Surfing a 211

[unclejessie]

My friemd just bought a new 06 Sv211 and when we tried surfing it, we must have taken on serious water because the bilge kept going on and staying on. We thought maybe water was going in the air vents on the side? Anyone have any experience surfing this boat. Also, how do you weight it? We had a 500 lb sac on the walkthrough (tied down), and 3 guys on the port side of the boat., bow tank emoty, starboard tank empty, port tank full.

The boat speed also sort of surged, almost like the paddle wheel was comming out of the water. The wake finally took shape around 12 mph. I surf my Super Air at 10. We stopped before we found the best speed because we got spooked by the constant running of the bilge. My friend is a new boat owner, and I did not to freak him out!

Thanks for any info you can give.

UJ

[Rick]

RE: Surfing a 211

Do a search on surfing and SV211 Club Mike and Mikeski have posted extensively on the subject

[clubmyke]

i run my boat goofy all the time..

with that being said, i ran my air intake to the port side and sealed the starboard air intake. that should solve the problem with water coming in the engine compartment.

in regards to weight distribution - there was a recent post on how i run my 211... depending on your setup - your best surfwake will be on the port side due to the prop rotation.

hope that helps..

mike

[Fast351]

Here's how my stock 07-211 is set up. With just the belly and port tanks full, the wake is big enough with just a driver to surf. With some extra people on port side it gets to fun size.

The rotation on the 211s changed in 07 so it's more port-side surf friendly.

A couple things I've noticed tho:

1) You need 8 feet of water. Below that you will have a hard time keeping up with the boat because the wake is too small.
2) Perfect Pass speed seems happiest at 9.5 MPH regardless of the number of people on board.

[unclejessie]

Have ever noticed any "surging", almost like the PP was having difficulties It almost sounded like the paddlewheel was in and out of the water.? Also, did you take on water through the air vents?

Thanks.

[Fast351]

Not on mine, but I don't have an extreme amount of weight in mine either....

[TylerO]

Unclejessie,

Clubmyke took an aggressive and effective route to preventing water from coming in via the air vents. I use the low tech method. Just take a few strips of blue painters tape and cover the bottom three quarters of the vent to prevent water from entering. Then remove when done with no residue.

Even with this method the 211's do seem to take on water while wakesurfing. My hyposis is that the seal between the hull and the rub rail may allow a significant amount of water in as well. Just make sure the bilge is running!

[billybmke]

We surf our 211 TE on the starboard side. The guys that ride goofy go with their back side to the wave. It's much cleaner on the starboard side. We run it with the starboard tank full and the center tank about half full. Then have everyone sit on the starboard side behind the driver. Try going faster. With a regular old surf board we can get back about 20 feet going about 13.5 MPH! It's totally cool.

We had water coming in one time, but I believe it was coming in the bilge hole. the air vent wasn't getting wet. Like someone else mentioned, just keep the bilge going. Try keeping the hydrogate in slalom mode too. It makes for a smoother lip.

[nautique95]

I have read through older posts on this but there is always a varible that is different whether it is a '06 or older, no belly tank, they have added extra weight, or something different, so I was wondering if someone could help my out for my specific situation? I have a '07 211 team with 3 tanks, I want to surf with just the stock ballast and I am left foot forward, what would you recommend for filling which tank with how much and which side is best?
The one time out so far I went with the port side full, belly half, hydrogate at the slalom setting, and 9.5mph, but it didn't seem to be a very good wake unless I was about 5' from the swim platform -- not good!

Thanks!!

[mwgasman]

95, what is wrong with 5 feet from the platform? That is where you surf.

On my '05 211, we run the starboard tank full, the belly tank 3/4 full, and have a 300 lb sac in the starboard locker. We run the gate at 2 (in the middle) . Everyone sits starboard with the heavies behind the driver. No one sits in the nose unless we have lots of bodies on board. My wake is best with the perfect pass set at 9.8 (GPS confirmed). The wake has a huge green face with a nice curl.

I have only had the starboard vent in the water one day, and that was with a bunch of widebodies. The wake was insane. We have video of it from andother boat alongside and you can't even see the starboard/stern of my boat in the trough it makes.

I weigh 250ish and can surf along all day unless I start screwing around and lose it. I ride an Inland Surfer Blue Lake. We started last summer with a Hyperlite Landlock. Last summer I weighed 280ish and I had to surf 1-2 feet back from the platform. 30lbs made a huge difference in how far I could fall back and recover.

On her first try at surfing my wife pitched the rope in and went all the way across the lake. Now she can go across and back without stopping.

This year about 90% of the hours on the boat are surfing. Great fun.

Mike

[nautique95]

Mike, I just thought that seemed too close, but maybe not. I guess I thought people had said you should be 10 to 15' behind the boat. To my understanding I need to load the port side because of the LH rotation, is this correct or can you surf either side of the wake? Which is best for someone that is left foot forward?

Thanks!
Mike

[mwgasman]

Really light people can surf a lot farther back from the boat. Bigger people have to be pretty close to do it successfully. You could hit back of the boat or the swim step I guess, or the board could shoot in to the boat. Every thing you do is with risk.

The close proximity to the transom is the reason you should never do it behind an I/O or outboard.

We have surfed the port side on my boat but it sucks (my prop is RH). I would assume port would be better with a LH prop.

Left foot forward will usually feel better on the port side. I am left foot forward and surf the starboard. Surfing behind someone else's boat on the port feels weird to me because I am used to starboard.

Good luck,
Mike

[TylerO]

Let me share what I know from experience on this topic and try to answer some of the questions raised up.

Left foot forward is "regular foot" and is best done on the Port side wake.

Right foot forward is "goofy foot" and is best done on the Starboard side wake.

Wakesurfing is LEGAL and everyone should keep a copy of the legislation on board to defend this when challenged by authorities (it has saved me!). Follow this link to better understand why Wakesurfing right behind the boat is legal and safe with the right equipment. http://www.wakesurfinghotline.com/


There are several other factors that impact the size and shape of a Wakesurf wake including:

Direction of prop rotation
Location of all the weight inside the boat
Position of hydrogate
Speed
Water Depth

There are many different formulas combining these ingredients that people have experiemented with and developed their own system. I run my setup (07 SV211 Team) very similar to mwgasman with an emphasis on getting everyone as close to the side of the boat your surfing behind. I can start and stop Surfing from the swimstep with the boat at speed.

Hope this helps.

-Tyler

[Fast351]

I will add that with my 07 211, although it supposedly has port friendly prop rotation, BOTH sides will put up a better wake. From my non-scientific testing this Tuesday:

Port side will put up a very nice wake. Port side and belly tank completely full, starboard tank empty, 4 adults on board, one surfer. Driver on starboard (obviously) and other three on port side. Speed was about 9.8 MPH on PP.

Starboard side, starboard tank full, port side empty, belly full, 4 adults, all starboard side. We had to increase the speed to 10.7 MPH on the PP to get the wake to set a nice shape (was pretty foamy before). The wake looked better to me than the port side wake, but it wasn't a huge difference.

Both sides the rider was about 5 feet back from the tail of the platform, hydrogate in wakeboard mode.

We took in water, at least on the starboard side, through the air vent. I could tell because the auto-bilge started pumping it out, and the air vent tube on that side had water in it yesterday when I felt it. Not sure about the port side but I wouldn't be surprise there either.

The rooster tail in the middle of the wake was pretty significant. If you rode too high in the curl it was enough to shove you out of the groove.

Surfing is fun. Sitting at work thinking about it isn't. Out.

[nautique95]

Thanks for the advice guys!! I am heading out tomorrow to give it a try again. I will try the setups like you have going and see how that works!
mw, I am not so nervous about being that close to the back, it scares me when others want to learn and they are that close, I can see the board being shot into that back of the boat -- not good, but I guess I haven't heard of anyone on here saying about having that problem!

Thanks again!
Mike