RZ2 Wakesurf Ballast Question

[tnvolgrad]

I purchased a 2008 RZ2 (sweet by the way) and have trouble figuring out how to weight the ballast to freeboard. My 11 year old daughter has no problem with no ballast and TAPS. The boat has the pro ballast system (2000 lbs - 1200lbs in the rear and 800 up front) and I am riding a 54 inch board (seems big enough for 200lb rider).

I have tried all kinds of ballast combinations (weighting a side in the rear, weight on front and rear, all rear, etc.) Typically there are a bunch of kids (so not a ton of weight) - any suggestion on set up or adding sacs for the RZ2?

[dingleberry]

Unless someone installed aftermarket sacs, your 2008 would only have 900 lbs total factory ballast. The 2000 lb pro ballast wasn't offered by Tige until the 2010 model year.

I recommend that you send a PM (private message) to tigeowner member "chpthril". He is a FatSac retailer, and a guru for ballast systems.

[Timmy!]

The best bet is to just weight the corner you are surfing on and then set your speed to at least 10.6 or so and then taps at around 3-4. Depending on how it looks you might need to take the taps up to about 6 or so. If you really get into surfing you are going to want a little more weight in the corner which you can by an additional fat sac to accomplish. Congrats on the new boat and welcome to the site!

[tnvolgrad]

Thanks for the info - I have found 3-4 on the TAPS works pretty well. Any thoughts or recommendations on an aftermarket rear and side sac for the RZ2. I have browsed the internet, but would like sacs that fit in lockers versus out in the open.

[Timmy!]

You can get all sorts of different fat sacs for the boat and then get a pump to manually fill them if you don't want to plumb everything in. Chpthril on here has put together a custom sac that weighs 1,000 lbs that fills up the entire locker and runs under the seats as well.
http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9121

[Duncan]

You can get all sorts of different fat sacs for the boat and then get a pump to manually fill them if you don't want to plumb everything in. Chpthril on here has put together a custom sac that weighs 1,000 lbs that fills up the entire locker and runs under the seats as well.
http://www.tigeowners.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9121

I have Chpthril's custom sack for our 09 RZ2 and I strongly recommend it!

[Guapo]

I have Chpthril's custom sack for our 09 RZ2 and I strongly recommend it!

I recently ordered a 1000# custom sac like the one Duncan mentions. I have the factory ballast and added 455#'s in each locker. The wake is good and very surfable (don't think that's a word), but I want it to be a bit longer for tricks (360's, jumps, etc). My point is go big from the start and go with the 1000# sacs. They are designed to fit in the storage compartment(s) so they don't take up any floor space. I bought from Chpthril as well. He has a lot of experience with us Tige owners and knows what fits and what doesn't. He can also help on the plumbing if need be.

[kerlee]

In the 2008 model, there is a total of 900lbs ballast. There is 400lbs in the bow sac and 250lb on each side. I have a 2009 RZ2 with the same stock ballast. My 10 yo daughter can free ride with just the port in stock ballast full, about 250lbs, but no one else can free ride. Last winter I talked to chpthrl about what to do and here is what I ended up doing and it works great. I was concerned about space, so I wanted only the "v-drive" locker proper to be used as I wanted to be able to put other stuff under the port side flip seat and the small space left under the starboard side seat next to the cooler. The custom v-drive cube he ordered for me weighs about 560lbs. We plumbed those sacs by putting a "tee" on the inlet and outlet thru-hulls on the boat so no additional holes were drilled in the hull. Those sacs when filled with the stock ballast would be up around 800lbs on each side. We also carry 2 standard fat sacs W701/713 that we fill with a tsunami pump ( up to 800lb). When we wakesure we always fill the stock and aftermarket sacs on the portside (800lb). Depending on how many people are in the boat determines if we use the W701/713 fat sacs. If we have 3 people in the boat and 1 surfing then we will fill both w701/713 for a total of 800lbs. We place one sac on the floor on the portside and the other on the back seat corner portside. That will usually result in the rub rail being about 3-5 inches from the water. The fat sac on the floor acts like an ottoman for everyone sitting on that side. If we have more people we may not use the 2 additional 400lb fat sacs. So in summary we use up to 1600lbs of ballast whether it is people or all fat sacs. We have had people who weigh about 220lbs free ride on a CWB tsunami, no problem. We run at 10.5mph with about 3-5 taps.
I did not do the install, I had my dealer do all the plumbings and he wired it back to the dash using the accessory switches but actually ordered 2 additional ballast switches from tige to match the existing ones ( 3 way rocker, fill, off empty)
I also changed my prop to an ACME 1235. I got the stuff all from Chpthrl.

[Booms]

Here is the thread on my install of the custom sacs that I got through chpthril in our 08 RZ2. We surf 88.8% of the time and we ride on the dark side. I fill the starboard side full then typically have 4 to 8 people in the boat all sitting on the starboard side. Set the cruise for 10.8 with TAPS at 4/5. If we do not have that many people I put two 5 gallon bucks full of concrete in the rear seat (roughly 90 lbs each) for a little extra help.

http://www.tigeowners.com//forum/sho...ighlight=Booms

One thing I am thinking about is taking the cooler out from behind the driver to help get that custom sac to fill all the way. Has anyone done that?

[steepz]

Kerlee,

what are your thoughts on the ACME 1235? Is the stock prop just not cut out for the extra weight?

[kerlee]

I have had the 1235 for about 6 weeks now and it is great, no cavitation anymore when surfing and it really bites into the water. Also it is good to have the stock prop as an extra prop in the event I ding the 1235

[NICKYPOO]

I suggest the new style platform.