ballast setup

[Surfdad]

Hey Tony, I have the same problem when I ride switch backside and try and toss the rope. The extra concentration gets me off balance. I like to recommend just tossing the rope to the other side of the wake and let someone drag it in. If you have slack, you're surfing...so that counts!

You are using a single fat sac? That's not a lot of ballast. There are several companies that make custom sac's. After you get some miles under your board, find a custom sac maker and fill that entire rear compartment in, it'll make that wake wonderful.

I'll have to connect with you and Dennis to get out there on the water.

[vortex]

Hi everybody! New here and am looking for some help setting up my new '06 20V for surfing. Any suggestions??

Thanks!

[dogbert]

Originally posted by vortex
Hi everybody! New here and am looking for some help setting up my new '06 20V for surfing. Any suggestions??

Thanks!

There's a couple of threads already on this. Try using the search function or you can just follow threads where Surfdad posts.

[holiday13]

Need some help on the ballast setup, we were messing around again this weekend (first time this season) and still can not seem to get the wake perfect. It is probably as high as surfdads but no where near as clean, it is real washed out. I think part of my problem is we have people who ride both sides of the wake so we have the boat's ballast balanced right to left. Give me some pointers, I am running a 24v, I have a pair of 350s in the rear full, about the same in the front console storage areas, a 440 across the front of the back seat, and about 4 guys on the rear sun deck totalling about 750 pounds. We were running the taps anywhere from 1 to 7 trying to get it to clean up, surfing anywhere from 10 to 11mph, tried driving strait and in a circle and it never really formed. What are we doing wrong?

[NICKYPOO]

You need to get that bad boy tipped over to one side or the other. The fellas you have with you should do nicely. Just have them all pile over to whatever side the rider wants. You've got more than enough weight in the right places to make a killer wake, you just need to tip it over. It should clean up real nice. I worked for a long time trying to work both sides at the same time and have gone back to tipping it over and only riding one side at a time (for the most part). The further you get your Fat Buddies to the side, the cleaner it will get.

[Surfdad]

I'm confused holiday, when you say "pair" in the rear are you meaning you have one sac on either side of the engine? If that is the case, it will be hard to clean up. I once rode behind a 24V that allowed surfing both sides as the riders wanted, but it was all people ballast, nothing in the rear compartments. It was over USCG recommendations by about 1500 pounds.

If you want to be able to switch back and forth, I would recommend getting rid of the bow ballast altogether, that will allow the aft ballast to be more effective. Then probably turning a slight arc to the side being ridden, as well as shifting your people ballast to the same side.

Try that and see if it doesn't allow you to clean up the face. It's really best to NOT weight the opposite side, makes cleaning up the wake fairly simple. With our crew we take turns and folks ride BACKSIDE on the opposite wake, the frontside when we shift the ballast over.

[holiday13]

Thanks for the input, after I re-read my post I see the confusion. What I should have said was we have 3 who ride regular and 3 ride goofey so when we start surfing we fill both sides as to save time when we switch riders. I am thinking that may be our issue. Any other suggestions for big guy riders? I am 6'2" 230 pounds and struggle to stay under the power of the wake. I am on a CWB Ride and have considered moving to a Shred Stixx.

[tony dunn jr.]

I recently got the Shredd Stixx fish stixx and it made a huge difference for me. I found right away that the nose being buried was not an issue any more and it was no were near as squarely as the Red inland surfer I was tying to ride. It was much easier to stay up on so it made it easier to at least start to get the feel. I called Jerry at`Shredd Stixx gave him my size and he hooked me up. I also tried some ballast on the oposite side and it was no good.

[Surfdad]

The Tige's are heavy boats and need QUITE a bit of weight to generate the list. "Fighting" that by weighting the opposite side will typically destroy the face - as Tony pointed out. It's always a problem when you have different stance'ers on the boat.

Dennis rides with us frequently, when he isn't surfing with Tony Dennis is goofy, the rest of us are regular stance. What we usually do is fill the starboard side ballast first. Dennis rides frontside goofy and the rest of us ride backside regular. After a few hours we switch. Emptying the starboard side and filling the port side. If you have the new fat sac's with the quick disconnect and a tsunami pump it's easy to pump from one sac (while emptying) into the other sac that you are filling.

We run NO ballast in the bow, only in the rear compartment and up the side. I have custom sac's. The one on the port side probably holds around 1,100 to 1,500 pounds. The Starboard side is significantly less, maybe 900 to 1,100.

[Top Heavy]

"Just had an opportunity to test the new Epic 23V...that's an interesting boat and I think that has some potential, but...the location of ballast is going to take some tinkering with."

Might be a dumb question but.....
Is this New Epic 23V in any way related to the old Toyota Marine's Epics?

[Tequilasun]

Originally posted by tony dunn jr.
I recently got the Shredd Stixx fish stixx and it made a huge difference for me. I found right away that the nose being buried was not an issue any more and it was no were near as squarely as the Red inland surfer I was tying to ride. It was much easier to stay up on so it made it easier to at least start to get the feel. I called Jerry at`Shredd Stixx gave him my size and he hooked me up. I also tried some ballast on the oposite side and it was no good.

Interesting, these are two boards that I have been looking at. I'm 6'3 and 210, and my landlock is just not cutting it. You think the Shred Stixx is the way to go?

[Surfdad]

Hey Top,

not related. Chris Anthony is the money man behind the boat and I hear-tell he gets that question all the time.

We are going to take the boat out again this weekend, hopefully be able to develop a clean port wake this time.

[Surfdad]

Hey Tequila,

I have been riding Jerry's Ja Mako for the last two months and really like it.

This is a picture of me from a contest in MN the other day:

http://www.mankatofreepress.com/loca...rces_photoview

Jerry Price is great about making sure that folks get the right board.

[NICKYPOO]

Originally posted by Surfdad
I think they need to give me a new Tige to make sure the surf wakes are good! You know, the shape of the Tige hull is pretty good. Oddly, what is important with the hull for wakesurfing is the angle of the gunnels, the greater the angle from 90 degrees, the greater will be the transition...that wider transition makes for better surfing AND the rear corners need to be rounded OR void (spray pocket), it allows for better water release...those two components are present on every boat that toses a good wakesurfing wake. BUT, I will GLADLY accept a new Ve to test each and every year!

While taking a few pics last night, I was sitting in the correct possition to get a good pic of why my little old Tige has such a good surf wake. At least according to Surfdad's theory.

[dogbert]

Surfdad,

You may have already answered this, but has anyone experimented with trim tabs on the sides of a wakeboard boat so when you set up for one side or the other, you could push up one side (with the trim tab all the way down) while the other side was set the exact opposite?

BTW, thanks for the tips on the ballast configuration