Surfing 1996 super sport

[rainman]

I was curious if anyone has setup a 1996 nautique supersport for surfing. If so were you able to get a decent surf. If so can you tell me your bag setup and your wedge you liked best.

[bturner]

Since no one is responding I'll give you my experience with older vDrives in general, as to a degree they're pretty much the same. This is not hull specific but again in general.

Most any vDrive will surf fine. Great like a new surf ship? No, but it will do the job. There are some basic methods to get a vDrive to surf and all start with ballast as the basis to enhance the wake of the boat. Most every ballast system will have 3 locations, 2 in the rear and one forward at the keel. How much ballast you go with will depend on how big a wake you want to throw while balancing how out of "trim" you're willing to run your boat. On a boat like yours with relative low free board over ballasting the boat will effect how easily water will come over the bow or stern of the boat as well as how responsive the boat will be to steering and in general handing.

On the good news side with the invention of the Shaper you no longer need to run your boat listed over to the rub rails. Most any Shaper will do the job of changing the convergence of the wakes behind the boat which is what gives you that desired surf wake characteristic. I settled for the Mission Delta but there are several others out there that will perform probably as good or better.

As to specifics....... Probably the best place to go for advice on setting up your boat and your options is Wake Makers (https://www.wakemakers.com/). They've been in the business longer than any other company I know. They have outstanding customer service with experienced techs that have set most all wake boat brands/models up at one time or another. For your part you're going to need to decide the following....

• What's your budget. This is big as it'll determine what type and how large a system you can afford.
• Are you looking for just ballast and a Shaper or are you considering some kind of a tab system?
• Will you be upgrading an existing integrated system or starting from scratch or enhancing an existing system?
• If you don't have an integrated system now, do you want one?
• Who will be doing the installation if you go with a integrated system?

Once you have a handle on the above give Wake Makers a call and they'll walk you through everything you need. They also have a lot of DIY tips on set up and installation.

[rainman]

Thanks for the detailed response. good to hear older models can make a decent surf. since mine is really old just figured i would confirm before spending the money to be able to do this.

[glassywaters]

OG SAN has a good surf wave with the proper weight. Honestly, the best I have done is with rear ballast (2) Sumo 900s, middle ballast or bag, and a a few hundred pounds of nose weight. It will also require a wave shaper. The starboard side has a naturally clean wake and the port side requires a little list (create the list with some bow and midship weight). It's a lot of weight, but the wave can get steep and have some length with plenty of push. Prop and water depth adds to the experience. The deeper the better.

[hal2814]

I surfed my old 95 Super Sport. A 96 is basically the same boat. I ran 800lb Sumos in the rear, a 650lb ski locker sac, and a 650lb triangle sac under the playpen. The playpen sac probably only got about half full. I did a full reversible pump ballast install. I posted it here back when I did it if you want to search. Also, I put on an ACME 1234 propeller. If you’re running stock, that Federal Prop isn’t going to get you on plane with all that wake. I tried a few different shapers but was never as happy as I was with just listing the boat for regular foot. For goofy foot the shaper was fine.

Even with all that weight the surf wave was just ok. I thought it was great until I rode behind my friend’s 2010 210. That was so good I bought a 230 a month later. I think the key is just having the right attitude. You can definitely surf it but it’s not a world class wave. It is impressive what a boat from the mid-90s can do.

[funkster]

I own a 98, I have posted a detailed set up a few times on here, you will get a lot of good info with a search .

Long story short is you can surf these boats no problem, with the right set up, you can surf anyboat. Will they compare to a P23, not even remotely close. With that said, you will need a surf device (you can make one for around $40) and lots of ballast. Basic rule of thumb is you want a 60/40 stern to bow ratio but do not get stuck at that starting point. I run a 910 on each side of the motor. A 650 in the ski locker and 250ish of lead up front. Running this much weight you will have to be careful when a rider falls, slowly come of the throttle and then apply a little throttle to avoid getting your own wave over the stern.

[B-lake Wake]

We have a 95 super super. We run 650lbs bags in the rear (1 on each side of the engine). I had to relocate my batteries so I could put a 650lb bag on the starboard side. We have 2 bags in the ski locker totaling probably around 500 - 700 lbs in the locker. I have a home made wake shaper that I place on the side of the boat near the platform. I plan on making a YouTube video of the set up soon.

Pictures are with only me in the boat. I took it out to see what set up worked for wakeboarding and surfing before we took people out with us. Port side seemed super clean. Starboard side didn’t clean up as much as I would have liked. This is less weight than others have stated, but I still had to be careful driving the boat. Water would come over the transom if I stopped to swiftly.

Caption

[B-lake Wake]

Here is the YouTube video I created about my set up on a 1995 Nautique Super Sport

https://youtu.be/ELzkGi0_kY0