Surfing with Switch i?

[Yutaka]

I'm looking at purchasing a Switch i, and was wondering if it would be possible to surf behind this boat. I saw the pictures attached for where to put ballast for an optimal wake.

I also slalom ski, so would like to stick to a direct drive boat.

Thanks

[NICKYPOO]

No worries. With the right ballast set up you'll be fine. You shouldn't even have to get too crazy with it. With two ski locker sacs (one in the trunk and one in the nose), 5 to 6 people in the boat and 20 ft. plus deep water, you should be expecting 2 1/2 to 3 footers easy.

[smendez]

Nickypoo:

Does the depth of the water matter when trying to create a wake for surfing?

A while back we were demoing a 2006 24V. We had over 10 people in the boat (all to one side) and toward the back and we were still having trouble creating a big clean wake. However, we were doing this in about 17' of water.

[NICKYPOO]

The deeper the better. 10' is really a minimum depth. As you add more weight, your boat sits lower in the water. It's a stretch, I know. This means you are displacing more water. That water is actually getting pushed down. In shallow conditions, the presure wave you are creating is pushing up off of the bottom of the lake thereby pushing your boat up, thereby defeating your ballast. Try this in a place with a long sloping bottom. Start shallow (10') and try to stay at that depth while you get up to speed. Head out to deeper water and watch the wake rise. I try to ride in at least 20' but, at 15' you should notice a difference. Cold, clear water is also less dense. Tahoe is ideal. 1500+ ft. deep (300-500 where we usaully ride), 55 degree water and 200ft. visability. Some people hate it because they are afraid of hieghts.

Oh yeah, '06 24v + 10 people + 17' depth = mush. Dollars to donuts that if you were in 30' of water the wake would have been sick.

[smendez]

Originally posted by NICKYPOO
Oh yeah, '06 24v + 10 people + 17' depth = mush. Dollars to donuts that if you were in 30' of water the wake would have been sick.

Yup - Mush it was.

Thanks for the tutorial, it does make a lot of sense.