Couple of new surfers - Waterski-Rebel and fam

[mtnsmith]

Very nice, haven't people with 20v's and switch v's needed to put quite a bit of weight forward to get a good wake? They are quite a bit lighter than the 22's and 24's and I could see where that would be beneficial. Try to get several people to go out with you, maybe 6-7, and move them around the boat one at a time to try to get a good wake. That's basically what I did, only with a bunch of lead blocks that my friend has. One of the lakes we use is only about 4-5 ft deep and there is one 20v I know of that surfs the same lake. If I see him I'll ask him his set-up for you.

[Waterski-Rebel]

One of the lakes we use is only about 4-5 ft deep and there is one 20v I know of that surfs the same lake. If I see him I'll ask him his set-up for you.

Thank you, That would be perfect!!

[sagmanaur]

I think you will find if you can get into some deeper water it would help out tremendously. I remember surfing with Greg Mallek last summer and the water level went from 15' to 10 feet very quickly and the surf size almost went to half size.
I believe Jerry Price of Shredd Stixx was saying that 15' and deeper is ideal.

[Surfdad]

You can surf less depth, 15+ ft is unaffected by the bottom contours, but as Sag points out, less than 15 and the bottom changes affects the wake height. 6-8 is about the bare minimum you can use to generate a decent wake, in my experience. I've also noticed that boats need more ballast in the bow than how they are normally weighted in deeper water. It seems to be mostly a displacement issue. Also, speed becomes very critical, almost always you have to ride slower.

This picture is from inside my 23 V at Villa Lagos - a man made wakeboarding lake. Average depth is 8ft.

[Waterski-Rebel]

Well, I am unfortunately stuck with 3-5 feet of water. Our lake isn't very deep. I know it's not perfect, but at this point it has to do. We were able to create a doable wake, just not a great or perfect wake.

I am very curious to see what mtnsmith has to say, after he talks with the 20V owners.

surfdad - if you were in my shoes, where would you put the weight, and how much would you use?

thanks!

[Surfdad]

Rebel, you're going to end up having to experiment. I would start with 40% in the back, 40% along the side and 20% in the bow. The shallowness will "push back" on the rear and decrease the effectiveness of weight there, so load amidship and in the bow. From there, check the wake and see what it looks like. If it's all mush, shift from bow to transom and test again. I think I wouldn't add all that much weight either, see how little you can add and still get a wake.

I don't envy you Rebel, that is going to be quite the challenge.

[kko]

the one lake we goto is about 4.5ft avg. so i feal your pain on that one. i dont even try to surf it the wake just wont get big enough the other lake we use is over 12 avg and has long runs that are over 15 and as deep as 25. i have found it much easier to make a wake on the deeper lake it can be done at the shallow lake but its tuff and a bigger rider like me needs all the wake i can get.