my 9 year old loves it

[lincdarrow]

Kade has found his new love. Wake Surfing. He doesn't even want to put on his wake board any more. All he says is surf, surf, surf[ATTACH]:ro: :ro: :ro: [/ATTACH]

[Surfdad]

Go Kade! I do love the family pictures. Thanks for sharing that one.

[lincdarrow]

surfdad I have a '08 RZ2 that has the fixed ballast tanks in the back and a front ballast bag (factory) installed. What kind of ballast are you putting in your boat for the videos on youtube. I am not able to surf without the rope yet and I think I need more weight.

[Surfdad]

I have about 1,300 in a custom sac that fills the entire rear storage compartment and up under the bench seat on the regular side. In looking at that picture of Kade his stance is pretty centered (nose/tail) on that HL, which indicates to me, due to his weight and thta board length that you're assessment is probably right. Either more weight or a bigger board.

How much do you weigh and what board are you trying to ride?

[lincdarrow]

We have a 5'6" hyperlite (I think is may be a bit to skinny / skim like)

I am not exactly sure how much ballast is in the tanks, I will ask down at the factory in a week or so when I take it in for the 20hr service.

Do you have your tank hard piped or do you tsunami it?

[da.bell]

"Ballast Puppies" are what Surfdad uses. He has his setup so dialed in that it's incredible.

[Surfdad]

Yeah da.bell is correct, I run a Jabsco positive displacement reversible pump. Also, tanks weren't offered in the year my boat was manufactured - '03, so I have an aftermarket sack from fly high on both sides.

Thanks for the Kudo's da.bell!

[da.bell]

You are welcome. Wish I could have the patience to get my surfing wake dialed in like yours. But again, I still have to skill when it comes to surfing... Have pictures to prove it... Will post later this week.

[Surfdad]

Hey lincdarrow,

How much do you weigh? My guess is that if Kade is about 1/2 way up on that HL, you're wake is probably a bit small.

[lincdarrow]

I am 190 and 5'11".
With the handle in my hand I was really shredding frontside. I believe this is the funnest thing I have ever done on water. I grew up boogie boarding in Ft. Lauderdale and I did not realize how much i missed riding waves...

I will start looking into some bags that will fit in the back locker. Have you found that the weight needs to be in the back corner, or just on the side of the boat?

[Surfdad]

I think it's safe to say that all Tige's will need weight in the back. I've never weighted an RZ2 - I'm sure there are some TigeO's that surf the RZ2 and can give you a good setup. Anyone?

It is a blast, when you first drop the rope, it's truly soulful. Keep us posted on your progress!

[sagmanaur]

NICE!! Way to start them young, I wish I didn't have to wait until I was 38 to start surfing.

[ragboy]

I know the feeling, I have a few barely used wakeboards. We just don't do it anymore.

[dogbert]

I know the feeling, I have a few barely used wakeboards. We just don't do it anymore.

You know, we went there for a while. We still do wakesurf a lot, but 1 trip to the INT US Championships and my youngest has decided he needs to focus more time on wakeboarding (you just can't fly that high on a wake surfer).

[ragboy]

Y, whenever my kids seem to feel uninspired a competition gets em back on track.

One of the nice things going over to wakesurfing, is that it is still very cool, but less chance of serious injury. I didn't push my kids to wakesurfing to protect them, but it was just nice timing. RJ was just starting to get into big air tricks and inverts, and starting to get roughed up. When we competed at INT all last year, everyone that was competing at the intermediate level and above were dealing with injury. Knee surgeries were just accepted as routine. I am not making a point that wakeboarding is wrong or anything, just started to concern me. Moving over to wakesurfing, injury is really not much of an issue, which is great for a recreational sport.