How to firm up surf wave?

[thejean]

That's exactly what I'm look for, a more solid and squared off edge that is better suited for tricks. Getting air in particular. My buddies LSV 23 has an immense wave but it's not nearly as steep as the wave of my 230. I received the 500 pounds from leadwake today and can't wait to start testing.

I think what happens on the backside of the wave is as important (maybe even more so) than what the face looks like. A tall lip with nothing behind it will look good but won’t push a 200 lb person very far. Whereas a shorter wave with a flat top will have way more push at the top due to the sheer mass of water behind the rider. It’s all just simple physics/hydraulics. That’s why most waves feel pretty good down low and close to the boat but once you get back further and up on top, many waves I find start to lack push as the mass of water isn’t there anymore.

[thejean]

Delete - reposted below. I hate how Tapatalk messes with the apostrophes when I edit a comment! Ugh!!!

[sbaird4000]

I completely agree with the statements you're making regarding the "backside of the wave". I too feel that the mass of the wave is more important than the height of it. I'll have to move the leadwake around a bit and experiment. The good news is, sacks of steel shot are simple to move in order to tailor the wave to my personal preference where as fluid ballast is very limited. Not to mention the sheer volume of space fluid ballast takes up.

[nohlan_4]

I completely agree with the statements you're making regarding the "backside of the wave". I too feel that the mass of the wave is more important than the height of it. I'll have to move the leadwake around a bit and experiment. The good news is, sacks of steel shot are simple to move in order to tailor the wave to my personal preference where as fluid ballast is very limited. Not to mention the sheer volume of space fluid ballast takes up.

I would start mid ship 300 on port and 200 on star then go from there.

[thejean]

And I would add that a wave that isn’’t quite as tall will likely be easier to get air off of because you don’’t burn all your speed off climbing the wave. The G is great in that respect, a couple of pumps and boom, you’’re airborne (not that I can do it well but at least I buy into the science of it).

To me, this all points to massive ballast and not sinking the rear too far relative to the nose.

[markj]

You don't think adding 300 in the rear port side locker below the 650 and 200 on the starboard side under that 650 is the way to go? I figured my 500 pound bag in the front would be sufficient counter balance.

No. If your 500 pound bag really weighed that much, you might be okay, but if that bag is under the seat like you said earlier, it’s physically impossible for it to weigh that much. The volume under the seats simply isn’t there.

[markj]

The good thing about the Leadwake bags is you can move them and experiment.

[sbaird4000]

Update....I went out this past weekend with a crew of 4 adults. I ended up putting 250 pounds of leadwake in each rear locker under the 650 pound wakemakers in order to get a baseline for the added weight in the rear when evenly distributed. I ended up filling the belly tank to 100% vs the normal 50% and increased my normal set speed from 10.8 to 11.2 MPH. The wave appeared to be about the same height, maybe an inch or 2 taller but it also appeared quite longer. I'm assuming that is due to the increased speed and the fact that I had the NSS at 1 with the Hydrogate at 2 vs NSS at 3 with the hydrogate at 2 which is what I normally run. Next I filled my bow bag as much as I could without it pushing up the seat cushions and drained a 150 pounds from my starboard 650 pound wakemaker. The wave with this particular setup was great with an immense amount of push as far back as 20 +/- feet from the boat. It wasn't nearly as tall as my friends LSV but it had great shape and I was able to surf further back than I ever have before, regardless of the boat. This weekend I plan to move 100 - 150 pounds of leadwake from the starboard side to the portside and keep the starboard 650 filled to 100%. I don't expect the wave to be much different but it will however, allow me to more accurately gauge the amount of ballast weight I have in the boat where as both rear bags will always be filled to 100%. I will keep everyone posted.

[sbaird4000]

Couple pictures of how the wave looked. I was quite pleased with it though there's always room for improvement.

[dhskier19]

Update....I went out this past weekend with a crew of 4 adults. I ended up putting 250 pounds of leadwake in each rear locker under the 650 pound wakemakers in order to get a baseline for the added weight in the rear when evenly distributed. I ended up filling the belly tank to 100% vs the normal 50% and increased my normal set speed from 10.8 to 11.2 MPH. The wave appeared to be about the same height, maybe an inch or 2 taller but it also appeared quite longer. I'm assuming that is due to the increased speed and the fact that I had the NSS at 1 with the Hydrogate at 2 vs NSS at 3 with the hydrogate at 2 which is what I normally run. Next I filled my bow bag as much as I could without it pushing up the seat cushions and drained a 150 pounds from my starboard 650 pound wakemaker. The wave with this particular setup was great with an immense amount of push as far back as 20 +/- feet from the boat. It wasn't nearly as tall as my friends LSV but it had great shape and I was able to surf further back than I ever have before, regardless of the boat. This weekend I plan to move 100 - 150 pounds of leadwake from the starboard side to the portside and keep the starboard 650 filled to 100%. I don't expect the wave to be much different but it will however, allow me to more accurately gauge the amount of ballast weight I have in the boat where as both rear bags will always be filled to 100%. I will keep everyone posted.

I run my 230 similar to what you described above with great results!! Only difference is that I’m an absolute drill Sargent about who gets to sit where in the boat. If 4 adults and 3 kids are passengers, the 3 largest adults are always on the port side with no more than 1 on the starboard. Kids in the bow. I’ve found that if the people (particularly the larger people) are on the starboard side or evenly distributed the wake changes and not for the better.


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