S23 surf settings

[Rchrisrobinson]

If there are any S23 owners out there, what are your favorite surf settings? I just got mine and have been tinkering around. It seems like the higher I get on my wave setting the messier the wake gets. A lot of wash. Just want to know what others do. Thanks!

[BYLKN]

I rode behind my buddies S23 with sup ballast and found the same issue. Anything past wave setting 6 gets more washed out. Although the wave at 6 is awesome! He didn’t have any lead to move around but I wondered if adding a couple hundred pounds in the bow would help. Congratulations, it’s an awesome boat.

[greggmck]

The S23 is such a new hull that most are probably still figuring the wave out. When I get a new boat I will take out 5 or 6 friends with me. I set the wave on a size I want to optimize and then have my friends move around the boat. First have them evenly spaced, something like two rear, two middle, and two front. Then I move them around to see where the hull produces the best wave (or makes it worse). Once I get a clean wave I know where I should put weight or reduce weight from the opposite side if I want to manage the wave with ballast alone. Of course if the wave never cleans up, that is a sure sign there is too much weight in the boat so I will dump ballast 10% at a time until it improves. I still believe that the supplemental ballast option is overkill unless one is running with a very small crew. So you might start with less ballast if you have a large crew. Too much weight will often cause a wave to be washed out. More is not always more.

[BYLKN]

The S23 is such a new hull that most are probably still figuring the wave out. When I get a new boat I will take out 5 or 6 friends with me. I set the wave on a size I want to optimize and then have my friends move around the boat. First have them evenly spaced, something like two rear, two middle, and two front. Then I move them around to see where the hull produces the best wave (or makes it worse). Once I get a clean wave I know where I should put weight or reduce weight from the opposite side if I want to manage the wave with ballast alone. Of course if the wave never cleans up, that is a sure sign there is too much weight in the boat so I will dump ballast 10% at a time until it improves. I still believe that the supplemental ballast option is overkill unless one is running with a very small crew. So you might start with less ballast if you have a large crew. Too much weight will often cause a wave to be washed out. More is not always more.

Greg’s 100% correct. This has happened on several boats I’ve been on, too much can be worse. For reference, when I was riding behind the S23 it was just myself and my buddy who owns the boat. One more idea is you may also try taking a small amount of weight out of the opposite side you are surfing on. This would be very easy if you have the Garmin with Surf Select using the ballast shift option while you’re riding.

[Rchrisrobinson]

I don't have the Garmin, but will keep playing around with the weights. The supplemental ballasts even with a small crew, I have found provide a lot of push, but not a clean wave. I don't fill them up anymore. Thanks for the tips!

[corbinclark7]

Hey all, I have the supplemental ballast and I fill everything to 100% but the opposite side main ballast (80%). I've also added 500 lbs of lead. 250 lbs in the bow, and the rest is pretty evenly distributed througout the middle and back of the boat. Ride at 11.7 and typically go with a 5 wave shape.

Hope this helps!