Help me pick a board

[bentone]

i have not, are they more of a epoxy style board, thats one thing with the walkers is they dent up pretty bad but so worth the money. good excuse to get a new one every year. maybe a 5-0

[Surfdad]

The Comp X series is EPS and Epoxy. You can also get EPS and Epoxy construction on the Bullet/F-18/Fast 50 for the extra money.

If you ask for 2 layers of 7oz glass on the deck and a single layer on the bottom you can almost elimiate all the dings, but it adds considerable weight. Our contest boards are all single layer 3.7, but the fun boards are double layer on the deck and the the heavier fabric.

[bentone]

i believe i went with the double layer of 7 oz. on the deck, i think the problem is they are dark in color so they get real hot. the straps on my surf racks leave a impression. i think i like the thicker style foam and glass board better. feels better in the water, less vibration. how long is your bullet?

[Surfdad]

Yeah...the dark colors does funny things to the Mike's boards. Our favorite Bullet is 4' 4 1/2"

[bentone]

your boy rips it up, im suprised he doesnt like the faster speeds. this is our first real year surfin. i bought my boat to surf.

[Surfdad]

We've found that the faster speeds affects the lip negatively, at least on our boat...James like to launch, so...we typically ride between 10.5 and 11...unless we have the longboard out and then it's 12'ish.

[dogbert]

So, you're finding that a longer board needs more speed?

[Surfdad]

Hey dog, the longboard is 8'6" long and is capable of maintaining speeds up to 15-16 mph. We can't go that fast with ballast - too much cavitation, but with only a little weight in the corner, the longboard will just fly across the water and it allows us to nose ride in a longer pocket. We estimated a ridable pocket at about 45 feet when using only a few hundred pounds. We can ride it slower, but the board really shines at the faster speeds with a longer pocket.

[dogbert]

Good to know. I'd asked akdoc about his 24Ve and he said it had a longer pocket anyways, most likely due to the additional boat length. Your boat is 2 feet longer than mine, so the same principle probably applies. My kids are starting to wear down my wife on a new boat, so I've got 2 major decisions: 22 vs. 24 and RZ vs. Ve. Got to look at a new RZ4 and it's pretty sweet. One thing I didn't like is the fact that they used square handrails in the bow...makes it look cheap, but I do understand that it's probably to match the angular styling of the boat. However, it doesn't match the tower styling. I'd almost prefer to have them leave them off entirely on that boat.

Again, thanks for the info. I've learned alot about wakeshaping and hull performance.

[bentone]

maybe it depends on weight as speed increases. we seem to have a nice lip up to 12 mph although we run a little more weight, different boat. a couple of boys on my crew are new to the game and catching air already. they do have a strong skateboarding background which def helps.

[dogbert]

Yeah, my skateboarding experience dates back to the '70s when urethene wheels, sealed bearings and fiberglass long boards were the inovation of the day. I can't imagine doing the stunts the guys do today on those boards.

But, we did start riding pools back then which then led to dedicated skateparks.

[da.bell]

Good luck on that choice Dog. That will be a hard one. I would pick the RZ2 if I were to do it again. Why:
1) sits 14 people where the 24Ve sits 16

The extra 2 feet and only getting 16 does not seem that wise but that is my opinion now. When I bought the 24Ve, the 22Ve was only 3K cheaper.

[dogbert]

It's all about wakeshape and versatility for me. On my boat, my swim platform isn't very long so it never interferes with with the wake for wakesurfing. On the Ve, it's rounded, so that's not an issue. On the RZ, it's rectangular, but longer, so that's maybe an issue when you're heavily loaded.

The length issue is a tricky one because you have to put sooo much extra weight into a 24' boat to make it sink for a larger wake. 14 or 16 people isn't a biggie for me, but waiting for ballast to load or unload is an issue for us. Sometimes we have to get off our lake very quickly due to rapid weather changes and I've been caught dumping ballast on my trailer on more than one occasion.

[da.bell]

You can get Fly High sacs (3 holes) with two Ballast Puppies. I figured that a 400# sac will empty in 2.5 minutes with those pumps.

Yes, the rounded platform has been an issue because it has affected the wake because the boat was pushing it into the water and distroying the wake if the TAPS is too high. I think the RZ2's might have a better platform but other opinions would be nice.

[dogbert]

Or, I'm kinda liking the idea (not mine) of using 3900 GPH pumps. Of course, you'd need a bigger intake, but you could plump one of those babies and split the in/out flow into two. Imagine emptying or filling in 1/4 of the time.