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Hi all. I traded off my 2017 GS20 this spring for a new 2023 GS20. Love the boat but I'm finding when I have a light load (just me and my wife) I'm struggling a bit to get enough push out of the wave for me. I had a WakeMakers piggy back system in my 2017 but it appears they don't have a kit for the 2023 and newer GS20. Does anyone out there know of any other options to upgrade the ballast on the newer GS?
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Have you considered throwing some lead weight in? -
Yes... but the whole reason I bought the GS20 was I love to ski too. The boat skis really well (well for a v-drive anyways) when its mostly empty and I often ski in the morning and surf in the afternoon on the same day. The surf wave surprisingly really good with about 8-10 people in the boat but as I said, when there is only 2-3 people in the boat, it's noticeably different. I'd hate to load the boat up with lead for the skiing portion as I'm looking for 400-800 extra ballast... hence the ballast bags. I talked to my Nautique dealer yesterday and he told me that Nautique decided not to offer supplementary ballast on the new GS20 as they thought it would be too much weight in the boat? But the GS22 and GS 24 have supplementary ballast kits available, and they still offer supplement ballast kits on the 2017-22 GS20 models.
I think I'm going to have to just buy bags and an external pump. Just seems ridiculous to me that I'm manually filling bags on a $180K boat! That's why I thought I'd ask if any other GS20 owners have found a better solution.Comment
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I see, lead is not option there. Interesting info on the supplemental ballast, doesn't make much sense to me as to the why for. Design changes, the '22 Supps won't work on a '23 I'm assuming? I would hate to go back to a manual fill at this point, have gotten spoiled. Although worth the extra effort for the wave, maybe. We had 2 extra 150 gallon bags for the Supra, had them both filled by the time the factory ballasts had topped off. We named them Elmer & Delmer. So are we filling just Elmer today, or both Elmer & Delmer? lol
Sorry, I digress
Best of luck, hoping someone jumps in with a solution for you.Comment
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I feel ya, kind of like when Nautique dropped the factory ballast weight on the G-series, then later only added the supplemental option to the 23 and 25, not the 21.
- bob
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There is nothing special about the kits. Just buy the parts and add piggyback bags.Comment
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I know that but it's the integration into the Linc system that is the issue. The factory pumps are timed to only fill the factory ballast. Despite my best efforts, Nautique seems to have changed the 'Dealer' lock out code so I can't change the fill times on the pumps so even if I add piggyback ballast to the existing tanks, the pumps will shut off before I fill them. Unless I'm wrong on that? Or... does anyone know the dealer code for the 2023 GS20 models?Comment
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I am 99,9% sure that you can reset the timers. it won't be an issue.Comment
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So I think I final got my wave dialed in. With one to two people in the boat, needed 200lbs extra ballast in both rear lockers, wave set to 10 and speed 11.4. I'll see if I can upload a video. For reference, I'm 6'2" 185lbs and I'm surfing a Phase 5 Diamond Turbo LTD in 57. Now I'll just have to plumb in the ballast bags but thanks to Phil shouldn't be an issue!Comment
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