2016 g23 wake set-up

[g23badinlakenc]

So this past weekend was the debut of our new 2016 g23(purchased with 25 hours). We messed around for hours with the numerous options trying to achieve a nice tight wake on both sides. My son(15 years old) has taken lessons and can easily clear wake to wake and do a few other tricks. In other boats he has been pulled at 19-20 mph(which he prefers)>>(rope 55 feet) so we tried tons of different combinations of weight/ballast at that speed and are noticing that the port side seems to always be washed out whereas the drivers side is literally perfect. After getting very frustrated we decided to start from scratch and dumped all the weight>>then began to only add weight to the port side. As we raised the percentage the washed out port side began to improve. At 25% the wash out became almost as good as the starboard side BUT still not perfect. Is it the lower speed re. 19-20 versus more like 23+??? We pulled other kids younger than our son and the trend seems to be that they all prefer to go more in the 15-20 mph range versus higher speeds, so I really need some suggestions on the best set up for younger kids and beginners. ***On a side note we had another issue that concerns me. As I upped the percentage I got a sensor error on the screen that warned about a voltage fault or something. I shut the boat off then turned the battery panel off then restarted and it went away>>but this is obviously a concern on a new boat.

While I'm getting advice, best surf wave===simply set the boat to surf in which all the tanks are full. Any other tweaks??

Thanks for any/all suggestions and advice.

G23BadinLakeNC

[NautiqueJeff]

How many other adults were in the boat, and where were they seated?

If I am driving with little other weight on the port side, I run about 30% more weight on that side. It naturally needs more weight on that side, especially with the 17" prop they use now, because of the prop torque, which leans the boat a bit.

I have tried to store my heavier items (anchor, cover, etc.) on the port side to help even things out, but it still requires more ballast weight on that side.

I pull riders all the time at around 20, and I will run the ballast at zero starboard, zero center, and 30% port and I get a clean wake. If they want more weight, bump the speed up a MPH or so and add as necessary, keeping roughly 30% more in the port tank. See how that does. It works fine for me, but others will have different results based on the gear they carry in the boat, placement of others in the boat, etc.

[g23badinlakenc]

Thanks for the quick reply. It was just me driving and my wife sitting on the port side. Nice to hear that we kind of hit around your running percentage(25% compared to your 30%) on the port side by trial and error. I will also use your port side storage trick.

I am guessing that I will use the same ratio as my son improves and we run more ballast in all of the tanks>>>always have more in the port side than the starboard and center.

[Tallredrider]

I think if he is clearing the wake, then he is ready to go 21MPH which will help some too. The wake will get narrower as you go faster, so he might like to extend the rope to 60 when he does that too, depending on his comfort level. I have it in my mind that I will add an extra battery or two some day and it will go on the port side for sure. That would help if you want extra playing time for the stereo as well.

As far as the electrical code, it would be prudent to check all of the battery connections and get the batteries tested as well.

[Beg4wake]

Yeah I would guess the torque from the prop rotation is leaning the boat to the right. Like Jeff said, just add a little extra weight to the port side to even the boat back out. You should be able to tell if the boat is leaning one way or another or if it is sitting level, while at speed. You'll also find it tough to get a boat to clean off either side at 15mph...I'd say about 18 is the lowest you can go to get a clean wake on our 23's. You may can even try to lower the NCRS down a little to help clean it off, however, that will kill any extra pop you may get off the extra lip.

As for the fault code....were you running the pumps with the boat not running? If so then that was the problem. Not necessarily a problem, it was just that the pumps were drawing too many amps and momentarily overloaded the system. Kinda like tripping a breaker. Reset is all that was necessary.

[NautiqueJeff]

One other thing you might want to check is to be SURE the ballast gauges are reading the correct levels. I find that I have a leaky valve on one of my tanks, and it will still do the old partial fill thing if left in the water overnight. Sometimes this doesn't register on the gauge. If you suspect this might be happening, you can run each pump individually in empty mode until you hear it running without water. That way you KNOW all tanks are empty, and your gauges are reading accurately.

One of these days I'll adjust that valve...

[Armour783]

We keep all of our extra weight in the port side compartments for this reason. Anchor, cover, 3 pairs of skiis and majority of the lifejackets go in the port side compartments. I have a clean wake on both sides at 18-20mph like this.

[Beg4wake]

BTW.....Get yourself about 200lbs of Leadwake ballast bags (or Wakeballast, or Pop-products) and throw them down in the port side midship locker. You'll be glad you did! I find that no matter how many people are in the boat, it is just easier to manage the weight with that 200# on the port side (to offset the prop rotation).