Newbie question

[Jules210]

I am sure I will have a lot of these questions over the coming months. When we were out demoing the SAN 210 the sales guy explained the ballasts to us and explained we needed to be careful- either use ballast weight, or weight of passengers. You are only allotted the recommended USCG weight on your placard. This seems confusing because the boat comes with the stock ballasts and the pro wake ballasts for a combined total of 1750. Reading on here people have also put after market ballasts on top of these and then loaded the boat with 7 or 8 people and used ballasts. Is the dealership just covering their butt buy telling us not to exceed the 1850 maximum capacity?

[wakemaker]

yep and why ???i am sure if the game warden wanted to get u he can lol dont flood the small fish boats and have fun

[jondavis08]

Jules, nothing to worry about. I have a SAN210 with 850's replacing the pro ballast and another 550 piggybacked into the bow. Often have 6 people in the boat. Never had any issues. If your loaded heavy in the back just make sure you lay off the throttle slowly when stopping so you don't get buried by the wake..

[Neverenough]

Also careful taking waves over the bow...

[Jules210]

Thanks for the info guys!

[Bevostein]

I believe your salesmen is incorrect when it comes to at least stock ballast and probably the pro ballast. This is straight from the owners manual....

The capacity plate has the following information permanently printed on it:
• The total weight of persons, gear and other items which the boat is capable of carrying under normal conditions. This weight must include any added ballast above and beyond boat manufacturer’s factory installed ballast system(s).

I take that to mean and what I always believed is the capacity plate takes into account all Nautique approved ballast. Certainly any customer installed ballast would need to be counted against the weight but I don't believe stock ballast and likely pro ballast does not.

[Jules210]

I believe your salesmen is incorrect when it comes to at least stock ballast and probably the pro ballast. This is straight from the owners manual....

The capacity plate has the following information permanently printed on it:
• The total weight of persons, gear and other items which the boat is capable of carrying under normal conditions. This weight must include any added ballast above and beyond boat manufacturer’s factory installed ballast system(s).

I take that to mean and what I always believed is the capacity plate takes into account all Nautique approved ballast. Certainly any customer installed ballast would need to be counted against the weight but I don't believe stock ballast and likely pro ballast does not.

That is certainly how I would take it as well. We won't be picking the boat up until my husband returns from his trip- maybe I can go grab the owners manual for some light reading Or is the owners manual online someplace? I always like to read up as much as possible on our new toys Maybe I misunderstood the salesman- he might have been referring to aftermarket ballasts I was distracted by the boat

If this is indeed the case with the weight that little boat is a tank compared to our last!

[Bevostein]

Manuals are online

[swatguy]

He's just covering his bases. Also ballast is a huge grey area when it comes to capacity. Heck for that matter the capacity plate is a huge grey area. Not too many people are aware of this, but they capacity plate is actually pretty useless as far as the law is concerned. It's a "guideline" not an actual law violation. Some states have a disclaimer in their law , others do not. Capacity plates aren't even required on any boat currently in the Nautique line by law. Being NMMA certified is the only reason a placard is placed in a Nautique and we can argue all day long how valuable that certification ( that Nautique pays for) is.

Just be smart. Extra ballast is fine and lug all the people you want comfortably. Dont t get hung up on the exact numbers. Drive safe enjoy the boat.

Bevo is also correct. The placard accounts for their heaviest FACTORY ballast package/option when it's decided. So no need to subtract for ballast unlesss you add more if you want to be technical about it.

[Evening Shade]

The only number that I would get hung up on is the number of passengers. If the placard says 12 passengers don't exceed that number. DNR will target boats that look like they have too many people in them. The first thing they will do is count the passengers and then check the placard. If you are over by even one person you will at least get a warning, but more than likely it will be a ticket. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Then they will count life jackets, throw float, fire extinguisher, noise maker, paddle, etc They will also be checking to make sure the driver hasn't been drinking.

I've never seen a boat stopped because it looked like it was over ballasted, but you have to be reasonable. If your boat looks like its about to sink you are asking for trouble. I have definitely seen boats pulled over because there appeared to be too many passengers.