Lead Ballast Fuel Consumption

[GMLIII]

This seems to be the canned response on all message boards any time this subject is addressed. There are a wide variety of reasons to consider fuel consumption with these boats. The first thing that comes to my mind boils down to accessibility to gas on your lake. Not all lakes have a refueling area, which means you have to pull out and trailer for a refuel. If you’re going camping for a night or two and don’t plan on pulling the boat out of the water for any other reason than refueling, I could see where increased fuel consumption could become a pain in the arse. In regards to the financial aspect, I have buddy with a supercharged Supra SE550 and they have to refill everyday. On Lake Coeur d’Alene, running premium gas that came out to $250 per day. They stayed for 7-days. That was a $1,750 gas bill for the week, give or take. On the flip side, I could go 2-2.5 trips with my G23 before refueling and I never took it below 18-20%. I was also running 800lbs of lead. Perhaps not everyone is blessed with a money printing machine in their basement that makes commoner trips to the gas station nothing more than a mundane exercise in futility. “If you’re worried about gas consumption you should not be owning a 2021 G23,” seems like a relatively shortsighted comment. In fact I believe the question is wise. I will take your 2 cents however since you seem to have plenty of coin to spare.

I'm not Richie Rich but I'll say it again if you are worried about gas consumption you should not be owning a 2021 G23 with or without lead weight

[robertsmcfarland]

if you are looking at saving some fuel during the day switch to foiling part of your surfing day,same speed but no ballast needed..first second or third wave...its great fun everybody follows you to watch.. 2 feet out of water, separates the men from the boys LOL....it takes an hour or so to to see fuel gauge go from 100 % to 90% probably off a little but 8-12 mph with no water ballast,, led stays ...then switch to wake surfing and wow it seems like I have hole in my tank....you also cut off the wake mode while foiling ....