update. The setup that gave the best surf wake this weekend was to fill front ballast, fill port side ballast (the side I surf),160# of weights on the port side (used 2 45# and 2 65# barbell weights), and speed of 10.4. This was much better than previous experiments but still not great. I think another 150 to 200# of weight on the port side will do it. I was going to try more weight but pulled some of my ab muscles on a nasty wakeboard crash. Yes, it hurts!!
Lee and I talked extensively about taking out factory tanks (yes it can be done), installing 300# floor tanks and then 300-400# bags on top of the floor tanks. Will have to push back blower, taps pump, and batteries and then rebuild the rear wall in the storage area. The bags would be plumbed into system so that I can still control fill/empty from drivers seat. This setup would do 2 great things: Give back some of my rear storage lost to factory tanks and also give 600-700# (300-400# above factory) total per side in the rear for a bigger surf wake. This seems to be the best solution. Will have to wait for the off-season. This would be a tedious job and I don't want to give up the boat for long during the warm weather.
It is sure nice to have a dealer that wants customers to be satisfied and will work to find solutions to make it happen!

Gotta go, time to tend to the farm. Sorry for such a long post.

[farmacist]

Ok, another update. Searching around the site I found some of Surfdad's old posts and am thinking that 600-700#'s per side is not enough. He is using some major weight! Also surprised to see he doesn't put a major emphasis on bow weight.
As posted earlier, I need enough to surf with only my wife and my 5 yr old in the boat. We are fortunate to be able to often go during the week just as a family. The previous setup is great with 4 or 5 adults in the boat but may need larger sacks for the "family only" outings. What do you think?? Anyone else with an RZ2 have suggestions? Matt?

[chpthril]

Sunday was my 2nd time out with my sacs and it was just the wife and me. I was able to surf with a slack rope for the first time. I had a few 45 to 60 second runs before I lost the pocket and had to catch my self on the rope.

Here is what I had: Bow sac = apx 500#, surf sac on port side filled = 700#, and a v-drive on the port side rear corner seat = 400#.

When I finally plumb the system in, I think I am going to daisy-chain my extra V-drive sac to the surf sac and put it into the port console. I also have 2 280# sacs that I may use one on top of the surf sac in the port locker.

I wonder if the Fly-hi surf sac would fit in the locker/under seat space with the batteries where they are now. I think it might, and that would give you the weight you need without ripping out the factory stuff. It would be cheaper and easier to plumb in on sac v's tearing out an old and installing a new

[dogbert]

I have an older boat, but we put at least 700-850lbs of ballast on one side before we start moving people. Also, I've found that you don't want it all right in the back. The best result we've seen so far is a 350lbs under the long seat on the passenger side, 350lbs on the seat (strapped to the tower so it won't roll off) and then add weight to the rear locker. When we rode the prototype 22Ve (roughly the same hull as yours), we just had adults, but we were all kind of evenly spread along the one side.

[Matt Garcia]

Ok, another update. Searching around the site I found some of Surfdad's old posts and am thinking that 600-700#'s per side is not enough. He is using some major weight! Also surprised to see he doesn't put a major emphasis on bow weight.
As posted earlier, I need enough to surf with only my wife and my 5 yr old in the boat. We are fortunate to be able to often go during the week just as a family. The previous setup is great with 4 or 5 adults in the boat but may need larger sacks for the "family only" outings. What do you think?? Anyone else with an RZ2 have suggestions? Matt?

I have been meaning to reply to this post but work has been real busy.

Anyway I know what you mean about being able to surf with just your wife and little one. I have had plenty of outings like that so this is what I use.

Port side setup consists of

Port side ballast full, front ballast full, a 600 pound sack filled to about 550 in the rear port side storage, another 350 sack on top of the long port side seat, TAPS at 5, speed anywhere from 10.4 mph – 10.6 mph. That setup will produce a great wake and just gets better with more people. Whenever I have 4-5 adults I use the same setup minus the 350 sack. I also have one person sitting on the port side storage seat, usually to toss the rope to.

If you’re face of the wave is washy or not clean you need some weight up front. I have noticed with the RZ2 that if I don’t fill my front ballast the wave becomes really washy. Also making a slight turn to the left will help make a subtle difference in the wave but it’s not necessary.

With that setup I have taught people who have never surfed to drop the handle. If you have any questions feel free to post. This photo is with the setup mentioned above but with out a 350 and with 2 adults and three small kids.



I would also like to know what and how yall are going to plump in additional weight by removing the factory ballast