Max 2021 General surf questions

So we got a Max this year (2021 model) and have been surfing off and on. There were just a couple of things that I had questions about.

1) When we are surfing on the left and we have the right surf plate engaged, we can't turn left at all while moving slowly. (< 2 mph) I'm just curious if this is normal, it makes sense to me as their is a plate opposite side creating a ton of drag.

2) I'm having trouble getting push while surfing (180lbs). Any pointers on increasing push?

• Today we were running 100% ballast on all tanks with 4 people surf side and 100% surf plate. I'm pretty sure our autowake is miscalibrated (which makes it hard to check measurements to match to online video tutorials) as it read 5 degrees roll when we were visibly tilted to the left. Unfortunately we are on a fairly rough lake and probably wont pull it out until the end of the summer, so I may not get to recalibrate this season.

3) How much roll is "safe." I mentioned auto wake, but it tries to fill up 100% left back ballast and 0% right back ballast when there is just 2 of us. (at -3 degree roll) We didn't have the nerve to stay that way for long after hitting a couple big waves.

You calibrate on the water so you should get that done.
I believe the surf tabs (the side ones) on the Max only go to 60 and 70 so are you talking about 100 on the wake plate?(Center)
If so then you should be running the wake plate at 0-25 to get a good wave, any more and it lifts the back of the boat up negating your ballast and making a crappy wave.

You are also going to need more weight. Consider 500# of lead distributed appropriately. Review the wake9 videos on YouTube for properly adding weight and setting Autowake.


Currently boatless

Per surf tabs, the system definitely lets us input 100. Wake tab was around 30 if I recall.

The higher the number the surf tabs are the more mellow your wave will be. The lower you can get your surf tabs, and still having a clean the wave, the taller and steeper your wave will be. If you are wanting more push I would bring your surf tabs down to 60ish for regular and 70ish for goofy and then list the boat until the wave has a nice clean roll. As mentioned above if you want real good push you will need to add some weight. I have a 2020 max and I have a total of 5,500lbs of ballast before I add people and gear. I only run my surf tabs at 100 if my 90lb wife hops in on a skim board. If I get in with those settings I struggle to find enough push.

So fill all bags to 100. Have at least one more person on the surf side versus the other. Run your tabs at 60-70 wake plate at 0 and see how far that gets you.


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To underline what others have said here is what worked for me....

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aroton

1) When we are surfing on the left and we have the right surf plate engaged, we can't turn left at all while moving slowly. (< 2 mph) I'm just curious if this is normal, it makes sense to me as their is a plate opposite side creating a ton of drag.

This is normal in my experience. The plate makes turning one way much more difficult so you always do your pickups on the one side.

2) I'm having trouble getting push while surfing (180lbs). Any pointers on increasing push?

• Today we were running 100% ballast on all tanks with 4 people surf side and 100% surf plate. I'm pretty sure our autowake is miscalibrated (which makes it hard to check measurements to match to online video tutorials) as it read 5 degrees roll when we were visibly tilted to the left. Unfortunately we are on a fairly rough lake and probably wont pull it out until the end of the summer, so I may not get to recalibrate this season.

For regular riders, 9-9.5 degree pitch, 0 to -1 roll. For goofy riders, 9-9.5 degree pitch and +5 roll is what has worked best for me. Flow 3 surf plates at 45/55 reg/goofy. If you want more push you have to add more weight. Also make sure you bags are full of water not 50% air (ie. burp the bags).

3) How much roll is "safe." I mentioned auto wake, but it tries to fill up 100% left back ballast and 0% right back ballast when there is just 2 of us. (at -3 degree roll) We didn't have the nerve to stay that way for long after hitting a couple big waves.

Reg 0 to -1, Goof +5 but you shouldn't be emptying the entire starboard ballast. Need to move people around as required. If you want a really good wave people need to sit where you tell them :cool:

If your lake is full of boats, your wave will be mediocre at best. Gotta run early in the morning, late at night, or midweek to get the sweet sweet smoothness on busy lakes.

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Alright got out and tested some things this evening.

1. The “burping” the bags was a huge win. All the YouTube videos I had seen hadn’t mentioned this.
2. My back left ballast bag was a little crooked and wasn’t filling up all the way due to how it was sitting.
3. I readjusted some of the settings recommended here.

Overall it was a MUCH better wave. The swim platform was 6-7 inches deeper in the water while just sitting, I’m pretty sure I was missing out on several hundred pounds of ballast. The conditions were still rough water and super windy, but I was able to easily sit in the pocket for 45seconds to a minute on one of our runs.

Next steps are to get out on an early morning to recalibrate the auto wake system and try everything with calmer waters.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by aroton

Alright got out and tested some things this evening.

1. The “burping” the bags was a huge win. All the YouTube videos I had seen hadn’t mentioned this.
2. My back left ballast bag was a little crooked and wasn’t filling up all the way due to how it was sitting.
3. I readjusted some of the settings recommended here.

Overall it was a MUCH better wave. The swim platform was 6-7 inches deeper in the water while just sitting, I’m pretty sure I was missing out on several hundred pounds of ballast. The conditions were still rough water and super windy, but I was able to easily sit in the pocket for 45seconds to a minute on one of our runs.

Next steps are to get out on an early morning to recalibrate the auto wake system and try everything with calmer waters.

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Nice! Not sure if anyone shared this with you but here is a video on recalibrating

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btq6hr04nLs

It is actually video 3 of a 3 part series explaining autowake which is pretty informative if you haven't checked it out.